The mediating role of school belonging in the relationship between socioemotional well-being and loneliness in primary school age children

TY - JOUR

T1 - The mediating role of school belonging in the relationship between socioemotional well-being and loneliness in primary school age children

AU - Palikara, Olympia

AU - Castro-Kemp, Susana

AU - Gaona, Carolina

PY - 2021/4/30

Y1 - 2021/4/30

N2 - 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.© 2021, O. Palkara, S. Castro-Kemp, C. Gaona. The attached document (embargoed until 30/04/2022) is an author produced version of a paper published in Australian Journal of Psychology uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

AB - 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.© 2021, O. Palkara, S. Castro-Kemp, C. Gaona. The attached document (embargoed until 30/04/2022) is an author produced version of a paper published in Australian Journal of Psychology uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

U2 - 10.1080/00049530.2021.1882270

DO - 10.1080/00049530.2021.1882270

M3 - Article

JO - Australian Journal of Psychology

JF - Australian Journal of Psychology

ER -