Exploring adolescents' sense of community and its relationship to loneliness

Abstract

Two studies explored adolescents' neighborhood and school psychological sense of community. Multiple regression analyses of subscale scores from two social support measures showed that psychological sense of community was related to different aspects of social support depending on the community setting; the number of supportive persons identified was most significantly related to neighborhood sense of community, and the amount of tangible assistance received was most significantly related to school sense of community. Multiple regression results indicated that school sense of community accounted for the highest proportion of variance on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, followed by satisfaction with social support, and nondirective support received. The data suggest that sense of community is a significant aspect of adolescents' environments, as demonstrated by its relationship to loneliness. Further investigation of the components of adolescent sense of community and their relevance to adolescent development is warranted.