The Relationship between School Bullying, Self-Aggression, and Subjective Well-Being among Children and Adolescents: A Network Analysis Study

He Jiajie; Zhong Peizhi; Mao Jian; Wei Junfeng; Chen Tingfang; Xiao He; Chen Jiarong; Nie Yangang

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20260118

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1) : 191-206. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20260118

Research on Social Psychological Service in the New Era

The Relationship between School Bullying, Self-Aggression, and Subjective Well-Being among Children and Adolescents: A Network Analysis Study

He Jiajie¹, Zhong Peizhi¹, Mao Jian¹, Wei Junfeng¹, Chen Tingfang¹, Xiao He¹, Chen Jiarong¹, Nie Yangang^1,2

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Abstract

School bullying refers to the deliberate acts of aggression perpetrated by students against their peers within the school environment through physical, verbal, relational, or online means, typically stemming from imbalances in physical strength or social power. Previous research has demonstrated that school bullying affects the self-aggression and subjective well-being of children and adolescents, with the effects varying by gender and educational stage. However, most relevant studies rely on latent variable modeling, a method that specializes in capturing the commonality among factors but is not suitable for uncovering the complex relationships between factors. In comparison, network analysis is an approach that enables the concurrent examination of connections between a group of variables. Such means of assessment can unveil the characteristics of the network constituted by the variables. Hence, the present study employed this analytical approach to investigate the network characteristics of school bullying, self-aggression, and subjective well-being among children and adolescents.
This study utilized the Chinese version of the Olweus bullying and victimization questionnaire, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire short scale, the Non-suicidal Self-injury Scale, and the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. Data were collected from 12,927 Chinese children and adolescents ranging from primary to senior high school (Mage = 14.16 years, SD = 2.48 years, 49.4% female). Network analysis was conducted to examine the network structure and bridge nodes among school bullying, self-aggression, and subjective well-being, as well as differences in these networks by gender and educational stage . In addition, a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) analysis was employed to elucidate the potential causal pathways and directional relationships among the investigated variables.
The results showed that 17.2% of the surveyed children and adolescents were involved in school bullying, with higher involvement rates among boys compared to girls and with involvement rates decreasing as the educational stage increased. The bridge nodes in the network were suicidal ideation, being verbally abused, being social isolated, verbally abusing oneself, and biting oneself, reflecting their crucial role in the overall network and demonstrating their importance in connecting different variables. The network's structure and overall connectivity were consistent across genders, while the bridge nodes were slightly different, indicating overall cross-gender stability. However, there were differences in bridge nodes across educational stages, though the network structure remained stable, and overall connectivity increased with advancing educational stages. This suggests that, while bridge nodes vary somewhat across stages, the interconnection between school bullying, self-aggression, and subjective well-being becomes tighter as students transition from primary to senior high school. The relationship is complex between being bullied and bullying. Being verbally abused and being sociol isolated have direct effects on self-harm and subjective well-being. Suicidal ideation is a core node that connects school bullying and subjective well-being and may serve as a potential mediator. There is a complex interplay between subjective well-being and suicidal ideation. Enhancing a sense of meaning and satisﬁed with life could be a potential focus of interventions to address suicidal ideation in bullied youth and improve their subjective well-being.
These findings offer critical implications for intervention. First, the continued prevalence of school bullying among Chinese children and adolescents, particularly among boys and younger students, calls for urgent attention, Second, interventions for bullied children and adolescents should focus on the bridge nodes between school bullying, self-aggression, and subjective well-being. When intervening in school bullying, particular attention should be paid to behaviors such as verbal abuse, isolation, and insults, with immediate prohibition of such behaviors with appropriate criticism, education, and even punishment of perpetrators. For victims, monitoring and early intervention for suicidal ideation is crucial, and enhancing the sense of life meaning and satisﬁed with life may be a key objective of intervention. Lastly, given that the network characteristics differ across educational stages, more precise intervention plans should be designed for different stages to effectively mitigate the impact of school bullying and improve the mental health of children and adolescents.

Key words

bullying/victimization / self-aggression / subjective well-being / network analysis

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He Jiajie, Zhong Peizhi, Mao Jian, Wei Junfeng, Chen Tingfang, Xiao He, Chen Jiarong, Nie Yangang. The Relationship between School Bullying, Self-Aggression, and Subjective Well-Being among Children and Adolescents: A Network Analysis Study[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2026, 49(1): 191-206 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20260118

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