Moderating Effects of Mindfulness in the Relation between Bullying Victimization and Sleep Disturbance in Chinese Children: Sex Differences

Individual and contextual determinants associated with bullying in schoolchildren eight to ten years of age

Investigate individual and contextual determinants associated with bullying in schoolchildren eight to ten years of age. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 739 schoolchildren, who answered a question about episodes of bullying related to oral health and questionnaires addressing childhood anxiety and orofacial dysfunction. The guardians provided information on sociodemographic characteristics, sleep disorders, and oral health literacy. Trained examiners assessed the children for the diagnosis of dental caries using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System, malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index, orofacial dysfunction using the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening and traumatic dental injury (Andreasen criteria) (Kappa> 0.80). The contextual variables were the type of school and the monthly income of the school neighborhood. Descriptive statistics was performed to characterize the sample and unadjusted and adjusted (p <0.05) multilevel Poisson regression models were run. The prevalence of bullying was 13.3%. After the adjusted analysis, malocclusion (PR=1.59; 95%CI:1.03-2.44) and anxiety (PR=1.79; 95%CI:1.10-2.93) remained associated with bullying. In terms of context, the monthly income of the neighborhood of the school was associated with bullying (PR=1.75; 95%CI:1.12-2.72). Malocclusion and anxiety influenced the occurrence of bullying. A lower average income in the school neighborhood was an important contextual determinant for the increase in the prevalence of bullying.

Cultural moderation in sports impact: exploring sports-induced effects on educational progress, cognitive focus, and social development in Chinese higher education

BACKGROUND

This research examines the nuanced challenges confronting Chinese university students within the dynamic milieu of Chinese education. The study comprehensively investigates factors encompassing educational progress, social development, cognitive focus, and Psychological Well-being (PWB), specifically emphasizing the role of sports participation.

METHODS

To scrutinize the moderation-mediation nexus between cultural context and social development, a distribution of 500 questionnaires was administered to Chinese university students, yielding 413 responses, corresponding to an 82.6% response rate. Methodologically, this study employed moderation and mediation analyses, incorporating statistical techniques such as a principal component matrix, factor analysis, and hierarchical regression.

FINDINGS

Prominent findings underscore the significant impact of age on educational progress, shaping the trajectory of academic advancement. Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) emerges as a promising metric, establishing a link between academic performance and educational progress. Active involvement in sports and physical activities (PSPA) positively affects academic performance and study habits. Participation in sports teams and clubs (ISTC) enriches social development by nurturing interpersonal relationships, teamwork, and leadership skills. Sports activities (ESA) correlate with enhanced cognitive focus and improved psychological well-being. Significantly, the findings unveil a nuanced association between Perceived Social Development Through Sports (PSDTS) and educational progress.

CONCLUSIONS

Cultural Context (CC) moderates PSDTS, Sport-induced Cognitive Focus (SICF), and PWB, influencing educational progress. This study emphasizes the need for enhanced support systems-academic guidance, awareness, sports programs, and cultural competence training-to advance student well-being and academic achievement in China, fostering an empowering educational environment for societal progress.

The interaction effects of social support and four types of bullying on sleep quality in Chinese adolescents

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to examine the association of verbal, social, physical, and cyber bullying victimizations with sleep quality while taking social support as a moderator and to further examine gender and grade differences in the moderating effects of social support on bullying-associated sleep quality among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in a province of northwestern China. A total of 20,320 students were included in our analyses. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between bullying victimization and sleep quality as well as the moderating effects of social support on these relationships.

RESULTS

After adjusting for confounding variables, four types of bullying victimization were significantly associated with sleep quality. Social support only moderated the relationship of verbal, physical, and social bullying with sleep quality. Moreover, these positive moderating effects were found only for girls and, in terms of grade difference, only for primary students. Some reversed moderating effects of social support were also observed in the relationship of cyber, physical bullying with sleep quality.

LIMITATIONS

This was a cross-sectional study, limiting the causal inference.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that bullying is a risk factor for poor sleep quality among adolescents in northwestern China. Furthermore, social support moderated the relationship between bullying and sleep quality in different ways depending on grade, gender, and type of bullying. More efforts are needed to prevent bullying and improve both school climate and students' sleep quality.