School Sense of Community and Life Satisfaction among Chilean Secondary Students: A Mixed-Methods Study

Adolescents’ sense of community at school and life satisfaction have been studied separately or in different geographic contexts. However, scientific evidence on these relationships is limited, especially in Southern countries. This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between school sense of community and life satisfaction among Chilean secondary students and explored how students interpreted these experiences within their schools. During the first phase, involving a quantitative approach, 1.185 adolescents aged 14 to 19 years, belonging to public, subsidized, and private schools, responded to a questionnaire with the Scale of Sense of Community in the School and Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, plus sociodemographic data. During the second phase, involving a qualitative approach, 180 students participated in the virtual photo provocation technique. Mixed results show that the sense of community at school and its dimensions of membership, emotional connection, and opportunities relate to students’ life satisfaction. These findings have implications for school intervention. Understanding how students perceive their school as a community and how this perception relates to their life satisfaction can guide the design of policies and programs to foster mental health in the educational setting.