TY - JOUR AU - Anderson-Butcher, Dawn S. AU - Fink, Janet PY - 2005/03/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The Importance of A Sense of Belonging To Youth Service Agencies: JF - Journal of Child and Youth Care Work JA - jcycw VL - 20 IS - SE - Articles DO - UR - http://acycpjournal.pitt.edu/ojs/jcycw/article/view/400 SP - 11-21 AB - The study explores the importance of attendance, age, and a sense of belonging in predicting various risk and protective factors and problem behaviors among youths participating in United Way-sponsored youth service agencies (n = 98). Multivariate multiple regression analyses indicate that belonging, more importantly than attendance, has a signifi­cant positive relationship with protective factors and a significant negative relationship with various risk factors and problem behaviors. Analyses also indicate that youths become more at risk as they get older and, therefore, suggest the importance of involvement in youth development program­ming during the adolescent years. Findings are discussed and implications for future practice are provided. ER -