A comparative analysis of campus bullying between vocational schools and regular high schools

Abstract Introduction: Campus bullying has attracted widespread attention in China. While previous research has focused extensively on the individual and familial factors of campus bullying, school environmental factors have been insufficiently explored. This study primarily examines the mechanisms by which the school environment influences campus bullying by contrasting vocational and regular high schools, two school ecosystems with distinct cultures. By investigating the frequency, characteristics, and significant influencing factors of campus bullying in both types of schools, this study aims to further explore how the school environment affects the occurrence of campus bullying. Methods Participants comprise 1348 students from 17 vocational high schools and 5341 students from 65 regular high schools in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. Moderation analysis is applied to examine the different effects of individual and family factors on school bullying in the two types of high schools. Mediation analysis is carried out to examine the mechanism of school bullying under the two types of school ecosystems. Results and Conclusion: Results show that the risk of explicit physical bullying in vocational and regular high schools is roughly equivalent. However, the risk of less noticeable forms of bullying, such as verbal bullying, relational bullying, and cyberbullying, is significantly higher in regular than vocational high schools. Further analysis reveals that the higher risk of campus bullying in regular high schools is attributed to significantly lower evaluations of teacher student relationships, poorer peer relationships, and heavier academic burden compared to vocational high schools.