Rosenberg, M., & McCullough, B. C. (1981). Mattering: Inferred significance and mental health among adolescents. Research in Community & Mental Health, 2, 163-182.

Explored adolescents’ beliefs that they matter to their parents. Data from 4 large-scale surveys completed by 6,568 junior and senior high school students were analyzed using the research strategy of theoretical replication. Results indicate that “parental mattering” was related to global self-esteem and that this relationship was not attributable to Ss’ beliefs that their parents held positive or negative attitudes toward them. Ss’ feeling that they mattered to their parents was also associated with a number of fundamental dimensions of mental health independent of self-esteem (e.g., depression, anxiety, and negative affective states). Males who felt they mattered little to their parents were more likely to be delinquent. The relationship between significance and mattering is discussed, and social and cultural influences of parental mattering (idiosyncratic factors, socioeconomic status, sibling structure, and religion) are reviewed.

 

 

Rosenberg, M., & McCullough, B. C. (1981). Mattering: Inferred significance and mental health among adolescents. Research in Community & Mental Health, 2, 163-182.