Youth & Society

Ohannessian, Christine McCauley; Vannucci, Anna

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20901737pmid: N/A

A primary goal of this study was to examine adolescents’ use of the most commonly used social media apps in the United States. An additional goal was to examine the relationship between social media use and adolescent externalizing behaviors. The moderating influences of gender and race/ethnicity also were assessed. The sample included 1,072 adolescents (M age = 12.74 years, SD = 0.67, 51% girls; 64% White). Participating adolescents completed a survey in school. Most of the adolescents did not use Facebook or Twitter. However, the majority of adolescents used Instagram and Snapchat, and girls were more likely to use these social media apps than were boys. Adolescents who regularly used social media reported more delinquent behavior and poorer behavioral conduct in comparison with nonusers. In addition, boys who used Facebook regularly and Hispanic adolescents who used Instagram regularly were at an elevated risk for delinquent behaviors and poorer behavioral conduct.

Noel, Melissa E.; Najdowski, Cynthia J.

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20951068pmid: N/A

This research sought to identify a potential process by which intergenerational crime occurs, focusing on the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ subsequent arrests. We drew from Matsueda’s work on reflected appraisals as an explanatory mechanism for this effect. Thus, the present research examined whether caregivers’ and adolescents’ expectations for adolescents’ future incarceration sequentially mediated the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ actual arrest outcomes. Propensity score matching was used to examine this effect in a sample of 1,735 15- to 16-year-olds using NLSY97 data. Parental incarceration was positively related to caregivers’ expectations of adolescents’ future arrest. Moreover, caregivers’ expectations were strongly associated with adolescents’ expectations. Finally, the effect of parental incarceration on adolescents’ actual future arrest likelihood was partially mediated by caregivers’ and adolescents’ expectations for this outcome. This study revealed support for the proposition that the experience of parental incarceration may influence adolescents’ negative outcomes through reflected appraisals.

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20931993pmid: N/A

Buckley, Lisa; Reveruzzi, Bianca; Dingli, Kelly; Chapman, Rebekah L.; Sheehan, Mary

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20914171pmid: N/A

This study evaluated the injury prevention program, Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) for Year 9 students (aged 13–14 years). The aim of SPIY was to reduce adolescent injury by reducing engagement in risk-taking behaviors. A randomized controlled trial was conducted and data analyzed with 32 schools, N = 2,739 students at baseline. Students’ self-reported injury prior to the commencement of SPIY and at 6 and 12 months after the program concluded. For those with few protective factors at baseline, there was less increase in alcohol-related injuries and a decline in violence-related injuries for intervention compared with control students. Findings showed the SPIY program can be effective in reducing adolescent injury for those with few promotive factors.

Tenkorang, Eric Y.; Amo-Adjei, Joshua; Kumi-Kyereme, Akwasi

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20930891pmid: N/A

Although Ghana’s comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program has been lauded, no study has examined its association with the sexual health outcomes of Ghanaian youth. Using data collected from 2,982 in-school youth (male = 1,820 and female = 1,162) aged 15 to 17 years in three administrative regions of the country, we applied discrete-time hazard models to examine associations between components of Ghana’s CSE on the timing of sexual debut among male and female youth. Results indicate significant relationships between components on HIV prevention and timing of sexual debut for male youth. Male youth who learned about HIV prevention delayed sexual debut; however, male youth who endorsed myths about HIV transmission started sex early. Females who learned about values and interpersonal skills delayed their sexual debut, but the influence of this variable was attenuated by respondents’ demographic characteristics. Female respondents residing in the Greater Accra and Northern regions delayed sex, compared with those in the Brong Ahafo region.

Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Gönültaş, Seçil; Hope, Elan C.; Hoffman, Adam J.; DiStefano, Christine; Irvin, Matthew J.; Carlson, Ryan

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20920085pmid: N/A

Youth victimization and aggression are common in adolescents’ everday lives. This study examines relations between youth cognition and reasoning around bullying and possible responses to bullying, peer nominations related to youth roles in the bullying ecology and self-report experiences of perceived racial discrimination using latent class analyses. Participants included 6th (n = 423) and 9th (n = 392) grade adolescents in the United States (49.1% female). Five distinct classes emerged: Typical, Uninvolved, Challengers, Experiences Discrimination, and Experiences Discrimination and Involved. Furthermore, participants in these classes reasoned about the acceptability of youth aggression and about their likelihood of different responses to youth aggression in distinct ways. Findings document that the Challengers class was most likely to judge the aggression as wrong and the least likely to indicate that they would not respond if they observed aggression. Furthermore, both classes of youth who reported experiencing discrimination judged the aggression as more acceptable.

Kingston, Beverly; Smokowski, Paul R.; MacFarland, Andrew; Evans, Caroline B. R.; Pampel, Fred; Mercado, Melissa C.; Vagi, Kevin J.; Spies, Erica L.

doi: 10.1177/0044118X19900904pmid: 34556892

Although research advocates for comprehensive cross-sector youth violence prevention efforts, mobilizing across sectors to translate scientific recommendations into practice has proven challenging. A unifying framework may provide a foundational step toward building a shared understanding of the risk and protective factors that impact youth violence. We conducted two empirical tests of the nurturing environment framework on youth violence across ethnic and geographically diverse rural and urban adolescent samples. Results show that overall the characteristics of nurturing environments are associated with lower levels of aggression and violence. In addition, minimizing exposure to socially toxic conditions had the strongest associations with lower aggression and violence. Findings were supported across both samples, suggesting that this framework may apply in urban and rural, economically disadvantaged contexts.

Tzankova, Iana; Prati, Gabriele; Eckstein, Katharina; Noack, Peter; Amnå, Erik; Motti-Stefanidi, Frosso; Macek, Petr; Cicognani, Elvira

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20942256pmid: N/A

Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one’s position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful) among 1,914 adolescents from five European countries (53.5% female; Mage = 16.27). Demographic and proximal contextual correlates associated with different orientations at a 1-year interval were also assessed. Latent profile analysis identified four groups of citizenship orientations among adolescents: engaged trustful, engaged distrustful, unengaged trustful, and unengaged distrustful. Differences of membership likelihood were found for background characteristics (gender and family income), school characteristics (track, democratic climate, student participation, and its perceived quality), family, and peer norms of participation.

Zlotnick, Cheryl; Manor-Lavon, Inbal; Srulovici, Einav

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20952663pmid: N/A

Increasingly evidence suggests that the self-reported health status (SRH) of 2nd generation immigrant youth (native-born youth with at least one parent who was born abroad) may be lower than non-immigrant youth. This cross-sectional study compared the SRH of 2nd generation immigrant to non-immigrant youth (n = 291), accounting for confounders including a clinical measure (i.e., body mass index), internal resources (i.e., diet, exercise, smoking), and external resources (i.e., socioeconomic status, family social support). Regressions showed SRH was associated with socioeconomic status (p < .05), family social support (p < .05) and exercise (p < .05) but not immigrant status. Yet, bivariate analyses, showed that among youth, 2nd generation immigrants had poorer diets (p < .01), were smokers (p < .0001), had lower socioeconomic status (p < .05) and less family social support (p < .05). Thus, although SRH did not differ by immigration status among youth, the differences in internal and external resources by immigrant status may lead to health differences in the future.

Wang, Kaipeng; Zhang, Anao; Zheng, Haotian; Kim, Yeonwoo; Padilla, Yolanda

doi: 10.1177/0044118X20918436pmid: N/A

Adolescent health has a significant influence as individuals transition to adulthood and can have lifelong effects on well-being. In addition to well-established structural determinants of health such as racism and poverty, proximal determinants of adolescent health illuminate on the health effects of the daily circumstances of adolescents. Guided by the proximal determinants of adolescent health theory, we examined the association between adolescents’ self-rated health and multiple domains of proximal determinants, including family relations, peer relationships, school environment, and neighborhood environment. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we analyzed 3,444 adolescents who were 14 to 15 years old. Results of ordered logistic regression analyses revealed significant associations between proximal determinants and adolescents’ self-rated health even when taking into account all the domains simultaneously. This study highlights the importance of unraveling factors of multiple systems on adolescents’ health and suggests implications for their subsequent transition to adulthood.