However, once students transition into middle school and adolescence, their perceptions of school belonging drop significantly.[1] Similarly, a separate study found that students' school belonging decreased in the transition from middle to high school; these students also displayed an increase in depressive symptoms and a decline in social support, which could be considered either causes or consequences of the decline in school belonging.[13] This trend has been replicated in many other studies, suggesting that school belonging declines once students reach adolescence.[13][14]