Abstract

An effective school environment contributes to identifying students’ specific needs and promoting a positive climate for learning. Bullying represents an important factor that can negatively affect students’ motivation, emotional skills, attention, and overall attitude. This study aims to investigate the influence of the school climate on the negative emotional effects of bullying in preadolescence. For this purpose, a sample of 214 preadolescent students (5th to 8th grade, secondary schools) completed a questionnaire assessing school climate, bullying in terms of aggressiveness, victimization, positive behaviors, and depressive symptoms. The findings indicate that school climate is negatively associated with aggressive behaviors, victimization, and depression and positively associated with positive behaviors. Additionally, depression has a significant positive correlation with aggression and victimization as well as a significant negative correlation with the manifestation of positive behaviors. Mediation analysis indicated that bullying, through aggressiveness and positive behaviors, but not through victimization, mediates the relationship between the school climate and depressive symptoms. These results highlight the essential role of the school climate, be it positive or negative, in understanding the phenomenon of bullying and its emotional effects, such as depression. Integration in the class group, the feeling of safety, and the existence of authentic friendships contribute to reducing the risk of depressive states among students. Future research could analyze the influence of psychosocial factors such as social support, emotional regulation, or self-esteem in the relationship between school climate and depression.

Keywords: Aggressiveness; bullying; depression; positive behaviors; school climate;  victimization