Peer Bullying And Empathy In Middle School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To examine the relationship between peer bullying and empathy among middle school students in the context of violence exposure and sociodemographic variables. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 310 students (159 girls, 151 boys; age range: 10–14 years) from a state middle school in northwestern Turkey. Data were collected using a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Empathy Level Determination Scale (ELDS), and the Peer Bullying Scale (PBS). Independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression were used. Results: A low-level significant positive correlation was found between empathy and bullying (r=0.211, p