Combining empirical evidence with indices to measure mattering, Family Matters: The Importance of Mattering to Family in Adolescence explores the inverse relationship between mattering and dysfunctional behavior in adolescence.

• Defines mattering and distinguishes among the three ways that people can matter to others: awareness, importance, and reliance
• Utilizes empirical evidence from a quantitative analyses of data from a nationwide survey 2,004 adolescents to support author’s assertions
• Explores the impact of structural and demographic factors such as family structure in developing of a sense of mattering in adolescents.
• Includes helpful indices, including his Mattering Index and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Index
• Suggests how parents, teachers, and other significant people in the lives of adolescents can work to instill a sense of mattering in those under their care