Investigation of the relationship between peer relations and school climate in adolescents

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between adolescent peer relationships and school climate. In addition, adolescents' peer relationships and school climate perceptions; gender, age and grade level variables were examined.The study group was conducted in 477 high school students In this research, Peer Relations Scale and School Climate Scale were used. The Peer Relationship Scale is a 5-point Likert type, which consists of 22 items, 5 sub-dimensions called Unity, Conflict, Help, Protection and Proximity. The School Climate Scale is a 5-point scale with 6 sub-dimensions: use of resources, order and discipline, parental participation, school building, environmental relations, and student-teacher relationship. The scale has 6 sub-dimensions: use of resources, order and discipline, parental participation, school building, student-teacher relations, student-teacher relations. To investigate the research t-test, Anova and Regression Analysis were utilized. In the study, when the differences of peer relations levels according to gender and age were examined on the basis of sub-dimension and general scale, the most significant difference emerged in gender. The analyzes revealed that the helper sub-dimension, protection sub-dimension, proximity sub-dimension and general peer-relationship levels of female students were higher than male students. As a result of the research, it was found that there is a positive and low level relationship between peer relations and school climate. Accordingly, it shows that a positive change in students' relations with their peers will have a positive effect on their views about school climate. Key Words: Adolescent, Peer Relations, School Climate.