{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T05:40:54Z","timestamp":1790401254838,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777334400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100021068","name":"Universidad de Las Am\u00e9ricas Ecuador","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MED.MFL.19.02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MED.MFL.19.02"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100021068","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sociol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Bullying remains a major public health concern among adolescents and is associated with adverse mental health and behavioral outcomes. Evidence from low- and middle-income countries, including Ecuador, remains limited.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Ecuadorian version of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Associations between school bullying, cyberbullying, and emotional distress (sadness), suicidal behaviors (ideation, planning, attempts), and risk behaviors (alcohol use, marijuana use, and school fights) were assessed using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Odds ratios (OR) and relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among 300 adolescents, 10.0.3% reported school bullying and 16.0% reported cyberbullying. Bullying victimization was associated with higher odds of sadness (OR 3.33, 95% CI 1.50\u20137.35), suicidal ideation (OR 431, 1.99\u20139.0.32), suicidal planning (OR 5.45, 2.51\u20131183), and suicide attempts (OR 5.43, 2.39\u201312.36). Cyberbullying was strongly associated with alcohol consumption (RR 5.33, 95% CI 2.47\u201311.46) and marijuana use (RR 7.20, 1.86\u201327.92).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Bullying and cyberbullying are strongly associated with emotional distress, suicidal behaviors, and substance use among adolescents in Ecuador. These findings underscore the urgent need for school-based prevention strategies and integrated public health interventions targeting adolescent mental health.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1803370","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T04:45:46Z","timestamp":1777351546000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Bullying and cyberbullying victimization and associated mental health and behavioral risks among adolescents in Ecuador"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Martha","family":"Fors","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"One Health Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de las Am\u00e9ricas","place":["Quito, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paloma","family":"Gonzalez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biblioteca, Universidad de las Am\u00e9ricas","place":["Quito, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ariel","family":"Torres","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y Bienestar Humano, Universidad Tecnol\u00f3gica Indoam\u00e9rica","place":["Quito, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fresia","family":"Massuht","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IESS Seguro de Salud Centro aa. Sur Valdivia","place":["Guayaquil, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"384","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jadohealth.2020.04.027","article-title":"Mutual influences on bullying perpetration and substance use among adolescents in the United States","volume":"67","author":"Azevedo da Silva","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Adolesc. Health"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"432","DOI":"10.32641\/rchped.v91i3.1230","article-title":"Bullying as a risk factor for depression and suicide","volume":"91","author":"Az\u00faa Fuentes","year":"2020","journal-title":"Rev. Chil. Pediatr."},{"key":"B3","first-page":"94","article-title":"Posibles relaciones entre el bullying y la actividad f\u00edsica: una revisi\u00f3n sistem\u00e1tica","volume":"12","author":"Casta\u00f1eda-V\u00e1zquez","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Sport Health Res."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.17081\/eduhum.22.38.3675","article-title":"El acoso escolar como oportunidad para mejorar la convivencia en el aula: bullying as an opportunity to improve coexistence in the classroom","volume":"22","author":"Castro-Robles","year":"2020","journal-title":"Educ. Humanism."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1391","DOI":"10.1007\/s00787-021-01779-6","article-title":"Victimization by traditional bullying and cyberbullying and the combination of these among adolescents in 13 European and asian countries","volume":"31","author":"Chudal","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e129","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.9044","article-title":"Self-harm, suicidal behaviours, and cyberbullying in children and young people: systematic review","volume":"20","author":"John","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Med. Internet Res."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1073","DOI":"10.1037\/a0035618","article-title":"Bullying in the digital age: a critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth","volume":"140","author":"Kowalski","year":"2014","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.46363\/willachikuy.v3i2.9","article-title":"El bullying en ni\u00f1os y ni\u00f1as escolares","volume":"3","author":"Laiza","year":"2023","journal-title":"Willachikuy"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1220","DOI":"10.1016\/j.acap.2022.12.007","article-title":"Cyberbullying and sleep disturbance among early adolescents in the U.S","volume":"23","author":"Nagata","year":"2023","journal-title":"Acad. Pediatr."},{"key":"B10","author":"Palacio Durango","year":"2022","journal-title":"Efectos del bullying que llevan al adolescente al suicidio en el municipio de Medell"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1080\/02791072.2017.1371362","article-title":"Bullying victimization, binge drinking, and marijuana use among adolescents: results from the 2013 national youth risk behavior survey","volume":"50","author":"Priesman","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Psychoactive Drugs"},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"Rodr\u00edguez M\u00e1rquez\n              \u00c1. D.\n            \n            \n              D\u00edaz Quintero\n              A.\n            \n            \n              Caicedo Boh\u00f3rquez\n              L. X.\n            \n          \n          Consecuencias que genera el bullying a nivel integral en los estudiantes en edad escolar seg?n estudios en Latinoam\u00e9rica entre 2010\u20132020.\n          \n          2020"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.56200\/mried.v2i4.5309","article-title":"Efectos del bullying en el bajo rendimiento escolar en los estudiantes ecuatorianos: una revisi\u00f3n documental","volume":"2","author":"Rojas","year":"2023","journal-title":"MENTOR: Rev. Investig. Educ. 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Psychiatry Law"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.26820\/reciamuc\/7.(1).enero.2023.22-31","article-title":"Consecuencias del bullying en el desarrollo de la autoestima de los estudiantes","volume":"7","author":"Torres Salcedo","year":"2023","journal-title":"Reciamuc"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10452","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph191610452","article-title":"Family and educational strategies for cyberbullying prevention: a systematic review","volume":"19","author":"Tozzo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health"},{"key":"B19","unstructured":"10.54675\/TRVR4270\n          Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying. Par\u00eds: UNESCO\n          \n          2019"},{"key":"B20","unstructured":"Valbuena Herrera\n              J.\n            \n          \n          Funciones ejecutivas de ni\u00f1os y adolescentes: una revisi\u00f3n de estudios de las implicaciones del Bullying. Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Psicolog\n          \n          2020"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1027\/0227-5910\/a000536","article-title":"The association between cyberbullying, school bullying, and suicidality among adolescents","volume":"40","author":"Zaborskis","year":"2019","journal-title":"Crisis"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Sociology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1803370\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T04:45:58Z","timestamp":1777351558000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1803370\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"references-count":21,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1803370"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1803370","relation":{},"ISSN":["2297-7775"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2297-7775","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]]},"article-number":"1803370"}}