A study on sleep quality under the shadow of school bullying: The interwoven effects of depressed mood, low self-esteem, and negative parenting practices

• Published in: Acta psychologica 2025-03, Vol.253, p.104717, Article 104717
• Main Authors: Qi, Kai, Hua, Long, Tong, Jia-ni, Xiong, Jia-jie, Pan, Zhi-yin, Li, Ning, Yu, Yue, Xu, Miao, Zhao, Jia-jing, Chang, Wei-wei, Fang, Zheng-mei, Wen, Li-ying, Zhu, Li-jun, Chen, Yan, Yao, Ying-shui, Jin, Yue-long
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Bullying; Child; China; Depressed mood; Depression - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Parenting - psychology; Parenting practices; School bullying; Schools; Self Concept; Self-esteem; Sleep disorders; Sleep Quality; Sleep Wake Disorders; Students - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0001-6918; 1873-6297; 1873-6297
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104717

The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between school bullying and sleep quality in adolescents. It proposes a theoretical model where depressed mood, low self-esteem, and negative parenting practices serve as mediating variables, providing new directions and measures for preventing and treating school bullying and sleep disorders. In this study, a total of 4483 middle school students from Anhui Province in China were selected anonymously to participate in a questionnaire survey. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS 26.0 software. PROCESS model 6 was employed to investigate the mediating role of depressed mood, low self-esteem, and negative parenting styles in the association between school bullying and sleep disorders. The study results generally lend support to the hypothesis that bullying exerts an influence on sleep disorders through the mediating pathways of depressed mood, low self-esteem, and negative parenting styles. The aforementioned findings may provide an explanation for the correlation between school bullying and sleep disorders, thus offering implications for intervention strategies targeting sleep disorders. This study innovatively integrates the impact of school bullying on adolescent sleep disorders. Depressed mood, low self-esteem, and negative parenting practices have independent and persistent mediating effects on the relationship between school bullying and sleep disorders. The influence pathway of school bullying on sleep disorders offers a novel direction for relevant governmental agencies and educational institutions to develop mental health measures and establish robust mechanisms for regulating emotions. •Our findings are significant because this study innovatively integrates the impact of school bullying behavior on adolescent sleep disorders, creatively constructs a theoretical model based on the background of school bullying, expands the existing knowledge system on adolescent sleep disorders, and realizes an innovation in research perspective.•The findings generally support the hypothesis that bullying influences sleep disorders through the mediating effects of depression, low self-esteem, and negative parenting styles.•These findings reveal possible mechanisms that could explain the association between school bullying and sleep disorders and have implications for intervention strategies for sleep disorders.