Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T13:14:25.790Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

School belonging in adolescents: Psychometric properties of the School Belongingness Scale in Iranian students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2020

Gökmen Arslan Open the ORCID record for Gökmen Arslan [Opens in a new window] ,
Faramarz Asanjarani Open the ORCID record for Faramarz Asanjarani [Opens in a new window] ,
Saeede Bakhtiari  and
Fatemeh Hajkhodadadi
Gökmen Arslan*
Affiliation:
Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Turkey
Faramarz Asanjarani
Affiliation:
Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Iran
Saeede Bakhtiari
Affiliation:
Azad University of Arak, Iran
Fatemeh Hajkhodadadi
Affiliation:
Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran
*
Address for correspondence: Gökmen Arslan, PhD, Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Turkey. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the initial psychometric properties and cultural adaptation of the School Belongingness Scale (SBS) in a sample of Iranian adolescents. Participants included 324 students, ranging in age between 12 and 18 years (M = 14.68, SD = 1.39). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that responses to the Farsi version of the SBS were characterised by a two-factor measurement model, and latent variable path analysis results revealed this measurement model was predictive of adolescents’ responses to measures of social, emotional, and behavioural problems (e.g., emotional problems, conduct problems), academic achievement, and prosocial behaviour. These results provide initial evidence suggesting that the scale is psychometrically adequate to measure Iranian students’ sense of belonging at school.

Keywords

school belongingbelongingrating scalesvalidityadolescence
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , June 2022 , pp. 97 - 106
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abubakar, A., Van de Vijver, F.J., Alonso-Arbiol, I., Suryani, A.O., Pandia, W.S., Handani, P., … Murugumi, M. (2016). Assessing sense of school belonging across cultural contexts using the PSSM: Measurement and functional invariance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34, 380–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, K.-A., & Kern, M.L. (2017). School belonging in adolescents: Theory, research and practice. Springer: Springer Social Sciences.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, K.-A., Kern, M.L., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Waters, L. (2017). School values: A comparison of academic motivation, mental health promotion, and school belonging with student achievement. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 34, 31–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderman, E.M. (2002). School effects on psychological outcomes during adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 795–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. (2018a). Development and validation of the Youth Externalizing Behavior Screener: A brief and effective measure of behavioral problems. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2018.1466747 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. (2018b). Exploring the association between school belonging and emotional health among adolescents. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 7, 21–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. (2018c). School-based social exclusion, affective wellbeing, and mental health problems in adolescents: A study of mediator and moderator role of academic self-regulation. Child Indicators Research, 11, 963–980.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. (2019a). Exploring the effects of positive psychological strengths on psychological adjustment in adolescents. Child Indicators Research, 12, 1449–1464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. (2019b). School belonging in adolescents: Exploring the associations with school achievement and internalizing and externalizing problems. Educational and Child Psychology, 36, 22–34 Google Scholar
Arslan, G. & Allen, K.A. (2020). Complete mental health in elementary school children: Understanding youth school functioning and adjustment. Current Psychology. Advance online publication.Google Scholar
Arslan, G., Allen, K.A., & Ryan, T. (2020). Exploring the impacts of school belonging on youth wellbeing and mental health among Turkish adolescents. Child Indicators Research. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s12187-020-09721-z CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G., & Duru, E. (2017). Initial development and validation of the School Belongingness Scale. Child Indicators Research, 10, 1043–1058.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arslan, G. & Tanhan, A. (2019). Ergenlerde okul aidiyeti, okul işlevleri ve psikolojik uyum arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. Yaşadıkça Eğitim, 33, 320–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asanjarani, F., Abadi, F.D., Ghomi, M., & Mesman, J. (2018). Video observations of maternal sensitivity in urban and rural Iran. Attachment & Human Development. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/14616734.2018.1454057 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babakhani, N. (2014). Perception of class and sense of school belonging and self-regulated learning: A causal model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 1477–1482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Kim, D.-i., Watson, M., & Schaps, E. (1995). Schools as communities, poverty levels of student populations, and students’ attitudes, motives, and performance: A multilevel analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 627–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brew, C., Beatty, B., & Watt, A. (2004, December). Measuring students’ sense of connectedness with school. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Curran, P.J., West, S.G., & Finch, J.F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demanet, J., & Van Houtte, M. (2012). School belonging and school misconduct: The differing role of teacher and peer attachment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 499–514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furlong, M.J., You, S., Renshaw, T.L., Smith, D.C., & O’Malley, M.D. (2014). Preliminary development and validation of the social and emotional health survey for secondary school students. Social Indicators Research, 117, 1011–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghanizadeh, A., Izadpanah, A., & Abdollahi, G. (2007). Scale validation of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire in Iranian children. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 2, 65–71.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, R., & Padilla, A.M. (1997). The academic resilience of Mexican American high school students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 19, 301–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30, 79–90.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, R. (2001). Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 1337–1345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hakimzade, R., Dorani, K., Abolghasemi, M., & Njati, F. (2014). An investigation concerning the relationship between school connectedness, academic motivation and academic achievement among high school students of Isfahan. Educational Sciences, 21, 151–166.Google Scholar
Hallinan, M.T. (2008). Teacher influences on students’ attachment to school. Sociology of Education, 81, 271–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M.R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6, 53–60.Google Scholar
Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jose, P.E., Ryan, N., & Pryor, J. (2012). Does social connectedness promote a greater sense of well-being in adolescence over time? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22, 235–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kia-Keating, M., & Ellis, B.H. (2007). Belonging and connection to school in resettlement: Young refugees, school belonging, and psychosocial adjustment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 12, 29–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Makian, R., & Kalanarkoshe, M. (2015). Normalizing sense of belonging to School Questionnaire and its relationship with academic burnout and achievement motivation among Persian students. Educational Measurement, 5, 119–138.Google Scholar
Maneesriwongul, W., & Dixon, J.K. (2004). Instrument translation process: A methods review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48, 175–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, C., & Greenberg, M.T. (2001). Relationships with teachers and bonds with school: Social emotional adjustment correlates for children with and without disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 25–41.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neel, C.G.O., & Fuligni, A. (2013). A longitudinal study of school belonging and academic motivation across high school. Child Development, 84, 678–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nutbrown, C., & Clough, P. (2009). Citizenship and inclusion in the early years: understanding and responding to childrenʼs perspectives on ‘belonging’. International Journal of Early Years Education, 17, 191–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Rourke, J., & Cooper, M. (2010). Lucky to be happy: A study of happiness in Australian primary students. Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology, 10, 94–107.Google Scholar
Osterman, K.F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70, 323–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pittman, L.D., & Richmond, A. (2007). Academic and psychological functioning in late adolescence: The importance of school belonging. The Journal of Experimental Education, 75, 270–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N.P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, S., & Oldmeadow, J.A. (2013). Is the igeneration a ‘we’ generation? Social networking use among 9-to 13-year-olds and belonging. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31, 136–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Renshaw, T.L., & Arslan, G. (2018). Testing the Psychological Wellbeing and Distress Screener with Turkish adolescents. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 7, 165–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Safaie, M., & TalePasand, S. (2018). The properties of the student Engagement Multidimensional Scale in School. Psychology and Education Sciences, 5, 83–92.Google Scholar
Sari, M. (2012). Sense of school belonging among elementary school students. Çukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 41, 1–11.Google Scholar
Sharifi, F., Marzieh, A., & Jenabadi, H. (2018). The relationship between achievement goals and the sense of connectedness with school and subjective vitality among students. Journal of School Psychology, 6, 99–119.Google Scholar
Shaw, E.J., & Mattern, K.D. (2009). Examining the accuracy of self-reported high school grade point average (Research Report No. 2009-5). New York, NY: The College Board. www.research.collegeboard.org Google Scholar
Shochet, I.M., Smith, C.L., Furlong, M.J., & Homel, R. (2011). A prospective study investigating the impact of school belonging factors on negative affect in adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40, 586–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slaten, C.D., Ferguson, J.K., Allen, K.-A., Brodrick, D.-V., & Waters, L. (2016). School belonging: A review of the history, current trends, and future directions. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 33, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smerdon, B.A. (2002). Students’ perceptions of membership in their high schools. Sociology of Education, 75, 287–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugai, G., & Horner, R.H. (2008). What we know and need to know about preventing problem behavior in schools. Exceptionality, 16, 67–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanti, C., Stukas, A.A., Halloran, M.J., & Foddy, M. (2011). Social identity change: Shifts in social identity during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 555–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, L.J., & Downing, J.E. (1998). Membership and belonging in inclusive classrooms: What do middle school students have to say? Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 23, 98–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ye, F., & Wallace, T.L. (2014). Psychological sense of school membership scale: Method effects associated with negatively worded items. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32, 202–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar