title: The personal and contextual contributors to school belongingness among primary school students.
abstract: School belongingness has gained currency among educators and school health professionals as an important determinant of adolescent health. The current cross-sectional study presents the 15 most significant personal and contextual factors that collectively explain 66.4% (two-thirds) of the variability in 12-year old students' perceptions of belongingness in primary school. The study is part of a larger longitudinal study investigating the factors associated with student adjustment in the transition from primary to secondary school. The study found that girls and students with disabilities had higher school belongingness scores than boys, and their typically developing counterparts respectively; and explained 2.5% of the variability in school belongingness. The majority (47.1% out of 66.4%) of the variability in school belongingness was explained by student personal factors, such as social acceptance, physical appearance competence, coping skills, and social affiliation motivation; followed by parental expectations (3% out of 66.4%), and school-based factors (13.9% out of 66.4%) such as, classroom involvement, task-goal structure, autonomy provision, cultural pluralism, and absence of bullying. Each of the identified contributors of primary school belongingness can be shaped through interventions, system changes, or policy reforms.
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Sharmila
authors: S
authors: Vaz
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; School of Education and Communication, CHILD programme, Institution of Disability Research Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors: Marita
authors: M
authors: Falkmer
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Marina
authors: M
authors: Ciccarelli
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Passmore
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; School of Pharmacy, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Parsons
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors: Tele
authors: T
authors: Tan
authors: School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council, Linköping, Sweden.
authors: Torbjorn
authors: T
authors: Falkmer
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D000067029:Physical Appearance, Body; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014904:Western Australia