Examining adolescents' coping strategies with bullying and their levels of attachment to friends

Human beings go through certain developmental periods throughout their lives. One of these periods is adolescence. In adolescence, attachment to family decreases and friendship relationships come to the fore. In adolescence, when friendships are so important, bullying behaviors that negatively affect friendships can be seen. The aim of the study was to examine adolescents' strategies for coping with bullying and their attachment levels to friends. The population of the research consists of students studying in high schools affiliated with the Erciş National Education Directorate in Van province. The sample of the research consists of high school students studying in six high schools determined by convenience sampling method. Personal Information Form", "Coping with Bullying Strategies Scale", "Friend Attachment Scale for Adolescents" were used as data collection tools. Data were analyzed by t-Test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation test. While there was a significant difference between the results according to their life situations having a close friend, the students' being bullied and their relationship with bullying as a result of the research, with the Coping with Bullying Strategies Scale ,the child's gender, the type of school he/she attends, the students' grade level, the marital status of the parents, according to the students' mother's behavior, the students' father's behavior, the students' school success, a significant difference was found between the Friend Attachment Scale for Adolescents and the variables of gender, mother's attitude, family income level, and having close friends. Additionally, a significant relationship was found between the Coping with Bullying Strategies Scale and the Friend Attachment Scale for Adolescents. Key Words: Adolescent, Bulling, Connecting to a Friend