The Effect of School-Based Bullying Prevention Program on Adolescents’ Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization, Dispositions and Future Expectations: A Randomized Controlled Study

BackgroundTraditional bullying and cyberbullying have many negative physical and psychological consequences on adolescents.AimIn this study, the effects of a school-based bullying prevention program on adolescents' traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization, tendencies and future expectations were examined.MethodThis research is a randomized controlled experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. The data of the study were collected adolescents studying a school in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey between September and October 2024. The study was completed with a total of 169 adolescents. The adolescents in the intervention group were included in the school-based bullying prevention program.ResultsAdolescents who were included in the school-based bullying prevention program had statistically significantly lower mean scores of physical victimization and bullying, verbal victimization and bullying, and relational victimization and bullying, and higher mean scores of future expectations total scale than adolescents who were not included in the program in the measurements made one month after the program.ConclusionsSchool-based bullying prevention program is effective in reducing traditional bullying and victimization of adolescents and increasing their future expectations. It is thought that school-based interventions to improve adolescents' future expectations will contribute to reducing bullying and victimization rates of adolescents.