The Impact of Bullying and School Violence on Youth Mental Health
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Educational Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2026 | Viewed by 4
Special Issue Editors
Interests: youth development; resilience; motivation and achievement; violence exposure; school safety; longitudinal methodology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bullying and school violence are pervasive problems facing young people. In the United States, from 30% to 40% of middle schools nationwide reported that bullying or cyberbullying occurred on a daily or near-daily basis (Pew Research Center, 2023). Rates decreased slightly in high school, but at least a quarter of high schools noted daily or frequent occurrences as well. Bullying has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 40% of 9–18 year-old youth who completed the Boys and Girls Club of America (2024) Youth Right Now survey reporting that they had been bullied on school property in the preceding year. This represented a 14% increase from data collected in 2019. Furthermore, similar prevalence rates of bullying have been reported in many other countries (Smith et al., 2023). Youth mental health problems have also been on the rise, with persistent sadness and suicidal thoughts increasing roughly 40% in the decade leading up to and through the pandemic (Verlenden et al., 2023). Anxiety among youth has shown a similar uptick, with rates having risen by roughly 30% between 2016 and 2022 (Heffernan & Macy, 2025). There is clear and consistent evidence that bullying and youth mental health problems are closely related and that each is a risk factor for the other (Christina et al., 2021).
For this Special Issue, we seek innovative, longitudinal investigations on the links between school violence, particularly bullying, and youth mental health. Topics may include, but are not limited to, school-based bullying and violence, cyberbullying, mental health consequences and risks for victimization or perpetration, developmental differences in the relationship between bullying or school violence and mental health, and resilience in the face of bullying and school violence. We invite international perspectives on these topics.
References
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Youth Right Now, 2024. https://www.bgca.org/about-us/youth-right-now/
Christina, S.; Magson, N.R.; Kakar, V.; Rapee, R.M. The bidirectional relationships between peer victimization and internalizing problems in school-aged children: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2021, 85, 101979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.101979
Heffernan, M.E.; Macy, M.L. Trends in mental and physical health Among youths. JAMA Pediatr. 2025, 179, 683–685. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0556
Pew Research Center. Parenting in America Today, 24 January 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/01/24/parenting-in-america-today/
Verlenden, J.V.; Fodeman, A.; Wilkins, N.; Jones, S.E.; Moore, S.; Cornett, K.; Sims, V.; Saelee, R.; Brener, N.D. Mental health and suicide risk among high school students and protective factors—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States. 2023, MMWR Supplements, 73. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7304a9
Smith, L.; López Sánchez, G.F.; Haro, J.M.; Alghamdi, A.A.; Pizzol, D.; Tully, M.A.; Oh, H.; Gibson, P.; Keyes, H.; Butler, L.; Barnett, Y.; Shin, J.I.; Koyanagi, A. Temporal trends in bullying victimization among adolescents aged 12–15 years from 29 countries: A global perspective. J. Adolesc. Health 2023, 73, 582–590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.031
Prof. Dr. Christopher C. Henrich
Prof. Dr. Erin B. Tone
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- bullying
- school violence
- peer victimization
- mental health
- children
- adolescents
- cyberbullying
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