Sense of Community, Unfairness, and Psychosomatic Symptoms: A Multilevel Analysis of Italian Schools

Purpose: This study examines the role of school sense of community and school unfairness in predicting psychosomatic symptoms among Italian early adolescents. The study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relations between individual and school characteristics, and students’ psychosomatic symptoms. Methods: Data were analyzed using a two-level model based on 22,552 students (49.8% boys; M age ¼ 15.70, SD ¼ .69) nested within 1,111 schools. A questionnaire devised by the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) international group was used. Results: Sense of community and procedural unfairness in the school at the individual level showed a significant association with students’ psychosomatic symptoms. School characteristics predicted between-school variation in psychosomatic symptoms, in that procedural unfairness at the school level increased the risk for psychosomatic symptoms and a sense of community in the school protected students. Conclusions: The present study suggests that the quality-of-school context may have a key role in predicting students’ psychosomatic symptoms.