SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND ITS RELEVANCE TO ADOLESCENTS OF ALL AGES

In this study, 234 white female and male 13 to 18 year olds were inter viewed in informal social settings. They completed questionnaires rega rding their neighbor hood and school psychological sense of community (Sense of Community Index), experiences of social support (Inventory o f Socially Supportive Behaviours) and loneliness (Revised UCLA Lonelin ess Scale), and rated statements assessing subjective well-being. Mult iple regression and correlation analyses indicated that social support and sense of community were distinctive aspects of the adolescent's c ommunity context. Neighborhood sense of community, followed by non-dir ective guidance, support, and age, predicted adolescent loneliness. Se nse of community was the primary correlate with subjective evaluations of well-being. Sense of community scores for neighborhood and school settings were significantly lower for older adolescents. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental research implications and the impo rtance of sense community in prevention programs to facilitate adolesc ent development. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.