Abstract
The aims of this study are twofold. The first goal is to investigate the relationship between children’s experiences of being bullied (physically, verbally, and emotionally) and their subjective well-being (SWB) in seven low-industrialised Asian countries. The second aim is to ascertain how the relation between bullying victimisation and SWB differs across these countries. This study used data from the third wave of the Children’s Worlds survey across two age groups (10- and 12-year-olds) within seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam). The sample consists of 11,483 children, based on representative sampling in each country (49.4% boys and 50.6% girls; Mean age = 11.21). Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and multigroup SEM in order to check for metric and scalar invariance among countries. The results show an excellent fit for the models using the pooled sample for 10- and 12-year-olds. The multigroup models also displayed an excellent fit and found a significant negative contribution of bullying victimisation to SWB of children in all seven countries, depending on the type of bullying incidents (except for being left out by other children in the 10-year-old group in Nepal, which had a significant positive contribution). Being left out by other children made the strongest contribution to SWB of children in the Asian countries studied, except for India (both age groups), Nepal (10-year-old group), and Sri Lanka (12-year-old group). Being called unkind names was the most frequent bullying incident, more frequently among boys and 12-year-olds than among girls and 10-year-olds. Even though bullying victimisation negatively contributed to SWB, relatively high scores were observed for SWB in six countries according to Cummins’ theory of homeostasis (except Vietnam that displayed SWB mean scores below the expected set-point ranging from 60 to 90). The results were explained using Cummins’ SWB homeostasis theory, suggesting that children’s buffers were efficiently activated to adapt to the adverse situation of being physically, verbally, or emotionally bullied, in order to protect their SWB.
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Acknowledgements
Data collection has been funded by Jacobs Foundation. We extend our special thanks to all the principal investigators, all participating schools and children from these seven Asian countries.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose. This research involving human participants. Ethical approval was obtained from the appropriate ethics committee in each country prior to the survey being conducted. Active parent consent was gained in each country prior to the survey being conducted. Children were also informed that their data will be treated confidentially and they were free to join or not join the survey. We extend our great thanks to Arbinda Bhomi and Truong Thi Khanh Ha for valuable discussions on SWB of children in Nepal and Vietnam.
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Borualogo, I.S., Casas, F. Bullying Victimisation and Children’s Subjective Well-being: A Comparative Study in Seven Asian Countries. Child Ind Res 16, 1–27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-022-09969-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-022-09969-7