The Role of Sense of Belonging and Family Structure in Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract

The present study adopted an ecological perspective, and examined effects of sense of belonging to multiple contexts in relation to adolescent adjustment, as well as possible differences between adolescents from intact and divorced families. Self‐report questionnaires were used to investigate perceptions of family, school, peer, and neighborhood belonging among 969 adolescents. Results showed that mean level differences in belonging exist based on family structure, and that levels of family and neighborhood belonging vary between post‐divorce maternal and paternal households. For all adolescents, sense of belonging predicted self‐reported well‐being, internalizing, and externalizing problems. Belonging was found to partly explain the relation between divorce and adjustment. Improving adolescents’ belonging could therefore be an important step in ensuring a better adjustment post‐divorce.

Longitudinal Associations Between Support and Prosocial Behavior Across Adolescence: The Roles of Fathers, Mothers, Siblings, and Friends

“…Construct validity was supported by several studies that used the balanced relatedness scale as an indicator of autonomy support and examined associations with adolescents’ problem behaviors (e.g., Van der Giessen et al, 2014 ). The results of those studies indicated that higher scores of autonomy support were related to higher scores on sense of family belonging (Rejaän et al, 2022 ), and adolescents’ educational identity (van Doeselaar et al, 2016 ). Moreover, lower scores on autonomy support were related to more internalizing and externalizing problems (Vrolijk et al, 2020 ) and depressive symptoms (van der Giessen et al, 2014 ).…”

Parenting, Coparenting, and Adolescents’ Sense of Autonomy and Belonging After Divorce

“…Another key factor in adolescents' development is experiencing a sense of belonging: feeling connected to parents and having a secure base from which they can explore the world (Ryan & Deci, 2000;Griffin et al, 2017). Compared to their peers from intact families, adolescents from divorced families are prone to experience a weaker sense of belonging to their families (King et al, 2018;Rejaän et al, 2021a). Within post-divorce families, research has also demonstrated differences in the extent to which adolescents experience a sense of belonging to maternal and paternal households, which could partially be explained by the generally unequal amount of time that adolescents typically spend with their mothers versus their fathers (Rejaän et al, 2021a).…”

“…As such, a lack of autonomy may become apparent through the feeling of having no say in decisions about living arrangements and related aspects in their daily living situation (Friendly & Grolnick, 2009). Another major consequence of parental divorce is that it usually puts pressure on the quality of parent-child and interparental relationships (Amato, 2010;Friendly & Grolnick, 2009), which may become apparent through a reduced sense of family belonging (Rejaän et al, 2021a). Thus far, studies have examined the role of parents in adolescents' sense of autonomy and belonging, mostly in intact families.…”

Perspectives of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists on the Influence of School Connectedness on American Indian Youths

“…Adolescents who experience positive peer relationships tend to have healthier self-esteem, experience positive psychosocial adjustment (Savin- Williams & Berndt, 1990), and are more likely to avoid violence and delinquency (Pardini et al, 2012). Adolescents who struggle to form positive connections with peers experience elevated symptoms of loneliness (De Luca et al, 2022;Rejaän et al, 2022), contributing to depression and suicidality (Prinstein et al, 2000). Past research suggests that adolescents' peer experiences link to mental health outcomes, educational consequences, addictive behaviors, and mortality decades later (Allen et al, 2014;Almquist & Östberg, 2013;Menting et al, 2016;Modin et al, 2011).…”