title: The protective role of group identity: sectarian antisocial behavior and adolescent emotion problems.
abstract: The protective role of strength of group identity was examined for youth in a context of protracted political conflict. Participants included 814 adolescents (Mage = 13.61, SD = 1.99 at Time 1) participating in a longitudinal study in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, the results show that the effect of exposure to sectarian antisocial behaviors has a stronger effect on youth emotion problems for older adolescents. The results also show that youth with higher strength of group identity reported fewer emotion problems in the face of sectarian antisocial behavior but that this buffering effect is stronger for Protestants compared to Catholics. Implications are discussed for understanding the role of social identity in postaccord societies.
authors.affiliation: University of Notre Dame.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Merrilees
authors.forename: Laura K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Marcie C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Goeke-Morey
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shirlow
authors.forename: E Mark
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cairns
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D002410:Catholicism / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000208:ethnology; D033303:Protestantism / Q000523:psychology; D012933:Social Identification; D055815:Young Adult