Feasibility and Preliminary Effects of the Renkli Adımlar Game- and Drama-Based Program for Preventing Peer Bullying and Promoting Empathy: A Pilot School-Level Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Aim: This pilot school-level cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluated the feasibility and preliminary effects of the Renkli Adımlar (Colorful Steps) game- and drama-based intervention on bullying and victimization, with empathy assessed as a secondary outcome, among primary school students. Methods: A pretest–posttest pilot trial was conducted with 79 third- and fourth-grade students allocated to an intervention group (n = 40) or a control group (n = 39). The eight-week program included six 40-min sessions using educational games, creative drama, role-playing, storytelling, puppet activities, and collaborative learning. Outcomes were assessed using the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents and the Peer Bullying Identification Scale–Child Form. Intervention effects were primarily examined using mixed repeated-measures ANOVA. Results: The mixed ANOVA showed group × time interactions for bullying (F(1, 77) = 3.959, p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.049) and victimization (F(1, 77) = 3.870, p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.048), with greater reductions in the intervention group than in the control group. No significant group × time interaction was observed for empathy (F(1, 77) = 0.882, p = 0.35, ηp2 = 0.011). Exploratory within-group Wilcoxon signed-rank analyses showed significant reductions in bullying and victimization and a significant increase in empathy in the intervention group, whereas no significant within-group changes were observed in the control group. Conclusions: The findings provide preliminary evidence that Renkli Adımlar may reduce bullying and victimization and is feasible to implement in primary schools. However, the non-significant empathy interaction does not support an intervention-specific effect on empathy. Given the inclusion of only two school clusters, findings should be considered exploratory. Larger multicenter trials with multiple schools per condition and cluster-adjusted analyses are needed. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07696455), registered retrospectively after completion of data collection.