Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 7:10:40.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00040. eCollection 2019.

School Bullying Among Left-Behind Children: The Efficacy of Art Therapy on Reducing Bullying Victimization

Hu Yan  1 , Jindong Chen  2   3 , Jing Huang  2   3
Affiliations

School Bullying Among Left-Behind Children: The Efficacy of Art Therapy on Reducing Bullying Victimization

Hu Yan et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Left-behind children (LBC) are becoming a widespread phenomenon and face higher risks of psychological and educational problems. Our study aimed to explore school bullying in LBC and examine the effectiveness of art therapy intervention for reducing bullying victimization affecting LBC in rural areas. Methods: A total of 603 children, including 272 LBC and 331 non-LBC, were sampled from 6 rural schools. Questionnaires regarding school life satisfaction, children's social anxiety, self-esteem, and school bullying were used to assess the psychological and school behavior status of these children. One Hundred and Eighty LBC who were victims of school bullying were then selected and randomly assigned to 3 groups to evaluate the effects of art therapy intervention. The interventions of art therapy and general counseling were conducted in 6 sessions over 3 months. Results: Our results demonstrated LBC experienced more bullying victimization than non-LBC. Left-behind boys were more likely to be bullied than left-behind girls. LBC > 12 years old, LBC whose parents are divorced, separated, or widowed, were more vulnerable to being bullied. School bullying of LBC was affected by social anxiety scores and school life satisfaction. The bullying victimization of LBC in the art therapy group was significantly improved. Conclusions: LBC suffered more school bullying than did non-LBC. Art therapy can effectively help LBC in rural primary schools to reduce their vulnerability to bullying.

Keywords: art therapy; left-behind children; school bullying; school life satisfaction; self-esteem.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wang L, Feng Z, Yang G, Yang Y, Dai Q, Hu C, et al. . The epidemiological characteristics of depressive symptoms in the left-behind children and adolescents of Chongqing in China. J Affect Disord. (2015) 177:36–41. 10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.002 - DOI - PubMed
    1. A.-C.W.s. Federation Research report on left-behind children and migrant children in China (2013).
    1. Jingzhong Y, Lu P. Differentiated childhoods: impacts of rural labor migration on left-behind children in China. J Peasant Stud. (2011) 38:355–77. 10.1080/03066150.2011.559012 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yan L, Zhu Q, Tu X, Zuo X, Yu C, Lou C, et al. . Bullying victimization and child sexual abuse among left-behind and non-left-behind children in China. PeerJ. (2018) 6:e4865. 10.7717/peerj.4865 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhao C, Zhou X, Wang F, Jiang M, Hesketh T. Care for left-behind children in rural China: a realist evaluation of a community-based intervention. Child Youth Serv Rev. (2017) 82:239–45. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.034 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources