- Bullying victimization is consistently associated with increased odds of school attendance problems, including skipping classes or whole school days, across 69 countries.
- The bullying and attendance association is stronger in lower GDP countries, most pronounced in East and Southeast Asia, then Post-Soviet/Central Asian and Eastern Europe.
- Findings call for regionally tailored interventions and policies targeting mechanisms linking bullying to school disengagement to reduce attendance problems.
J Interpers Violence. 2026 Aug 21:8862605261473572. doi: 10.1177/08862605261473572. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Although bullying is a widespread phenomenon with well documented consequences for students’ engagement, its relationship with school attendance problems (SAPs) has received little attention-particularly in large-scale, cross-national research. The present study addresses this gap by analyzing nationally representative data of 413,462 adolescents across 17,528 schools in 69 countries and economies. The data were drawn from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Using both pooled and country-level multilevel analyses, the results consistently demonstrate that bullying victimization is associated with higher odds of SAPs, measured by students skipping classes or entire school days. Importantly, the strength of this association is stronger in countries with lower gross domestic product per capita, most notably in East and Southeast Asia, followed by Post-Soviet/Central Asian and Eastern European regions. These results underscore that bullying is a global issue with tangible consequences for student attendance across diverse educational systems. Our conclusions highlight the need for regionally tailored interventions and policy responses that address the specific mechanisms through which bullying influences school engagement.
PMID:42629627 | DOI:10.1177/08862605261473572
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