Perceived Mattering to the Family and Physical Violence Within the Family by Adolescents

Mattering is the extent to which people believe they make a difference in the world around them. This study hypothesizes that adolescents who believe they matter less to their families will more likely threaten or engage in intrafamily physical violence. The data come from a national sample of 2,004...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of family issues Vol. 32; no. 8; pp. 1007 - 1029
Main Authors Elliott, Gregory C., Cunningham, Susan M., Colangelo, Melissa, Gelles, Richard J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2011
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Adolescents
Age Differences
Attitudes
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Children
Domestic violence
Educational Attainment
Family Environment
Family Relationship
Family Structure
Family Violence
Females
Gender Differences
Interviews
Marital Status
Parent-child relations
Parents
Race
Racial Differences
Religiosity
Religious Factors
Self Esteem
Sex differences
Socioeconomic Influences
Socioeconomic Status
Teenagers
Violence
White people
Whites
Youth Risk Behavior Survey
attitude toward violence
adolescence
self-esteem
adolescent violence within the family
family violence
mattering
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Summary:Mattering is the extent to which people believe they make a difference in the world around them. This study hypothesizes that adolescents who believe they matter less to their families will more likely threaten or engage in intrafamily physical violence. The data come from a national sample of 2,004 adolescents. Controlling for respondents’ age, gender, race, religiosity, and family socioeconomic status, structure, and size, logistic regression reveals that mattering to family is a strong contributor to violence. The effect of mattering is mediated by self-esteem and attitude toward violence. Females are more violent than males. Compared with the average respondent, Hispanics are less likely than Whites to commit violence. Children from larger families increasingly use violence. Religiosity diminishes family violence. Children whose responding parent did not finish high school are less likely to turn to violence compared with those whose parent did postcollege study.
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ISSN:0192-513X
1552-5481
DOI:10.1177/0192513X11398932