This study investigated the interplay between school climate, covitality, and bullying victimization among secondary school students in Uzbekistan, with a specific focus on the potential mediating role of covitality. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with data collected from 508 students (aged 10–18; 50.2% female) across three schools in Bukhara between September and December 2024. Validated questionnaires measured school climate, bullying victimization, and covitality. Structural equation modelling SEM (SPSS AMOS) revealed that school climate was a significant negative predictor of bullying victimization (β = -0.132, *p* < .05), supporting our first hypothesis. School climate also showed a strong positive association with covitality (β = 0.557, *p* < .001). However, contrary to our hypotheses, covitality did not significantly relate to victimization (β = 0.033, *p* = n.s.), and the indirect mediation effect was non-significant (B = -0.010, 95% CI -0.050, 0.033). The study received ethical approval, and informed consent/assent was obtained. The findings underscore the critical role of a positive school climate in reducing bullying but indicate that covitality does not act as a mediating mechanism in this relationship within the studied context, highlighting the need for direct, multi-level interventions.
Bakoeva et al. (Tue,) studied this question.