O sentido de pertença de adolescentes ao ambiente escolar e sua interface com o apoio social e a saúde mental

Abstract

The sense of belonging has been discussed by several authors as one of the basic needs of human beings, involving cognitive, emotional, behavioral, health and well-being processes. It can be understood from a sociological perspective, which involves social organization in groups, and from a psychological perspective, where the debate about the sense of belonging comes from an individual's internal affective process, in a relationship between himself and others. Regarding the sense of belonging of adolescents, there is a growing interest studying the topic, focusing on the school context, which have shown relationships between the feeling of belonging to the school and the engagement in academic activities and social relations. However, there are few Brazilian studies about this subject but there are signs indicating the need for further investigations that expand the understanding of this phenomenon, relating it to other factors such as the perceived social support, mental health and social participation of this population, especially in the school environment. In this sense, the present study aimed to identify the sense of belonging of adolescents in relation to the school context and to investigate possible relationships between the sense of belonging, social support and mental health, with the specific objectives: a) understand the adolescents' perception about how they feel in the different activities and dynamics performed in the school context; b) understand the perception of adolescents regarding how they feel in the school environment; and c) identify which elements the adolescents perceive as facilitators and hinders of their sense of belonging at school. The study was carried out with 171 adolescents from 13 to 15 years old, enrolled in the 8th and 9th years of the Elementary School of Public Schools in Sorocaba, a city in the interior of São Paulo State. For this, a quantitative and qualitative methodology was used, with the application of four instruments for data collection, namely: 1) Sociodemographic characterization form; 2) Flexible tool ‘What works for you? Difficulties and support at school’; 3) Social Support Appraisals - SSA; and 4) Skills and Difficulties Questionnaire - SDQ. The analysis of the quantitative data was performed using descriptive and correlational statistics and the qualitative data obtained in the open questions of the questionnaire ‘What works for you? Difficulties and support at school 'were analyzed using the Categorical Analysis, based on parameters previously established from the theoretical framework used. The results obtained show that 48.5% of the participants report feeling part of the school always or normally. 35.7% say that they sometimes feel part of it. About the facilities they find and that help in the sense of belonging to school, the adolescents mention the respectful relationship with colleagues and employees, having the support of friends, participating in exhibitions, works and cultural presentations, as well as organizing and participating in parties and events, participate in school projects and the recognition they receive from teachers and staff. In relation to the difficulties, the adolescents addressed the open questions and pointed out issues such as the relationship with colleagues, teachers or employees, bullying and individual difficulties, such as shyness, learning problems and those related to mental health. Regarding the statistical analyzes of correlation carried out, it was found that the more social support the participants perceive, the more they feel they belong to the school and the less they have difficulties related to mental health. The study advances the knowledge produced about the feeling of belonging, in general, focusing on the adolescent population linked to the school context, indeed, in Brazil the study of this theme is incipient. It also advances by valuing the voice of the adolescents themselves in the debate, which present paths that can be considered in the development of participatory strategies to be implemented in different schools, aiming at fostering more teaching-learning and citizen training processes effective and less harmful to the mental health of this population and that, therefore, favor the feeling of belonging.