Palikara, O;
Castro-Kemp, S;
Gaona, C;
Eirinaki, V;
(2021)
The mediating role of school belonging in the relationship between socioemotional well-being and loneliness in primary school age children.
Australian Journal of Psychology
, 73
(1)
pp. 24-34.
10.1080/00049530.2021.1882270.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In recent years, school belonging has been associated with wellbeing and has been targeted in mental health promotion programmes in schools. Less attention has been paid to the relationship between school belonging and loneliness, especially during primary school years. This study aimed to first analyse the relationship between socioemotional well-being, school belonging and loneliness during primary school years, and secondly, according to the belonginess hypothesis, to examine the role of school belonging as a mediator of the relationship between socioemotional wellbeing and loneliness. METHODS: Children (N = 517) of primary school age were recruited from three schools in London to participate in a mental health screening, which involved the completion of standardized self-reported scales for sense of school belonging, loneliness and socioemotional wellbeing. RESULTS: Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that although correlated, socioemo-tional wellbeing does not predict loneliness. However, in line with belonginess hypothesis, school belonging partially mediated the relationship between socioemotional wellbeing and loneliness in primary school age children. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide novel data concerning the key role of school be-longing in shaping the relationship socioemotional wellbeing and loneliness in primary school years. This has implications for practitioners working to promote health and wellbeing in schools.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The mediating role of school belonging in the relationship between socioemotional well-being and loneliness in primary school age children |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00049530.2021.1882270 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1882270 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | School belonging; socioemotional wellbeing; loneliness; primary school age; mediation; mental health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10141647 |
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