Relationship of Metacognitive Strategies and Attachment Styles with School Belonging among Secondary School Students in Zahedan, Iran

After a childhood and following human beings to adolescence, changes have been achieved in him (or her), including the tendency of individuals to gain independence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between metacognitive strategies and attachment styles with the sense of school belonging in high school students in Zahedan.

The present study was a correlational study; The statistical population of the present study was all high school students in Zahedan, and the sample consisted of 370 people who were selected by simple cluster-random sampling. The questionnaires that were considered to collect information from the sample group were: Barry et al.'s Feeling of Belonging Questionnaire (2004), O'Neill and Abedi Metacognitive State Questionnaire (1996), and Collins and Reid Attachment Questionnaire (1991). For the statistical analysis of data, the Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation model (SEM) were used using Amos.22 and SPSS.22 software.

Results showed that metacognitive awareness (β=0.31, p <0.001), cognitive strategy (β=0.24, p=0.045), planning (β=0.23, p=0.003) and self-review (β=0.28, p <0.001) had positive effect on school belonging. Secure attachment style (β=0.17, p=0.021) has positive effect on school belonging. Avoidance attachment style (β=-0.27, p <0.001) and ambivalent attachment style (β=-0.23, p=0.003) had negative effect on school belonging.

It can be concluded that metacognitive strategies components have a positive and direct effect on school belonging to school belonging. A secure attachment style has a positive effect on school belonging. Avoidance attachment style and ambivalent attachment style had a negative effect on school belonging.