[jQuery] Is .prev() being used in the wrong way here?

[jQuery] Is .prev() being used in the wrong way here?


I have a function that filters a listed based on the value of an input
field. The .each() function looks at inside each anchor tag, and adds
a new class if there is a match. But, I want the class to be added to
the parent, or prev element here, which is a holder div called
itemHolder.
For some reason it is not even adding the hidden class to the previous
element, which should be the itemHolder div. Am I using this in the
wrong way? Using .parent() does not work either.
$("#filter").keyup(function() {
var filter = $(this).val(),
count = 0;
$(".scroll a").each(function() {
if ($(this).text().search(new RegExp(filter, "i")) < 0) {
$(this).prev(".itemHolder").addClass("hidden");
} else {
$(this).prev(".itemHolder").removeClass("hidden");
count++;
}
});
});