BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on bullying prevention.
Bullying is a form of physical, verbal or psychological abuse. While bullying existed long before the internet, the appearance of smartphones brought to the spread of a form of online aggression known as electronic bullying or cyberbullying.
Bullying behavior represents a serious and common issue in schools for children and adolescents, and it is very frequent in school’s area with little adult supervision, such as playgrounds or cafeterias.
Bullying is also common in workplaces among adults and can include different forms of behaviors, such as making offensive comments, denying training or promotions, and spreading rumors.
Victims of bullying during childhood or adolescence experience adverse and long-term consequences for their health that may last into adulthood. Additionally, individuals prone to bullying in childhood are more likely to commit bullying as adults.
Bullying is a cause of various mental health issues, including depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and low self-esteem.
There is a need for interventions and programs to prevent and reduce bullying in diverse settings and social contexts, including family, school and workplace. Indeed, improving the awareness and knowledge of bullying at different levels, is an important step to reduce its incidence.
We welcome submissions looking at:
- School-based educational intervention to prevent and reduce bullying
- Improving the awareness and knowledge of bullying in workplaces
- Promotion of family interventions aimed to help parents to recognize bullying and be able to help their children
- Preventing bullying in adolescent from disadvantage household backgrounds
- Anti-bullying legislations for bullying prevention and control in different social contexts
- Community-based interventions to effectively prevent bullying incidents through the identification of risk factors
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