ASSESSING SENSE OF COMMUNITY ON ADOLESCENTS: VALIDATING THE BRIEF SCALE OF SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN ADOLESCENTS (SOC-A)

Sense of Community (SoC) is a. key theoretical construct in community psychology. This study validated a SoC scale for adolescents (SoC-A) in Italy. The scale comprises 20 items and five components: satisfaction of needs and opportunities for involvement; support and emotional connection with peers; support and emotional connection in the community; sense of belonging; and opportunities for influence. The sample included 661 Italian high school students (47% male and 53% female) between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. Factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed five components corresponding to the original work of Cicognani, Albanesi, and Zani (2006). The boys scored higher on SoC than girls. There were no differences between age groups. Results showed differences in SoC between types of schools (lycee, vocational and technical institutes). These findings provide support for the 20-item SoC-A scale and its underlying multidimensional theory of SoC. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.