Migrant Students’ Sense of Belonging and the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Implications for Educational Inclusion
Open accessAbstract
This article investigates school belonging among migrant students and how this changed during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 751 migrant students in secondary schools in six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK), we examined the impact of Covid‐19 school closures, social support, and post‐traumatic stress symptoms on changes in school belonging. Linear regression showed a non‐significant decrease in school belonging, and none of the studied variables had a significant effect on this change in our whole sample. However, sensitivity analysis on a subsample from three countries (Denmark, Finland, and the UK) showed a small but significant negative effect of increasing post‐traumatic stress symptoms on school belonging during Covid‐19 school closures. Given that scholarship on school belonging during Covid‐19 is emergent, this study delineates some key areas for future research on the relationship between wellbeing, school belonging, and inclusion.
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In some longitudinal studies, loneliness was only assessed at one time point, making it difficult to examine mean-level changes.
“In some longitudinal studies, loneliness was only assessed at one time point, making it difficult to examine mean-level changes (e.g., [64,68,69]).”
From Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [64]
Several studies revealed complex interactive effects such that more adverse impacts of loneliness were evident for adolescents with poorer pre-pandemic well-being.
“However, several studies revealed some complex interactive effects such that more adverse impacts of loneliness were evident for adolescents with poorer pre-pandemic well-being [64,66].”
From Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [64]
There were seven out of 11 studies with a pre-pandemic assessment that generally showed increases in loneliness and/or loneliness as a predictor of poorer well-being.
“There were seven out of 11 studies with a pre-pandemic assessment that generally showed increases in loneliness and/or loneliness as a predictor of poorer well-being (e.g., [62,64,66]).”
From Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [64]
Social disconnection assessed during the pandemic significantly moderated the change in depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the pandemic; individuals reporting higher social connection reported significantly fewer depression and anxiety symptoms.
“social disconnection (i.e., indicator of loneliness) assessed during the pandemic significantly moderated the change in depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the pandemic. Individuals reporting higher social connection during the pandemic reported significantly fewer depression and anxiety symptoms between pre- to during the pandemic.”
From Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [64]
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- Authors
- Szelei, N., Devlieger, I., Verelst, A., Spaas, C., Jervelund, S. S., Primdahl, N. L., Skovdal, M., Opaas, M., Durbeej, N., Osman, F., Soye, E., Colpin, H., De Haene, L., Aalto, S., Kankaanpää, R., Peltonen, K., Andersen, A. J., Hilden, P. K., Watters, C., & Derluyn, I.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- KU Leuven (BE)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NO)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Dalarna University (SE)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Tampere University (FI)
- University of Turku (FI)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Social Inclusion
- Publisher
- Cogitatio
- Published
- 2022-02-25
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 2183-2803 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4214566391
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 4.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Social Inclusion (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Social Inclusion (Cogitatio Press) (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Lirias (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UTUPub (University of Turku) (submittedVersion)
- Dalarna University College Electronic Archive (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Tampere University Institutional Repository (Tampere University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (HORIZON2020, 754849)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees
- Social Sciences › Education › Education during COVID-19 pandemic
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Keywords
- migrant students, school belonging, COVID-19 pandemic, school closures, social support, posttraumatic stress symptoms, inclusive education, student well-being, high school students, European schools
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