Social support and social wellbeing in relation to sense of community among adults in an urban–rural area of southern Peru: a network and latent factor analysis approach

Introduction Against a global backdrop of increasing social disconnection, sense of community has emerged as a key factor in collective wellbeing, although the psychosocial factors underlying its development remain poorly understood. This study examined how perceived social support and social wellbeing are related to sense of community among adults living in an urban–rural area of southern Peru. Methods A non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational-explanatory design was used with 1,613 participants ( M = 36.7; SD = 12.5). Structural equation modeling (SEM), including mediation and multigroup analyses (urban–rural), and partial correlation network analysis (EBICglasso) were conducted. Invariance was assessed using SEM and the Network Comparison Test. Results Social support was positively associated with social wellbeing ( β = 0.248), which, in turn, was positively associated with sense of community ( β = 0.316). The results supported full mediation (indirect effect β = 0.078; direct effect β = 0.027), with the model explaining 10.5% of the variance in sense of community. Multigroup analysis indicated structural invariance across urban and rural areas. Although the associations were descriptively stronger in the rural group, no significant differences were found in network structure or global strength. Functional social integration emerged as the most central node in the network, while support from friends represented the main relational pathway. Discussion The findings suggest that social wellbeing plays a mediating role in the association between social support and sense of community, with this relationship being particularly linked to social integration. This pattern remained stable across urban and rural contexts, providing novel evidence on the psychosocial processes associated with community cohesion in Peru, with potential implications for other Latin American contexts sharing similar sociocultural characteristics.