Prediction of school adjustment in middle school students

This study aims to examine the school adjustment of middle school students in terms of gender, grade level, socioeconomic level of the family, family environment, parental support for career, and exposure to bullying variables. The study group of the research consists of 1371 (673 female, 695 male) middle school students studying in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades in Eskişehir in 2023-2024. In the study, the "Personal Information Form" prepared by the researchers to collect personal information of the participants, the "School Adjustment Scale for Middle School Students" (SASMSS) developed by Gençtanırım-Kurt et al. (2023) to measure the academic, social and behavioral dimensions of middle school students' adjustment to school, the support perceived by students from their families in their educational and career development developed by Turner et al. (2003) and adapted into Turkish by Güneş and Bacanlı (2020) to measure the support perceived by students from their families in their educational and career development, the "Parental Support Scale for Career" (PPSS) developed by Fowler (1982) to assess the family environment of family members, the "Family Environment Scale" (FES) developed by Fowler (1982) and Turkish validity and reliability study conducted by Usluer (1989), the bullying categories of students (non-victim, peer victim and bully victim) developed by Felix et al. (2011) and adapted into Turkish by Atik and Yerin-Güneri (2012), the "California Bullying Exposure Scale" (CZMES) was used. In the study, the necessary permissions were obtained from Kırşehir Ahi Evran University Ethics Committee Evaluation and Decision Form and the Ministry of National Education, and the data collection process was carried out face-to-face by the researcher after preliminary interviews with the schools. SPSS 25 package data analysis program was used for statistical analysis of the data obtained within the scope of the research. The t-test was used to determine whether school adjustment in middle school students showed a significant difference according to gender; Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the significance between the variables of grade level, school achievement, socioeconomic level of the family and exposure to bullying. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the other independent variables of the study, family environment sub-dimensions of unity-cooperation and supervision, and parental support for career predicted middle school students' adjustment to school. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that school adjustment in middle school students showed a significant difference in terms of gender, grade level, school achievement, socioeconomic level of the family and exposure to bullying. In addition, according to the multiple regression analysis, it was seen that the sub-dimensions of unity, solidarity and control and parental support variables related to career significantly predicted school adjustment.