ERIC Number: ED179903
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1979-Aug-27
Pages: 44
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Mattering: Inferred Significance and Mental Health Among Adolescents.
Rosenberg, Morris; McCullough, B. Claire
The beliefs of adolescents, specifically that they matter to their parents, was investigated using four large-scale samples of adolescents at different grade levels and located in different sections of the country, as well as a nationwide sample of tenth grade boys. Survey items captured diverse expressions of mattering, i.e., the feeling that one is an object of interest to parents, that one is important to parents, that one is an object of concern, that one's opinions count, and that one is wanted. Results indicated that: (1) parental mattering is related to global self-esteem and that this relationship is not attributable to the child's beliefs that the parents hold negative or positive attitudes about him/her; (2) feelings that one matters are associated with many dimensions of mental health; and (3) adolescents who were also juvenile delinquents tended to feel that they did not matter to their parents. (Author/HLM)
Descriptors: Adolescents, Beliefs, Mental Health, Parent Attitudes, Parent Child Relationship, Perception, Relationship, Self Esteem, Surveys
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEW), Rockville, MD.
Authoring Institution: Maryland Univ., College Park.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (Boston, Massachusetts, August 27, 1979); Best copy available