O sentimento de pertença de adolescentes e a escola como campo de pesquisa e intervenção

Abstract

The sense of belonging in adolescence is related to the possibility of being and acting in the world, making it possible to elaborate, plan and carry out actions capable of promoting the construction of subjectivity and the recognition of the social rights of adolescents. In this sense, feeling a sense of belonging provides a feeling of protection, understanding, and recognition, contributing positively to mental health. Focusing on the construction of the sense of belonging of adolescents to the school context, it is noted that this is a fundamental construct to think about the mental health of this population, because the possibility of belonging to the school brings important implications for the psychological and academic well-being of students. With this in mind, the present study aimed to map and analyze the scientific literature on the theme of adolescents' sense of belonging to school in its interface with the mental health of this population. A scoping review was developed, which adopted as a theoretical reference the approach proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute - JBI for scoping reviews. The search was carried out in the Web of Science, Scopus, BVS and Scielo databases, and the terms used were "sense of belonging*", "teenage*", "adolescen*", youth, "mental health" and "well-being", and their corresponding terms in Spanish and Portuguese. In the larger study analysis process, 15 studies were identified that focused on adolescents' sense of belonging in the school context and its relationship to the mental health of this population. Added to these 15 studies were 4 more from the year 2021 located from the scoping review update process, which also followed the Joanna Briggs Institute- JBI requirements for scoping reviews, adding the search terms "school", "school" and "escuela". Regarding the results, the studies found were published after the 2000s, with the last four years being responsible for more than half of the publications, in addition, the studies are mainly concentrated in developed countries, such as the United States, Australia, and few publications were found in Latin America, being two in Chile, and none in the African continent. Regarding the qualitative data, the following categories emerged from the analysis process: 1) Adolescents' perspective on their adaptations and relationships in the school setting; 2) The school setting and the adolescents with mental health difficulties; 3) School as a protective factor for the mental health of adolescents; 4) Construction of a feeling of belonging to the school setting. In general, the results found corroborate the notion that the school is a fundamental space for the development of adolescents and their families in terms of mental health, and that the feeling of belonging to this scenario is an important element for the mental health of these individuals. It is identified that more qualitative studies are needed on the subject, considering the voices of adolescents, as well as participatory studies, and to advance the debate on the sense of belonging of this public, especially considering the countries of the African continent and Latin America.