Abstract

This research aimed to inquire about the level of Sense of Community perceived in school contexts and its relationship with the well-being and mental health of adolescents, also considering gender as a relevant category. 2839 students from 11 municipal educational establishments in the commune of Calama (Chile) participated, between 6th grade and 12th grade, and aged between 11 and 18 years old. Sense of community, well-being and mental health difficulties were assessed through the SCI-2, Kidscreen-27 and PSC-17 scales, respectively. For the analysis, Student's t-tests, one way ANOVA and multiple linear regressions were performed. The results show that sense of community, well-being and mental health are better in elementary school students and male students. It was also found that sense of community predicts well-being and mental health in adolescents. It is concluded with the relevance of the sense of community in adolescents' well-being and mental health in school contexts.