Bullying Exposure, Sleep Duration, Bedtime Consistency, and Chronic School Absenteeism Among U.S. Children Ages 6–11 Years

Bullying is a prevalent form of interpersonal violence in childhood. Sleep disruption may represent a modifiable factor linking bullying exposure to school outcomes, yet population-level evidence remains limited. Using pooled 2022–2024 National Survey of Children's Health data, we examined associations between bullying exposure, sleep health (short sleep, <9 h; bedtime consistency), and chronic absenteeism due to illness or injury (≥11 missed school days) among U.S. children aged 6–11 years (up to n = 45,118). Approximately 45% of children experienced bullying in the past year. Bullying exposure was associated with higher odds of short sleep, with graded increases for occasional and frequent bullying. Bullying was also strongly associated with chronic absenteeism. In sequential models, bedtime consistency remained independently associated with chronic absenteeism, whereas short sleep was not significant after accounting for bedtime consistency. Findings identify bedtime consistency as the sleep indicator most consistently associated with absenteeism risk in middle childhood.