Abstract
This article reports on a study to verify the psychometric qualities of the Sense of Community Index-2 revised with young people aged 18 to 30. The validation procedure used in this project was comprised of four steps. A sample of 67 respondents participated in the pretest of the translated version, and another sample of 166 participants in the test of the revised version. The two data collections took place on line over a 1-year period. The results indicate that the original multidimensional structure of the instrument is confirmed but has different dimensions. This article proposes new dimensions. Cross-cultural validation can verify the external validity of the results of English-language scientific publications in Quebec culture. The validated instrument could be used in projects examining innovative topics, such as the increasing complexity of identity construction due to the integration of communication technologies in everyday life.
Introduction
While the concept of a sense of community has been widely studied in community psychology, its relation with the psychological and social well-being of young adults has not been greatly explored. Likewise, its operationalization remains open for discussion in the scientific community. This article presents an instrument measuring sense of community that was validated with a Quebec population of young people who were in transition to adulthood.
Conceptualization of a Fundamental Concept in Psychology
The growing interest of the scientific community in the concept of a sense of community (SOC) as developed by (Sarason, 1974) is reflected in the increasing number of studies exploring both its factors in and its effects on people’s well-being (Graham & Ismail, 2011). Sarason (1974) defined SOC as a sense of belonging to a network of reliable, supportive relationships. McMillan and Chavis (1986) then conceptualized this term around a multidimensional structure. According to their theoretical proposal for the concept, SOC has four dimensions: (1) membership in a community, (2) the influence of the individual on the community and of the community on the individual, (3) integration and fulfillment of needs, and (4) the feeling of a shared emotional connection with the community and its members. The membership or belonging dimension refers to the feeling of having invested personal resources in the community and of being part of it. Influence refers to the power that members exert amongst themselves. The fulfillment of needs refers to the values shared by members and the advantages of belonging to a community. Finally, the sharing of an emotional connection is defined as the recognition of shared ties, where the ties are the result of positive contact and a common history (Chavis & Pretty, 1999). McMillan and Chavis (1986) suggest that these organizations must be dynamically related together in order to create and maintain SOC. Despite certain criticisms about McMillan and Chavis (1986) model, their definition is still predominant (Mannarini et al., 2014).
Operationalization of the Sense of Community
The operationalization of SOC began with the exploratory study of Chavis et al. (1986) in which 1,200 adults answered a questionnaire comprising 23 open-ended questions related to a psychological sense of community. Based on this data, the authors developed the Sense of Community Index (SCI), originally comprising 12 dichotomous items classified into four factors: (1) membership, that is, the expression of a sense of belonging; (2) influence, that is, a feeling of making a difference within a group; (3) integration and satisfaction of needs, that is, the feeling that the needs of the group members will be met through their membership in the group; and (4) shared emotional connections, that is, the sharing of similar history and experiences by members (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Several instruments have been developed using the McMillan and Chavis (1986) model and adapted to measure a sense of community. Nonetheless, the Sense of Community Index (SCI), developed by Chavis et al. (1986) to empirically test sense of community, is the instrument that has been most often used (Lardier et al., 2018; Talò et al., 2014).
The SCI has been used with adolescents and adults (Chipuer & Pretty, 1999), drug addicts in rehabilitation centers (Stevens et al., 2011), city, suburb, and rural residents, workers, university students, recreational groups, and virtual communities (Talò et al., 2014). According to Obst and White (2004), SCI presents several major advantages: the strength of its conceptual basis, its empirical support, and its wide use in research that allows SOC to be compared across different populations. Several limitations have, however, been identified over the years, namely: the inconsistency of the four subscales; the dichotomy of items, thereby limiting the variability of results; and its lack of cross-cultural validity (Lardier et al., 2018). A recurring criticism in the scientific literature suggests that SCI is a more reliable measurement when it is used unidimensionally rather than multidimensionally (Chipuer & Pretty, 1999; Stevens et al., 2011). Loomis and Wright (2018) lend credence to this analysis by demonstrating that the unidimensional use of SCI provides valid measurement of SOC. Several authors have noted however that, based on their results, SCI was weakly consistent with a unidimensional model (Flaherty et al., 2014; Long & Perkins, 2003; Mak et al., 2009; Peterson et al., 2006; Stevens et al., 2011).
Lack of consensus in the scientific literature concerning SCI’s validity has encouraged researchers to modify the initial version. A confirmatory factor analysis led to the development of a short version of SCI, le Brief Sense of Community Index (BSCI; Long & Perkins, 2003). This instrument includes a three-factor structure: social connections, community values, and mutual concerns. According to Obst and White (2004), the attribution of items into three subscales that was conducted to create BSCI is not sufficiently justified from a theoretical viewpoint. The Sense of Community Index-2 (SCI-2; Chavis et al., 2008) comprises 24 items using a Likert scale and an initial question. This question asked participants to identify to what degree of SOC was important for them. Chavis et al. (2008) noted that this question can be used to interpret the results obtained with SCI-2, and that the overall score can be correlated with this question in most communities. According to these authors, SCI-2 is a very reliable instrument with a good Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .94 alpha and subscale alpha values from .79 to .86. Some studies have confirmed the validity of SCI-2 (Carrillo et al., 2015; Chuna et al., 2019 whereas others have called it into question (Park, 2018; Patka et al., 2018; Rojas-Andrade et al., 2019).
Problem Statement
Sense of community, which is identified as one of the most important theoretical constructs in the field of community psychology (Jason et al., 2015), has operationalization difficulties. Indeed, studies conducted to validate the psychometric properties of instruments that measure this concept report mixed results: the multidimensional structure of SOC (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) has not been systematically validated. Consequently, there is as of yet no consensus about how to empirically measure SOC (Chipuer & Pretty, 1999; Cope et al., 2020; Jason et al., 2015). Among the different instruments developed, SCI-2, validated with members of student communities by several authors (Carrillo et al., 2015; Chavis et al., 2008) would seem to be the most promising. The French language version of SCI-2, ISAC-2 (Community Science, 2008), has not been empirically validated (Chavis et al., 2008). As the only French-language tool measuring SOC currently available in the scientific literature, it seems relevant to validate its psychometric properties. In addition to providing researchers with a valid research instrument in a Quebec context, a cross-cultural validation would make it possible to verify the external validity of the results of English-language scientific publications in Quebec culture (Guillemin et al., 1993; Guyatt, 1993; Vallerand, 1989). Given that SOC is of great interest in community psychology (Willig & Rogers, 2017) and that it comprises numerous significant associations with mental health (Cicognani et al., 2008; Davidson & Cotter, 1991; Ramos et al., 2017), it is essential to continue on with studies so as to validate a French-language tool measuring SOC.
Research Objectives
The study presented in this article involved the validation of the psychometric qualities of the revised Indice de sentiment d’appartenance communautaire (ISAC-2, Index of a feeling of community belonging), that is, the French-language version of the Sense of Community Index-2 (SCI-2) for French-speaking youth from the general population in transition to adulthood.
Research Question and Hypotheses
The goal of the research question was to identify the psychometric qualities of ISAC-2 when the instrument is used with university students aged 18 to 30.
The hypotheses supposed that ISAC-2 had a multidimensional internal structure. It was expected that the instrument had four dimensions, namely membership, influence, fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection (H1). It was likewise expected that the instrument would have the following item-factor associations: items 1 to 6 would be associated with the fulfillment of needs factor; items 7 to 12 would be associated with the membership factor; items 13 to 18 would be associated with the influence factor; and items 19 to 24 would be associated with the shared emotional connection factor (H2). To the extent that the measured constructs are distinct but related to a sense of community, the factors were expected to be correlated with each other (H3).
Relevance of the Study
The relevance of the study in question can be broken down into three points. At the theoretical level, the study employs a relativist approach, as opposed to a universalist or absolutist approach. According to a model proposed by Berry et al. (2002), these three approaches help to position the role of culture when constructing the measurement tool. In a relativist approach, the definitions of concepts are defined by cultural borders (Berry et al., 2002). Consequently, only measurement tools adapted to the cultural context for which they are intended should be used. The validation procedure reported here aligns with this perspective of using culturally appropriate measurement tools. At the methodological level, the study is distinguished by the use of a rigorous transcultural validation protocol, going beyond the simple translation of items (Caron, 2000; Vallerand, 1989) and supported by internationally recognized standards (Beaton et al., 2000). Finally, at the scientific level, the study meets several of the needs expressed by the scientific community concerning the importance of using validated measurement tools so as to have relevant data at hand for the population in question and to be able to compare results from different studies as part of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Method
The validation procedure used in this project was comprised of four main steps (Beaton et al., 2000; Caron, 2000; Guillemin et al., 1993; Vallerand, 1989). These steps do not include the translation from English into French without a reverse translation process which had been carried out as part of a doctoral study project by a person outside the research team.
Pretest of the Translated Version
The translated version of the instrument was pretested with a sample of the target population so as to verify the understanding of the items. Each item was evaluated with a five-point scale. According to Vallerand (1989), items with a mean score over three are considered unequivocal and do not need to be modified, and items with a mean score of three or less are considered to be ambiguous and should be modified based on the experts’ comments and suggestions. This last situation did not arise in our study.
Preparation of the Revised Version
The qualitative data were compiled and then discussed by the research team. The reformulations and definitions that were developed were then submitted to seven experts in the field, namely: two well-respected researchers in the field of developmental psychology and criminology, a master’s level research professional, and four graduate students, with two doing their PhDs in psychological research (n = 1) and clinical psychology (n = 1), and the other two doing their master’s in psychology (n = 2). The opinions of these experts were sought for two aspects of the proposed changes: the extent to which the proposed changes are likely to improve the understanding of the tool; and the degree to which the proposed changes are likely to influence the items’ conformity to the measured construct.
Test of the Revised Version
The translated and revised instrument was then administered to a sample of the target population. Initially, a total of 250 participants were chosen, that is approximately the ratio suggested in the literature of 10 participants per item (24 items) (Furr & Bacharach, 2014; Hair et al., 1998; Nunnally, 1978).
Factor Validation
The assessment of the content validity of ISAC-2 was carried out with the help of a team of three graduate students, all experts in the target field. After proposing an alternative model based on factor analyses, an assessment of the fit between this model and the conceptual understanding of experts was carried out. In concrete terms, the experts were asked to classify the items in the factors proposed in the alternative model. An extra category was added on to classify statements considered to be ambiguous. In order to minimize the labeling of items and at the same time to check the instrument’s internal consistency, only the definition of the new dimensions was provided to the experts. The items were presented in a random order (neither that of the original version nor that of the alternative model) to minimize risk of bias.
Participants
Participants in the Pretest of the Translated Version
Among the 87 questionnaires submitted on line, four were removed because they contained no data (n = 83) and 16 were removed because they contained only sociodemographic data and no answers to the instrument items (n = 67). The 67 complete questionnaires were then considered for all the analyses except for data concerning age (n = 62). Indeed, five questionnaires did not contain the participant’s year of birth. The only completed questionnaire whose date of birth was outside the proposed range (18–30 years old), that is 1987 (33 years old at the time of the data collection), was included in the overall analysis. The participants were mostly women (n = 53; 79.1%), and the mean age was 24.7 years (SD = 2.7). The sociodemographic characteristics are specified in Table 1.
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants in the Pretest of the Translated Version.
Participants in the Test of the Revised Version
Among the 272 questionnaires returned online, 36 were removed because they contained no data (n = 236) and 51 were removed because they only contained sociodemographic data and no answers to the instrument items (n = 185). Five questionnaires were removed because they did not respect the age-related inclusion criteria and 14 questionnaires were removed because they did not contain the expected answers to control questions. Finally, 166 questionnaires were included in the analysis. The participants were mostly women (n = 141; 84.9%) and the mean age was 24.3 years (SD = 3.05). The sociodemographic characteristics are specified in Table 2.
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants in the Test of the Revised Version.
Material
Pretest Questionnaire
The questionnaire made it possible to run a pretest of the translated version comprising two measurement tools in addition to sociodemographic questions, that is: (1) ISAC-2 and (2) an instrument for evaluating item comprehension.
Sociodemographic Data
Eight items with variable answers were used to verify gender, age, field of study, education level, revenue, main occupations, couple status, and the postal code of the current main residence.
Indice de Sentiment d’appartenance Communautaire Révisé (ISAC-2)
ISAC-2 was composed of an initial, six-level question (from “Not at all important” to “Very important”), followed by 24 items with a four-level scale ranging from “Not at all” to “Extremely.” These items were divided into four subscales: (1) fulfillment of needs, (2) membership, (3) influence, and (4) shared emotional connection. ISAC-2 is the French language version of the Sense of Community Index-2 (SCI-2). It was translated by Ms. Élise Paradis as part of her graduate studies project. An authorization to validate it with a French-speaking population was granted by Community Science, owner of the measurement tool.
Evaluation Tool for Item Comprehension
An evaluation scale of items ranging from 1 “This statement is very hard to understand” to 5 “This statement is very easy to understand” was added to the questionnaire. The participants could comment on each item and identify words as difficult to understand in another section intended for this.
Test Questionnaire
The questionnaire that made it possible to verify the pretested version of the instrument comprised six sections including the same sociodemographic questions as the pretest questionnaire. In addition to the revised items of ISAC-2, the questionnaire comprised several scales aimed to answer other research questions. These results will be presented in separate publications. The questionnaire comprised 14 items from the French-language version of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) measuring emotional, social, and psychological well-being (Orpana et al., 2017). In order to ensure that social well-being was correctly measured, 15 items from the Échelle de Solitude Sociale et Émotionnelle (ÉSSÉ, Scale of social and emotional solitude) and 10 items from the Échelle du sentiment d’appartenance social (ÉSAS, Scale of feeling of social belonging) were added to the questionnaire. The use of SNSs (social network sites) was measured with 27 items drawn from Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale (Rosen et al., 2013). In order to measure the motivations for using SNSs, 33 items developed by Papacharissi and Mendelson (2011) were used. The questionnaire also comprised 12 items from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support (Denis et al., 2015) which measures perceived social support from family, friends, and other people in one’s circle, plus two questions developed by Miranda-Chan et al. (2016) which verified the presence of a mentor and described the types of support offered by this significant adult, if such was the case. Due to the pandemic context in which the data collection took place, 10 items whose types of answers were variable were developed by the research team and added to the questionnaire. Finally, so as to control for random answers, two control items (items 28 and 72) were added to the questionnaire. The materials used to conduct the research are available to any researcher for purposes of reproducing the results or replicating the procedure (Richard, 2022).
Procedures
Data for the whole of the university student population were either difficult to access or nonexistent. As a result, stratum or quota sampling were not that feasible. The participants were recruited via different websites and social networks, Université Laval distribution lists, as well as on the website for the Ressac project. The questionnaires were administered online on the Canadian LimeSurvey platform. The entered data were automatically uploaded to a secure server hosted by Université Laval. So as to improve the quality of the collected data and to reduce self-selection bias, two items asking participants to select a specific answer were added to the questionnaire. The collection of pre-test data took place from January 30 to February 10, 2020. The questionnaire took 20 min to fill out on average. No compensation was awarded to participants in this sample. The second data collection took place from April 30, 2020 to January 26, 2021. The questionnaire took an average of 45 min to complete. Five CND$50 prizes in the form of Solidarity Dollars, a local currency that can be exchanged in various businesses and organizations in Quebec City, were drawn among the participants who showed an interest in participating in the draw. This project was approved by Université Laval’s research ethics committee.
Results
Pretest of the Translated Version
ISAC-2
The results indicate that the initial question did not significantly correlate with the other items. The total score for ISAC-2 was positively and significantly correlated with the subscales for: fulfilment of needs r(67) = 0.844, p < .01; membership r(67) = 0.775, p < .01; influence r(67) = 0.863, p < .01; and shared emotional connection r(67) = 0.858, p < .01. All the subscales correlated positively and significantly with each other (Table 3).
Correlations of the Dimensions of the ISAC-2.
p < .01.
Item Comprehension
Item comprehension was validated in two ways. The first involved an instrument for evaluating item comprehension. None of the items obtained an ambiguous score (i.e., three or less) which would have required a discussion among the members of the research team. The total mean score was 4.54 (SD of 0.79). The minimum score was 3.97. The second way of evaluating comprehension involved having the participants identify words or expressions that were difficult to understand. In total, 32 participants (47.8% of the sample) identified at least one word or one expression whose meaning was not clear for them. The expression that was most frequently identified was “university community” with 16 mentions. In total, the participants noted 23 words or expressions needing clarification.
Preparation of the Revised Version
The comments of the experts gave rise to in-depth reflections and discussions. In was thus agreed upon to add to the tool the following definition for the concept of “university community”: “This project focuses on the university community of Université Laval. Studying at university gives you access to physical spaces (buildings, rooms, etc.), people (students, professors, administrative staff, etc.), material resources (books, computer network, etc.), and opportunities to interact with these people and resources. This is what we refer to as the university community for the requirements of this project. Your personal experience of this community is based on your level of study, field of interest, and degree of involvement. Keep your community at Université Laval in mind when answering the following questions.” The definitions of the 10 words or expressions identified as ambiguous were likewise added to the tool.
Validation of the Revised Version
In order to answer the research hypotheses, factor analyses were conducted by a statistician using SAS (Statistical Analysis System) software. Construct validation, that is reproducing the instrument’s factor structure, entailed finding the same number of factors and the same inter-factor and factor-item associations as in the original instrument (i.e., the one that was translated). Table 4 shows the results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) verifying the four initial dimensions in ISAC-2. The majority of the data did not meet Hooper et al. (2008) threshold criteria for all the factors (GFI = 0.708, RMSEA = 0.105).
Confirmatory Factor Analysis Results for the Original and for the Alternative Model.
Note. GFI = goodness of fit; AGFI = adjusted goodness of fit; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; SRMR = standardized root mean square residual.
Accordingly, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on eigenvalues and using the VARCLUS procedure in SAS (Hayton et al., 2004) was conducted with all of the data. The results indicated that the data were grouped into five dimensions. The fifth dimension was comprised of a single item, item 10: “A large number of my important needs are satisfied because I belong to the university community.” Not only was this item alone in its dimension, its internal consistency did not fit in the original model. Its removal improved the instrument’s internal consistency. The item had an alpha of .758 versus the standardized alpha of .718. Item 10 was therefore removed. The instrument retained after the EFA was comprised of 4 factors and 23 items (Table 5).
Organization of the items in the alternative model.
These four new dimensions were verified with a CFA (Table 4). Based on the criteria of Hooper et al. (2008), the model was evaluated using a root mean square error of approximation which shows good fit with the model data (RMSEA = 0.069). Based on the Goodness of Fit Index, the data fit was nonetheless insufficient (GFI = 0.828).
The alpha coefficients were reliable for the four factors as a whole, namely .905 (Factor 1), .786 (Factor 2), .800 (Factor 3), and .721 (Factor 4). Altogether, the validity of the new factors was ambiguous (Table 6).
Reliability scores.
Factor Validation by Experts
On average, 41.7% of the items were classified by the experts in keeping with the proposed model, 47.2% of the items were not classified according to the model, and 11.1% of the items were identified as ambiguous by at least one expert.
Discussion
One of the aims of the study presented in this article was to determine the psychometric qualities of ISAC-2 when used with university students aged 18 to 30. The main finding that can be drawn from the results is that the multidimensional structure is confirmed but with dimensions that differ from the original instrument.
Different Multidimensional Structure From the Initial Conceptualization
The results of the factor analyses indicate that the four original dimensions are not found in the translated version of ISAC-2. These results are at odds with the variance analyses conducted by Chuna et al. (2019) and which indicate that the dimensional structure of SCI-2 is consistent with the model proposed by McMillan and Chavis (1986). Nonetheless, a study by Rojas-Andrade et al. (2019) rejected the initial model of the instrument when working with a sample of Chilean students. Their results indicate the presence of three factors, namely school connectivity, valued belongingness, and membership-reciprocity. The item-factor association is however quite different from that obtained with the analyses presented in this article. Likewise, in the Korean version, SCI-2 was composed of two subscales with 15 and 24 items respectfully (Park, 2018). Finally, according to the conclusions of Patka et al. (2018), the instrument is neither valid in an international context nor in the one- and four-factor structures.
In sum, the results of the present study contribute to the debate on the validity of SOC measurement tools. They indicate that the difficulty associated with the operationalization of this concept would seem to repeat itself in the French-speaking Québec population. These conclusions are in keeping with the results of a study that validated a French-language version of Brief Sense of Community Index. According to the authors (Saïas, Coulombe, Loomis, & Beck, unpublished manuscript; as cited in Coulombe & Krzesni, 2019), this instrument does not have a multidimensional structure. They nonetheless recommend its use as a single indicator. Even though the definition introduced by McMillan and Chavis (1986) is considered the most widely used theoretical foundation for studies addressing SOC (Talò et al., 2014), the inconsistency of the measurement tools’ subscales calls into question their operationalization. The SOC structure would also seem to depend on the context and culture in which it is measured (Patka et al., 2018). Consequently, in order to adapt the French-language version of this instrument for Québec students transitioning into adulthood, an EFA was conducted.
New Dimensions
The results of the EFA suggest four dimensions. The first, “commitment,” refers to the experience and emotional commitment, to the meaning and belonging that a person experiences within a community. The second, “sharing,” is defined by reciprocal relationships between community members. It refers to the person’s intention to create and maintain links and their perception of their relationships with the members and the relationships between the members of the community. The third dimension, “status,” refers to the power dynamics between members, the person’s perception of power, and his or her influence over the community and its members. The fourth dimension, “symbolic value,” refers to the person’s perception of the community’s characteristics, namely its values, past experiences, and history.
These interpretations are partly in line with the findings of studies that use an ecological perspective to define SOC (Powell, 2015; Stevens et al., 2011). Jason et al. (2015) suggest that the Perceived Sense of Community Scale (PSCS) is operationalized at three levels, namely: the ontosystem, the microsystem (i.e., the immediate social network), and the macrosystem (i.e., the values and norms characterizing the society). It would thus be relevant to conceptualize SOC from an ecological perspective which states that people operate in multi-level relationship systems that influence their thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
The dimension interpretation proposed here is based on the hypothesis that the ingredients in SOC as reported by McMillan and Chavis (1986) are part of a multilevel ecological structure. “Commitment” reflects the personal experiences of a member in the community, and is part of the ontosystem. The “sharing” dimension comprises the interactions between community members that characterize the microsystem. The “status” dimension reflects the concept of power and influence that are situated in the exosystem. The items in this dimension refer more to the hierarchical relationships between community members that can be associated with system levels farther away from the person. Finally, the “symbolic value” dimension is part of the macro system insofar as it refers to the members’ representation of the community, to its norms, and to its history.
Study Limitation
Items belonging to the four original dimensions (membership, influence, needs, connection) were found in each dimension proposed here, which might suggest that the original dimensions are cross-cultural. This hypothesis is in keeping with the findings of Chuna et al. (2019) that the McMillan and Chavis model is not complex enough to define SOC. However, this interpretation of our results should be treated with caution. It is possible to revise a theory based on new results obtained from factor analyses. Nonetheless, a factor analysis is not in itself sufficient justification to modify a theory. This change process must be theoretically well founded (Flora & Flake, 2017). Also, it is important to note that the results cannot be generalized to all the people in transition to adulthood as the sample may be not representative of this population.
The item-factor associations obtained in this study are also ambiguous. Indeed, while the fit indices indicate that some items fit well with the new dimensions, others do less well. In the same vein, the dimension validation carried out by the experts indicates the ambiguity of the proposed models. A rigorous validation of the theoretical proposition and changes made to the instrument is necessary to ensure the validity of ISAC-2 with a French-speaking Québec population.
Conclusion
This article presents a cross-cultural validation with young people in transition to adulthood using ISAC-2, an instrument for measuring sense of community. The results of this four-step process indicate that the instrument has a multidimensional structure. An alternative model comprising new dimensions allowed us to place the instrument in an ecological perspective. Ultimately, this validation process highlights the importance of the relationship between theory and methodology when the time comes to operationalize a concept such as sense of community.
Among the interesting research avenues worth pursuing, it would be useful to conduct a qualitative study to verify the theoretical interpretation proposed by the present study and, if need be, to develop new items. A study could then be conducted with a large sample to validate a new version of ISAC-2 with a better theoretical basis. In so doing, it would be possible to disseminate a valid research instrument in a Québec context and to verify the validity of the results of English-language scientific publications regarding Québec culture. Another interesting research avenue would be to study the cultural issues around the meaning of the notion of community, for example its historical connotation associated with religion in some population such as that of Québec. Indeed, it seems essential to understand to what extent this concept makes sense for the people concerned before being able to study its effect on well-being. Finally, future studies on the sense of community during the transition to adulthood should consider populations for which this transition takes place in a context of vulnerability (sexual and gender diversity, cultural minorities). Indeed, the notion of sense of community sheds light on the support issues that young people face when the transition to adult life takes place in a context of adversity.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article is part of a research project funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Declaration of Social Relevance
Sense of community is a concept that helps us to better understand what contributes to mental health. An instrument for measuring whether a person feels a sense of community was used for the first time with young Quebeckers. The results indicate that the instrument could be improved so as to better reflect the circumstances of the population in question.
Ethical Approval
This project was approved by Université Laval’s research ethics committee (approval #2019-264).
Informed Consent
All participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.
