EXPLORING ADOLESCENTS SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LONELINESS

Two studies explored adolescents' neighborhood and school psychologica l sense of community. Multiple regression analyses of subscale scores from two social support measures showed that psychological sense of co mmunity was related to different aspects of social support depending o n the community setting; the number of supportive persons identified w as most significantly related to neighborhood sense of community, and the amount of tangible assistance received was most significantly rela ted to school sense of community. Multiple regression results indicate d that school sense of community accounted for the highest proportion of variance on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, followed by satisfac tion with social support, and nondirective support received. The data suggest that sense of community is a significant aspect of adolescents ' environments, as demonstrated by its relationship to loneliness. Fur ther investigation of the components of adolescent sense of community and their relevance to adolescent development is warranted.