School Bullying Victimization Types of Primary School Students and Associations with School Adaptation: a Latent Profile Analysis

Previous studies have found that different types of bullying have different effects on individuals. However, few studies have investigated the types of bullying victimization among primary school students using latent profile analysis (LPA), and considered both the frequency and form of bullying victimization when naming these types. This study explored bullying victimization types with a sample of 1748 primary school students. Participants were 52.1% (911) male, and 47.7% (833) female. Four (0.2%) students didn’t report their sex. Results show that school bullying victimization can be classified as “never bullied” (66.3%), “often oppressed” (18.2%), “often threatened” (8.0%), and “always bullied in all forms” (7.5%). There is a significant difference in sex and grade for victimization types. Specifically, the risk of being “often threatened” and “always bullied in all forms” types is higher for males than for females. Grade 4 students are at higher risk of being “often oppressed”, “often threatened”, and “always bullied in all forms” types than Grade 6. Students with different types of victimization show significant differences in school adaptation. Students in bullying victimization are more likely to experience lower school belonging and prosocial behavior, and higher aggressive behavior and withdrawal behavior. These results reveal that schools, teachers, and parents should pay close attention to bullying victimization types among primary students and help them deal with bullying victimization according to clear guidelines.