JOURNAL 10.1177/0886260505281439 Elliott et al.

OF / CHILD INTERPERSON ABUSE AND AL VIOLENCE SOCIAL ISOLA / December TION 2005

Child Physical Abuse and Self-Perceived Social Isolation Among Adolescents

GREGORY C. ELLIOTT
Brown University

SUSAN M. CUNNINGHAM
College of the Holy Cross

MEADOW LINDER
University of Michigan

MELISSA COLANGELO MICHELLE GROSS

Brown University

This research examines the connection between physical abuse and social isolation. Using data from the National Youth Survey, a measure of self-perceived social isolation was constructed indicating the extent to which respondents feel detached from their friends and from school. Those who had experienced violence were predicted to be more isolated than those who had not. Results strongly supported the hypothesis, controlling for theoretically relevant variables. Explanation is provided in terms of damage to attachment skills, social competence, and self-esteem concomitant to being a victim of abuse. Males were more socially isolated than females, and Hispanics more than Whites. Children with involved parents were less socially isolated; those whose parents experienced normlessness were more isolated. Children who recently experienced a stressful event or were from riskier neighborhoods were more isolated. The number of children in the family was positively related to isolation. Social isolation decreases between seventh and eighth grades. Keywords: child abuse; social isolation

Authors Note: The authors presented a prior version of this article at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 16 to 19, 2002, Chicago, Illinois. Deirdre Brogan provided invaluable assistance with the literature review. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions. Any remaining errors are our responsibility. The National Youth Survey, through the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), provided data for this analysis. The original collector of the data and ICPSR are not responsible for the analyses reported herein or the interpretations made of them.
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INTRODUCTION

The voluminous research on child abuse reveals the many and varied consequences of experiencing serious maltreatment for a young person (see Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 1999, for a comprehensive review of the research). When the focus is restricted to adolescence, much less is known, although some have argued that the effects of abuse may be qualitatively different (Williamson, Borduin, & Howe, 1991). Research has revealed that physical abuse in adolescence is associated with becoming a victim of dating violence (Reuterman & Burcky, 1989), enacting delinquent behaviors (Zingraff, Leiter, Myers, & Johnsen, 1993), and for females, engaging in risky sexual activity (G. Elliott, Avery, Fishman, & Hoshiko, 2002). The present analysis focuses on a distinct but related consequence of physical abuse: social isolation. Extensive research has focused on the significance of peer relationships for adolescent development and behavior, with an emphasis on problematic aspects. (For reviews of the research on social isolation in youth, see Hymel, Vaillancourt, & McDougall, 2002; Kupersmidt, Coie, & Dodge, 1990; and Rubin, Burgess, & Coplan, 2002) Focusing on long-term consequences, research shows that experiencing difficulties with peers is a consistent risk factor for later adjustment (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998, p. 681). Furthermore, about one third of children with poor peer relationships go on to experience maladjustment postadolescence (Parker, Rubin, Price, & DeRosier, 1995). In addition, findings indicate that peer rejection is correlated with externalizing problems for this age group (Laird, Jordan, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 2001). Prior research has demonstrated that physically maltreated children tend to exhibit higher rates of withdrawn behavior than those who are not maltreated (Haskett & Kistner, 1991); when other forms of maltreatment (psychological abuse and emotional neglect) are considered as well, the results are not changed (Aber, Allen, Carlson, & Cichetti, 1989). Other research indicates that despite the protective role of close friendships, chronic physical abuse diminished childrens capacity to sustain close relationships with peers (Bolger, Patterson, & Kupersmidt, 1998). However, these studies are small clinical or community-based samples of preadolescent children. In contrast, the present analysis uses a national sample of adolescents. Social Isolation Conceptually, social isolation refers to the loss of social connection to other individuals and social institutions. Socially isolated people do not have friendship networks, nor do they participate in the activities connected with

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social institutions. Many studies of social isolation have defined social isolation in terms of objective patterns of behavior. For example, chronic maltreatment of children is associated with a heightened risk of rejection by peers (Bolger & Patterson, 2001); the measure of rejection used in this study was a ranking by peers of least-liked children in the school class. In contrast, the present analysis examines the adolescents self-perceived social isolation. The use of self-perceptions is another way in which this study differs from prior research concerning child physical maltreatment and isolation. From theory on the development of the self-concept (Rosenberg, 1979), it is clear that behaviors (whether ones own or anothers) form the basis of selfattributions about the extent to which one is connected to others in meaningful and satisfying ways. Self-perceptions can be even more powerful in their consequences than objective patterns of behavior. First, self-perceptions, even if they are distortions of objective reality, are often more real to the person; they are part of the cognitive structure that orients the person to society, taking to heart W. I. Thomass dictum that if a thing is perceived to be real, it is real in its consequences. Second, individuals are not always aware of their objective patterns of behavior (in part because their self-perceptions bias their social awareness), but they are always cognizant of their perceptions. Third, self-perceptions are often powerful motivators for human behavior, irrespective of whether they are grounded in objective reality. To that end, the self-perception of social isolation is more important in influencing the orientation and behavior of an individual than the objective behavior of self or other. Indeed, self-perceived social isolation affirms a detachment that may lead, in its extreme, to the gravest of consequences. Sociologists note that egoistic suicide, found in societies in which the individual predominates in the social order, is a product of societys insufficient presence in individuals through a deficiency in truly collective activity (Durkheim, 1951, p. 258). Even if that deficiency is merely perceived and is contradicted by a more objective analysis of behavior patterns, it is likely to have powerful consequences for the individual. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish the social isolation of the family from that of the individual adolescent victims themselves. Researchers have long known that violent families isolate themselves for fear of their neighbors finding out, and the neighbors stay away for fear of getting too involved and running the risk of being hit themselves (Gelles, 1987, p. 109). Much of the research on this topic investigates the isolation of the parents or of the entire family unit (Whipple & Webster-Stratton, 1991). In contrast, this article focuses on the self-perceived isolation of adolescents, in particular, the sense of isolation from friends and school.

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Accounting for the Link Between Physical Abuse and Isolation Although the childs perceptions may be, in part, a response to a command from the abusing parent or parents or a modeling of the parents isolation, there are also incentives from within to isolate oneself. From the theory and research on child physical abuse and subsequent development, it is possible to generate three mechanisms by which the experience of physical abuse might lead to social isolation in adolescence. Although the data do not allow an explicit test of the mediating properties of these factors, these arguments will establish the rationale for examining the proposed link at all. Damaged attachment. Rooted in the work of Bowlby (1969) and Ainsworth (1973), attachment theory examines the almost universal tendency for infant attachment to a caregiver. Some argue that attachment difficulties in the parent precipitate abuse of the child (Crittenden & Ainsworth, 1989). In addition, abusing mothers tend to exhibit more negative-type behaviors (harshness, excessive control) in interactions with their children (Wasserman, Green, & Rhianon, 1983), supporting the proposition that maltreated children tend to be anxiously attached to parents. Beyond the emotional bond, which Bowlby (1969) argues is the essence of attachment, there is the concept of attachment security (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Insecurely attached children have difficulty managing their environments. In these cases, the parents presence does not inspire confidence either that there will be protection or, more simply, that the parent will be available (Crittenden & Ainsworth, 1989). Consequently, without a secure base in light of danger, poorly attached children are less likely to explore their environments. In sum, it is reasonable that children with problematic attachment circumstances will develop repertoires more likely to isolate them in a variety of ways. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) also addresses the tendency for children to develop internal representational models of their caretaker and themselves. Such internal working models portray images of the outside world to the child. Steele (1997) builds on this notion to assert that abused children fail to learn empathy, which helps one to feel for others and serves as an inhibiting factor for engaging in harmful behaviors toward others. Rather than an intergenerational transmission of empathy from caregiver to child, abused children internalize a more hostile view of the world, which has negative implications for healthy engagement with others. Indeed, an infant who experiences a secure attachment relationship is thought to internalize a sense

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of others as available and of the self as worthy of attention and care (Mueller & Silverman, 1989, p. 540). Abused children, lacking such secure attachment, learn the opposite: abandonment and unworthiness. In addition, social network theory (Lewis & Schaeffer, 1981) proposes that insecure attachments can lead to a generalized fearfulness of others in the child, which consequently can encourage the child to avoid peer relations. Hence, it is reasonable to expect that this child will be socially isolated. Damaged social competence. In addition to damaged emotional connections, abused youth may suffer a more pragmatic effect: The child simply does not learn the mechanics of building and maintaining lasting connections to others. For example, abused adolescents display more behavior problems (Cavaiola & Schiff, 1988); similarly, abused adolescents are themselves more likely to be violent in their dealings with others (Truscott, 1992). Because not all adolescent physical abuse begins in adolescence, it is worth noting that Wolfe and Mosk (1983) found a deficit in social competence in abused children (ages 6 to 16) compared to nonabused children. Furthermore, abused children (ages 6 to 8) were less adept than nonabused children in comprehending social roles (Barahal, Waterman, & Martin, 1981). This lack of competence may persevere into adolescence. In short, abused childrens energies are preoccupied with issues that are distractions from the normal developmental tasks of adolescence. During the past decade, researchers have investigated the concept of emotional dysregulation and in so doing, have helped to explain the limited competence of maltreated children. Emotional dysregulation refers to interference in the processing of information and events, difficulties with the flexible integration of emotion with other processes, and poor control over affective experience and expression (Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994, p. 77). Hubbard and Coie (1994) argue for the importance of exploring the connection between emotional functioning and childrens social competence, especially with respect to peer relationships. In essence, researchers are finding that children who fail to regulate emotions, especially negative ones, will be less likely to achieve normal developmental strides. Hence, there is the resultant lack of competence for such children. Additional research indicates that maltreated children are less effective at regulating emotion appropriately. For example, maltreated children are less likely to process negative feelings in a constructive fashion, such that they will have difficulties in shifting attention away from disturbing stimuli, in suppressing impulsive reactions, and in engaging in planning and problemfocused coping. Such emotion dysregulation serves to inhibit competence

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(Eisenberg & Fabes, 1992). For youth in Grades 7 to 10, deficits in emotion regulation are associated with ostracism, rejection, and bullying by peers (Pope & Bierman, 1999). Similarly, in a study of preadolescent children (ages 8 to 12), attenuated emotion regulation mediates the effects of maltreatment on childrens competence, such that respondents were at risk in peer relationships, irrespective of the specific behaviors employed (Shields, Cicchetti, & Ryan, 1994). Finally, internal representations play a role in the emotion dysregulation. In particular, consistent with attachment theory, maltreated children (ages 8 to 12) display more negative and constricted representations of parents; in turn, such negative images mitigate against emotion regulation, thereby increasing the likelihood of peer rejection (Shields, Ryan, & Cicchetti, 2001). In short, this research demonstrates that physically maltreated children are inhibited in their development of social skills concerning peer relationships. In addition, maltreated children develop negative representations of caregivers, and these, in their impact on emotion regulation, can lead to rejection by peers. For example, children may act out aggressively or they may misinterpret other childrens behaviors, based on the images in their heads. Regardless of pathway, such children are restricted in their growth and opportunity to interact in a healthy fashion with peers. All of this suggests that abused adolescents are less likely to learn the interactive skills necessary to establish and maintain meaningful connections to other people or to social institutions. Lacking these skills, they are more likely to find themselves socially isolated. Damaged self-concept. There is good evidence that physical child abuse damages the psychological self of the young person (see Aber & Cicchetti, 1984, for a review). The most prominent harm found in research is to selfesteem and depression (Allen & Tarnowski, 1989). Related to social isolation, children show increased difficulties with both self-esteem and peer relationships as a function of greater severity and chronicity of maltreatment (Bolger et al., 1998). Furthermore, people with low self-esteem are less likely to be socially integrated interpersonally, institutionally, or normatively (G. Elliott & Rosenberg, 1989). Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that physically abused adolescents perceive themselves as more socially isolated because the abuse contributes to a feeling of personal worthlessness, and seriously deficient people cannot afford to be involved with other individuals or with social institutions because they do not want their inadequacies to become public knowledge. In this vein, social isolation serves a selfdefensive function.

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Hypothesis The hypothesis of the present study is that those who experience physical abuse from a parent are more likely to be socially isolated than those who do not. Furthermore, the effect remains strong and significant even when controlling for personal and structural factors that also contribute to social isolation. Other Predictors of Social Isolation It is well known that other structural and personal factors contribute to an adolescents self-perception of social isolation. The analysis includes as many of these factors as the data set would allow, either directly or in the form of reasonable proxies. Gender. Some research has revealed that men are more socially isolated than women (Vandervoort, 2000). Among college students, males are more socially alienated than females (Lane & Daugherty, 1999). The present study provides an opportunity to discover whether this difference obtains for adolescents as well. Race. The findings regarding race seem less clear. Some studies do report racial differences in some form of social isolation. For example, among adolescents who experience a move to a new home, Blacks and Caucasians had significantly lower levels of alienation and isolation than Hispanics and Cambodians (Calabrese, 1989). Socioeconomic status (SES). Two studies reported a difference in some form of isolation across SES lines, although neither involved adolescents. Among preadolescent Canadian children, those from lower SES homes are more socially withdrawn than those from higher SES homes (Schneider, Richard, Younger, & Freeman, 2000). At the other end of the age continuum, lower SES elderly were lonelier than higher status elderly (Pinquart & Soerensen, 2001). As with race and gender, this analysis will reveal whether SES differences generalize to the population of adolescents. Family structure. Marital disruption has been found to redound to the disadvantage of children. Divorce leads to greater levels of social withdrawal among adolescent and preadolescent children, although intact families with a high degree of conflict promote even higher levels (Jekielek, 1998). Because

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no measure of family conflict existed in the data set, one may be skeptical of the effectiveness of an analysis that merely distinguishes marital status. It may well be that any differences that might obtain between traditional and nontraditional families will be erased by the commingling of high and low conflict levels in traditional and blended families, compared to single-parent households. Nevertheless, the analysis includes a measure of marital status, for completeness. In addition, a measure of disruptive events in the home is available that may serve as a more general proxy for the tension that is likely to be the cause of social isolation found in high conflict families. Finally, it may be important to investigate the effect of the number of children in the family on perceived social isolation. If adolescents feel they are lost in the crowd within their own family, they may find it difficult to feel a part of the world outside their family. Characteristics of the parents. It is possible that as part of the socialization process, children might take their cue regarding involvement with people and with social institutions from their parents. Psychological well-being is lower for children of uninvolved parents, compared to those with involved parents (Simons, Johnson, & Conger, 1994). The present analysis included measures of parenting style and parental involvement. In addition, the data provide a measure of parental normlessness (the sense that the social norms regulating individual conduct have broken down or are no longer effective as rules for behavior; Seeman, 1959, p. 787); parents who experience this form of alienation could be a further socializing factor that leads to social isolation in the adolescent. Neighborhood. The social context of the neighborhood might facilitate or inhibit social isolation. In particular, dangerous or poverty-stricken neighborhoods might make it difficult for a child to learn how to engage with others or how to participate in social institutions. People from poor neighborhoods participated less in community organizations than those from more well-to-do neighborhoods (Rankin & Quane, 2000). Greater psychological distress (depression and anxiety) was found in poor, stable neighborhoods because of the level of chaos and disorder that residents must endure daily; in contrast, the effect of stability is positive in more affluent neighborhoods (Ross, Reynolds, & Geis, 2000). Length of residence may also contribute to feelings of isolation. This article seeks to discover whether these factors work for adolescents as well. Child development. Research in the self-concept has demonstrated that the period of early adolescence (ages 12 to 14) is one of severe disturbance to

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the self-concept (Rosenberg, 1979). There are biological reasons for this disruption but social and structural ones, as well. One of the latter type concerns the environment of the childs school. Beginning in middle school, the classroom environment changes; the child is expected to relate to more than one or two teachers during the entire day. This creates a challenge for a child who, at this stage of development, is just beginning to form a generalized other (Mead, 1934) whose role must be taken to build a coherent, integrated sense of self. It is reasonable to expect that in the period of self-concept disturbance, the child might prefer a greater degree of social isolation or perceive that others are not appropriately sensitive to the turmoil he or she is enduring. As the child matures into later adolescence, he or she becomes more practiced at taking the role of the generalized other; the self becomes more stable and is ready to be presented to others. Accordingly, the grade in school attended by the respondents in the data served as a proxy for this dramatic shift in social development.

METHOD

Data The data were taken from the first wave of the National Youth Survey (NYS) of 1,725 young people and one of their parents or legal guardians (D. Elliott, Huizinga, & Menard, 1989). The NYS employed a probability sample of households in the continental United States based on a self-weighting, multistage, cluster-sampling design. For further details on the sampling frame and procedure, see D. Elliott et al. (1989). Missing data and exclusions because of inappropriateness for the current analysis reduced the number of respondents to 1,563. Unfortunately, the data were collected in 1976; the fact that the data are nearly 30 years old could potentially limit the applicability of the reported results to todays youth. However, these data provide the only opportunity to examine the relationship between adolescent physical abuse and perceived social isolation. It is, of course, possible that cohort differences would emerge in a contrast of old and new data, but there is little reason to believe that the fundamental processes posited by us to underlie the relationship would have changed in this period, even with all the other social changes that might have occurred.

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Operationalizations Social isolation. A series of items in the NYS constituted the measure of social isolation. The original set of items focused on three sources of possible lapsed connections: family, friends, and school. Because of the above-stated interest in social connections outside the family, this analysis used only the items relating to friends and school. The index consisted of 11 items; see Table 1 for a complete list of items. Gottman (1977) argues that social isolation is not a unitary construct; he distinguishes social withdrawal (a unilateral action taken by the adolescent himself or herself) from social rejection (a unilateral action against the adolescent taken by others) and presents evidence that the two are qualitatively different social phenomena rather than two ends of a single continuum. However, this effort focuses on social isolation as the perception of lack of meaningful connection to others; this perception may be because of a selfattribution regarding ones own behavior (withdrawal) or an attribution about the consequences of the behavior of others (rejection). It may be the case that how the attribution of isolation arises is important in its consequences for social behavior. Unfortunately, the data from the NYS uses items measuring perceptions of rejection and a general perception that one does not fit in with others, which is not equivalent to social withdrawal; therefore, they do not permit us to distinguish between perceptions of rejection and perceptions of withdrawal. Responses were assessed on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A higher score on an item indicated a greater degree of social isolation. As Table 1 reveals, an item analysis showed a reasonably high level of internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha = .759, item-total correlations ranging from .330 to .509, median = .391). Child physical abuse. Child respondents were asked, Have you ever been beaten up by your mother or father? as well as the number of times this occurred within the past year. A simple dichotomous abuse variable was constructed, indicating the presence of abuse; those who said they had not been beaten up served as the reference category for the analysis.1 Note that the phrasing of the question connotes more than corporal punishment, so that the focus is more likely on the effect of what Straus and Gelles (1990) would call severe child abuse.2 Demographic variables. A dummy variable distinguished gender, with female as the reference category. Race was divided into three categories: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic; Whites served as

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TABLE 1: Item Analyses of Constructed Indices Item Item-Total Correlation Cronbachs alpha

Social isolation Im not asked to take part in school activities as often as Id like to be I dont feel that I fit in very well with my friends Teachers dont call on me in class, even when I raise my hand I often feel like nobody at school cares about me My friends dont take much interest in my problems I dont feel as if I really belong at school Even though there are lots of kids around, I often feel lonely at school Teachers dont ask me to work on special classroom projects Sometimes I feel lonely when I am with friends a I feel close to my friends a My friends are willing to listen if I have a problem Parental normlessness One can succeed without having to cheat, mislead, or lie in a his or her relationship with others A person is better off without friends if he or she has to break rules a or laws to keep them a Its important to be honest with your children, even if it upsets them Its okay to lie to teachers and other adults if it keeps your children out of trouble Making a good impression is more important than telling the truth Its all right to cheat a little on income taxes, if youre really struggling to provide for your family Sometimes its necessary to lie to your children in order to keep their respect a. Reverse-coded.

.330 .448 .371 .509 .499 .391 .457 .380 .393 .371 .353 .759

.392 .259 .290 .315 .397 .300 .386 .615

the reference category.3 The SES variable reflected the level of educational attainment for the principle wage earner in the household. The variable consisted of three categories: less than high school, high school diploma or GED certificate, and at least some college. The highest educational level served as the reference category.4 Marital status. In the first indicator of family characteristics, parent respondents described the marital status of the adults in the family. If the respondent reported both biological parents present in the household, the family was classified as traditional; if the respondent was single, divorced, or

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separated and reported no other adults present in the household, the family was classified as single parent; if there were two parent figures in the household, at most one of them a biological parent, the family was classified as nontraditional. The traditional family served as the reference category. Number of children in the family. As a second measure of family characteristics, parent respondents reported the number of children younger than 18 in the household. Disruptive events in the home. The last reflection of family characteristics is a proxy for family conflict. Parent respondents were asked to indicate which of a number of stressful events occurred in their family in the past year. Examples of such events included divorce, separation, or remarriage; death, serious illness, or serious accident; and mother or father moving out of the home. The rarity of disruptive events would have led to a highly skewed ratio level variable if one merely counts the number of such events; therefore, it was decided to distinguish households that had no disruptions from those that had any at all. A dummy variable was created, such that if the parental respondent reported the occurrence of any of these events, the family was considered under stress; if the respondent reported none of these events, the family was not considered under stress. The nonstressed family served as the reference category. Parenting style. Unfortunately, the NYS data were collected prior to the development of distinctions among authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative parenting styles (Baumrind, 1978). However, the survey did include items to measure the distinction between inductive and power-assertive parenting (Hoffman & Saltzstein, 1967). The selected parent or guardian of each child was asked how he or she would react when the child does something wrong. In each of three instances, respondents were asked to choose between four options, two of which were classified by coders as inductive (e.g., discuss his or her behavior with him or her as well as my reasons for being upset with it) or noninductive (e.g., yell at him or her). The adult respondent also indicated how his or her partner (if appropriate) would discipline the child. Only the second two instances from the survey were used, because they offered the clearest contrasts between inductive and noninductive behavior. In two-parent families, if either parent (according to the report given by the selected parent figure) was uniformly noninductive in reaction to both questions, the family parenting style was coded as noninductive; otherwise, the family style was coded as inductive. Evidence suggests that the more volatile

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noninductive parenting style can have a disproportionate effect on the ambience of the family (Baumrind, 1978).5 Adolescents perception of parental involvement. Adolescent respondents were asked how much their parents have taken part or shared in the childs school activities and in community activities. Responses were on a 4-point Likert-type scale, ranging from almost always to almost never and were summed across the two forms of involvement. A higher score indicated greater parental involvement. Parental normlessness. The NYS questionnaire included several items that measured the level of normlessness in the parent respondent. Responses were assessed on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A higher score on an item indicated a greater degree of normlessness. After iteratively trimming items that did not perform well in an item analysis, seven items remained. Table 1 presents the final figures. Even though the results were less satisfactory (Cronbachs alpha = .615, item-total correlations ranging from .259 to .397, median = .391), the index was included as a predictor of adolescent social isolation. The lower Cronbachs alpha is at least in part because of the smaller number of items in this index; the relative unreliability of this index will provide a conservative test of its predictive power. Neighborhood problems. Parent respondents were asked to indicate how much of a problem each of a number of situations was in their neighborhood. Examples included vandalism, the presence of winos and junkies, abandoned houses, burglaries or thefts, the presence of run down and poorly kept buildings, and assaults and muggings. If the parental respondent reported the occurrence of any of these situations, the neighborhood was considered problematic; if the respondent reported none of these situations, the neighborhood was not considered problematic. The nonproblematic neighborhood served as the reference category. Length of residence. Parental respondents indicated how long they have lived in the current neighborhood. Responses included less than 1 year, 1 to 2 years, 3 to 4 years, and more than 4 years. The longest residence was made the reference category for a series of dummy variables. Grade. Finally, the adolescents grade in school reflected the level of child development. The 12th grade served as the reference category. Respondents not currently in school were so few that they were omitted from the analysis.

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ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

An ordinary least squares regression was conducted, using SAS (SAS Institute, 1999). Scores on the social isolation index constituted the dependent variable. The first analysis consisted of a bivariate regression of social isolation on physical abuse, to assess the overall relationship between the two variables; the next analysis utilized a multiple regression, adding the control variables presented above, to determine the extent to which the effect of abuse would be reduced by considering other theoretically relevant variables. Table 2 presents the results of the regression analysis. Overall, the independent variables in the full model account for a significant, if modest, amount of variation in social isolation (R2 = .128, F24, 1,541 = 9.044, p < .0001). Considering the individual regression coefficients, note that in the bivariate analysis, physical abuse has a strong and highly significant effect on adolescent social isolation: Those who have been abused are much more likely to perceive themselves as more socially isolated than those who have not. Although somewhat reduced when the control variables are added to the equation, the effect remains powerful and highly significant. Turning to the control variables, both gender and racial or ethnic differences in social isolation emerged. Males are more likely than females to be socially isolated, and Hispanics report themselves as more socially isolated than non-Hispanic Whites. SES, as measured by the educational attainment level of the principal wage earner in the household, failed to achieve significance. The effects of marital status and environment are mixed. Of the family structure variables, the number of children in the household increases social isolation; marital status has no effect. Parental behavior and orientation show significant effects on social isolation. Parental normlessness increases social isolation, and parental involvement decreases it; the occurrence of a disruptive family event marginally increased isolation; and the presence of a noninductive parent has no effect. The neighborhood context variable had a marginally significant effect, such that living in a deficient neighborhood increased social isolation. The length of residence of the family in the neighborhood did not affect the adolescents social isolation. Finally, the grade level of the adolescent respondent revealed an interesting pattern in affecting social isolation. Those in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades showed equivalent increases in social isolation, compared to 12th graders; in contrast, the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders were not distinguishable from the 12th graders.

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TABLE 2: OLS Regression of Social Isolation on Predictor Variables Bivariate Regression Independent Variable Physical abuse Male Non-Hispanic Black Hispanic Principle wage earners education Less than high school High school diploma or GED Number of children in household Single-parent family Nontraditional two-parent family Parental normlessness Parental involvement Noninductive parenting Disruptive events Length of residence Less than 1 year 1 to 2 years 3 to 4 years Neighborhood context Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Coefficient 3.299*** Standard Error .567 Multiple Regression Coefficient 1.952*** 0.686** 0.795 1.081* 0.312 0.491 0.464*** 0.182 0.166 0.087* -0.442*** 0.258 0.574 0.402 0.510 0.407 0.124 2.349** 1.675** 2.033** 0.692 0.943 0.665 0.187 Standard Error 0.589 0.260 0.660 0.424 0.333 0.329 0.086 0.448 0.360 0.043 0.072 0.210 0.322 0.499 0.423 0.410 0.069 0.761 0.627 0.626 0.622 0.615 0.625 0.639

p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

DISCUSSION

The analysis demonstrates yet another insidious effect of physical child abuse on adolescents. Those who have been beaten by a parent within the past 12 months perceived themselves as more isolated from their friends and from school than those who did not suffer abuse, even when controlling for other theoretically relevant variables. Past research has demonstrated a link between family violence and the social isolation of the family unit, usually interpreted as initiated by the adults in the family to hide the abuse from others; see Barnett, Miller-Perrin, and Perrin (1997) for a review of the litera-

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ture. These results established that the adolescent victims themselves will often feel detached from other individuals or from school activities. Note that some of the items in the social isolation index refer to the actions of others as isolating (e.g., teachers dont call on me in class, even when I raise my hand), whereas other items reflect a self-isolation (e.g., I dont feel as if I really belong at school). It is striking that in the former case, abused adolescents are likely to perceive others are creating social distance from themselves. It may be that they are correct in their perceptions, or it may be that their attributions are distorted (Jones, 1990). It is not possible for us to determine which of these processes is operating. In either case, they indicate an isolation that is not likely to be at the behest of offending parents. The point is that one consequence of abuse is to motivate victimized adolescents to detach from others either because their sense of self is damaged, leaving them vulnerable to the scrutiny of others, or because they fail to learn the emotional and social competence necessary to integrate themselves into the social order. Many of the control variables also explained variation in social isolation in theoretically meaningful ways. Males, as befitting their gender socialization, were less attached to friends and to school than were females. It is interesting that Hispanics, but not Blacks, were more socially isolated than Whites (although Blacks showed a nonsignificant trend to greater isolation). Perhaps the failure of SES to affect social isolation is because of the fact that its effect is indirect: Other variables (such as the behavior and orientation of the parents) may mediate the relationship between SES and social isolation. The same may be true for elements of marital status. Not surprising is that the orientation and behavior of the parents significantly affected the social isolation of the adolescent. Children often take their cues for social orientation from their parents (even if inadvertently), so that an alienated parent may foster alienation (and so, isolation) in the child; similarly, a parent who is involved in an adolescents activities is teaching the child the value of social participation and thereby reducing the likelihood of social isolation. Finally, the sharp drop in social isolation that separates the seventh graders (and younger) from the eighth graders (and older) is intriguing. Children in these earlier grades are experiencing tremendous disturbance in the selfconcept (Rosenberg, 1979). When one is not certain of who one is, it is not surprising that one might find oneself more detached from others. With cognitive and social maturation, the self-concept becomes more stable and integrated, and these older children are more ready to engage with others. The theories cited above regarding attachment, competence, and selfesteem posit that the relationship between physical abuse and social isolation

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is mediated by other factors: Physical abuse is related to a deficient ability to develop emotional attachment to others, a damaged social competence necessary to build relationships, and low self-esteem; each of these, in turn, is associated with social isolation. If one controlled for these factors in a regression analysis, it is reasonable to expect that the effect of abuse would diminish substantially if not disappear. This suggests that it is important to investigate the proposed mechanisms in a single study. Researchers have provided some information about parts of the theoretical links discussed above. For example, Rosenberg (1989) discusses the link between self-esteem and social isolation. Rubin and Rose Krasner (1992) establish the connection between social competence and social isolation. Finally, much research (e.g., Fox & Calkins, 1993; Hartup, 1992; Rubin, 1993) reports attachment to parents as an important precursor to inhibition and passive-withdrawn behavior in youth. However, it remains to integrate these pathways to social isolation in a single study that also includes the experience of physical abuse as an explanatory factor. Consequently, further research should be conducted to elaborate the link between physical abuse and social isolation in the adolescent. More thorough analysis of the role of attachment, competence, and self-esteem can help clinicians and the youth themselves appreciate the dilemmas they face at the same time that they can become empowered with mechanisms for overcoming the obstacles encouraging isolation. One caveat bears mentioning: Physical abuse is often accompanied by other forms of maltreatment, including psychological abuse and neglect. It may be the case that some of the effect found for physical abuse in the analysis is actually because of these other forms of maltreatment (cf. Higgins & McCabe, 2001). It would be valuable, in a data set designed for this purpose, to assess the independent effects of these various forms of maltreatment, if colinearity does not prohibit it. In sum, the analysis demonstrates that beyond the many other consequences of physical abusewhether they be medical, cognitive, or socioemotionalyoung people are further burdened with the perception that they are alone in their problems. Although isolation is an understandable outcome of physical abuse, it is singularly counterproductive for recovery. Not only is one alone, but one loses access to the very outlets that can help alleviate the abuse situation. The protective value of close friendships is well known (Bolger et al., 1998); similarly, the social support literature indicates the strengthening value of interpersonal and institutional connections for both individuals and families experiencing any kind of severe stress (Wethington & Kessler, 1986). Insidiously, the abuse itself works against this

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countervailing influence of connection, preventing young people most in need of help from effectively getting it. Finally, the results are consistent with those who argue that human connections are the primary source of human developmentconnections that facilitate or inhibit the healthy growth of many abused youth (Mead, 1934; Rosenberg, 1979). According to this perspective,
the goal of development means the increasing ability to build and enlarge mutually enhancing relationships in which each person can feel an increased sense of well being through being in touch with others and finding ways to act on her or his thoughts and feelings. (Miller & Stiver, 1997, p. 47)

The present results suggest that it is precisely these connections that are at risk as a consequence of physical abuse within the family.

NOTES
1. A separate analysis used a trichotomous variable, distinguishing between those who had been abused only once in the past year from those who had endured multiple beatings; the results of the analysis revealed that the contrast of each abuse category with the no abuse category was virtually identical for both levels of abuse, and the contrast of the multiple beatings category with the single beating category did not achieve significance. Accordingly, the variable was collapsed into the dichotomy reported in the results. 2. Additional analyses included a separate variable indicating whether the respondent had been sexually attacked or raped (or had been the subject of an attempt). However, in no analysis did this variable attain statistical significance, and so it was omitted from the model. 3. The very small number of Asian Americans and American Indians in the data were included with the non-Hispanic Whites. When Asian Americans and Native Americans were excluded from the analysis, the results were virtually identical. 4. Separate analyses utilized alternative measures of SES: the educational level of fathers (or father figures), whether still residing in the household or not, and the relative position of family income with respect to the national poverty level. In neither case did the SES variable attain significance. In addition, because occupation was coded according to the Hollingshead Index, which has been discredited (Hauser & Warren, 1997), this measure of SES was not used. 5. An alternative analysis used a family style variable in which only two noninductive parents qualified a parenting family style as noninductive. The results were basically similar to those presented.

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Gregory C. Elliott is an associate professor of sociology at Brown University. His research interests include the consequences of child maltreatment; he also is conducting research in the causes and consequences of mattering (the extent to which one makes a difference in the lives of others). Susan M. Cunningham is an associate director of the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special studies at Holy Cross College. Her research focuses on children and violence, especially the causes and consequences of child maltreatment. Meadow Linder is currently a graduate student in the Department of Sociology, University of Michigan. Melissa Colangelo received her B.A. from Brown University in 2002. She is currently enrolled at George Washington University in the study of law. Michelle Gross received her B.A. from Brown University in 2002.