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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: gkmnarslan@gmail.com
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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
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Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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