The relevance of community sentiments to Australian rural youths' intention to stay in their home communities

This study explores whether community sentiment factors can mediate structural disadvantage factors in rural youths' intentions to stay in their home communities. In total, 3,023 Australians ages 13 to 18 years responded to items assessing community sentiment (belonging, sense of community, and social support) and subjective quality of life. Structural disadvantage was represented by population size. Participants responded to "If I could get a job here or go to University/College here, I would choose to stay in this town for the foreseeable future." Findings indicate all factors had a positive relationship with intention to stay; however, only belonging partially mediates the effect of size of community. The combined effects for all factors account for 19% more of the variability in intention to stay than the size of community alone. Discussion considers how focus on structural factors alone restricts the understanding of push-pull dynamics facing rural youth. © 2006 Sage Publications.