Renkli Adımlar Game- and Drama-Based Program for Preventing Peer Bullying in Primary School Children (RENKLIADIM)

July 9, 2026 updated by: Ayse Sezer Balci, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

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

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of the Renkli Adımlar (Colorful Steps) game- and drama-based school intervention in promoting empathy and reducing bullying perpetration and victimization among primary school children. Third- and fourth-grade students were allocated to an intervention or control group. The intervention consisted of eight weekly 40-minute sessions including educational games, creative drama, role-playing, storytelling, puppet activities, and collaborative learning. Empathy, bullying perpetration, and victimization were assessed before and immediately after the intervention using standardized instruments.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Peer bullying is a major public health problem that negatively affects children's psychological, social, and educational development. School-based interventions that promote empathy and positive peer relationships may help prevent bullying during the primary school years. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Renkli Adımlar (Colorful Steps) program, a game- and drama-based school intervention developed to improve empathy and reduce bullying perpetration and victimization among primary school children.

A randomized controlled pretest-posttest study was conducted in public primary schools in Burdur, Türkiye. Two schools were selected and allocated to intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in the Renkli Adımlar program, which consisted of eight weekly 40-minute sessions incorporating educational games, creative drama, role-playing, storytelling, puppet activities, collaborative learning, and classroom discussions. The control group continued routine school activities during the study period. Empathy was assessed using the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA), and bullying perpetration and victimization were measured using the Peer Bullying Identification Scale-Child Form (PBIS-CF). Outcomes were evaluated before and immediately after completion of the intervention.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

79

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Turkey
      • Burdur, Turkey, Turkey (Türkiye), 15030
        • Public primary schools in the city center of Burdur, Türkiye

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Third- and fourth-grade students enrolled in one of the participating public *primary schools.
  • Able to attend regular classroom activities.
  • Written informed consent obtained from a parent or legal guardian.
  • Child provided verbal assent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parent or legal guardian did not provide written informed consent.
  • Child did not provide verbal assent.
  • Student was unable to participate in the intervention or outcome assessments.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Renkli Adımlar Game- and Drama-Based Intervention
Participants received the Renkli Adımlar (Colorful Steps) program, a game- and drama-based school intervention delivered over eight weeks in weekly 40-minute sessions. The program included educational games, creative drama, role-playing, storytelling, puppet activities, collaborative learning, and classroom discussions designed to promote empathy and prevent peer bullying.
Behavioral: Renkli Adımlar Game- and Drama-Based Program
The Renkli Adımlar (Colorful Steps) program is a researcher-developed, school-based intervention designed to prevent peer bullying and promote empathy among primary school children. The intervention was delivered over eight consecutive weeks, with one 40-minute session per week. The program incorporated educational games, creative drama, role-playing, storytelling, puppet activities, cooperative learning, and classroom discussions. The sessions addressed bullying awareness, emotion recognition, coping with bullying, positive peer communication, cyberbullying, and problem-solving skills.
No Intervention: Standard School Curriculum
Participants continued their routine school curriculum during the study period and did not receive any structured bullying prevention intervention. After completion of the post-test assessment, participants in the control group were offered a condensed two-session version of the Renkli Adımlar program.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Peer bullying perpetration (PBIS-CF Bullying score)
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention
Bullying perpetration was assessed using the Peer Bullying Identification Scale-Child Form (PBIS-CF) bullying subscale. Scores range from 37 to 148, with higher scores indicating greater bullying perpetration.
Baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention
Peer victimization (PBIS-CF Victimization score)
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention
Peer victimization was assessed using the Peer Bullying Identification Scale-Child Form (PBIS-CF) victimization subscale. Scores range from 37 to 148, with higher scores indicating greater peer victimization.
Baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA)
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention
Empathy was assessed using the 21-item Turkish version of the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA). Scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater empathy.
Baseline and immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Sezer Balcı A. A Game- and Drama-Based School Intervention for Preventing Peer Bullying and Promoting Empathy Among Primary School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Unpublished manuscript, 2026.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 2, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 30, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

March 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RA-BULLY-2025-001
  • GO 2025/2340; 10 December 2025 (Registry Identifier: Ethics Committee of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared because the study involves children and contains potentially identifiable participant-level data. The informed consent obtained for this study did not include permission for public sharing of individual participant data.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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