Connecting developmental constructions to the internet: identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms

Internet use and adolescent development in rural China: A scoping review protocol of research landscape and gaps

INTRODUCTION

In the digital era, the Internet has become a necessity in adolescents' daily lives. Many studies globally are exploring the influences of Internet use on adolescent development, but they focus on the negative impacts of simplistic "screen time" on adolescents' physical and mental health, rather than both positive and negative influences of multifaceted Internet use on multidimensional adolescent development. Specifically in rural China, adolescents live in disadvantageous and marginalizing contexts, and Internet use is widespread among this population. However, knowledge on Internet use and adolescent development in rural China is fragmented. It is still unclear in what ways Internet use would bring benefits or risks for Chinese rural adolescents' healthy growth. Therefore, the objective of this scoping review is to identify the current research landscape, gaps, and future directions in rural China contexts. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of elements, findings, and limitations in existing empirical studies on the influences of Internet use on adolescent development in rural China.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The standard for conducting this scoping review is the five-stage model proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, and the reporting standard is the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The overall research question is: What are the influences of Internet use on adolescent development in rural China? In consultation with librarians, to locate articles, subject headings (controlled vocabularies) and textwords (keywords) in article titles, abstracts, and author-assigned keywords will be searched in APA PsycInfo (psychology), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (interdisciplinary), Communication Abstracts (media and communication), Education Source (education), MEDLINE (public health), Social Services Abstracts (social work), Social Work Abstracts (social work), and Sociological Abstracts (sociology). The review process via Covidence will consist of two sequential steps based on inclusion/exclusion criteria: the title and abstract review and the full-text review. Then study characteristics and research findings will be charted, and the results will be analyzed and synthesized quantitatively and qualitatively via visualizations and narratives, guided by the typological frameworks of Internet use and adolescent development.

DISCUSSION

The scoping review will be a pioneering review to inform the current research landscape and gaps in the Internet use influences on adolescent development in rural China. It will advance the research agenda on this issue conceptually, theoretically, and empirically. In addition, it can provide contextual implications for designing prevention and intervention programs.

The Impact of Social Media Use on Sleep and Mental Health in Youth: a Scoping Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Social media use (SMU) and other internet-based technologies are ubiquitous in today's interconnected society, with young people being among the commonest users. Previous literature tends to support that SMU is associated with poor sleep and mental health issues in youth, despite some conflicting findings. In this scoping review, we summarized relevant studies published within the past 3 years, highlighted the impacts of SMU on sleep and mental health in youth, while also examined the possible underlying mechanisms involved. Future direction and intervention on rational use of SMU was discussed.

RECENT FINDINGS

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal cohort studies demonstrated the negative impacts of SMU on sleep and mental health, with preliminary evidence indicating potential benefits especially during the COVID period at which social restriction was common. However, the limited longitudinal research has hindered the establishment of directionality and causality in the association among SMU, sleep, and mental health. Recent studies have made advances with a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of SMU on sleep and mental health in youth, which is of public health importance and will contribute to improving sleep and mental health outcomes while promoting rational and beneficial SMU. Future research should include the implementation of cohort studies with representative samples to investigate the directionality and causality of the complex relationships among SMU, sleep, and mental health; the use of validated questionnaires and objective measurements; and the design of randomized controlled interventional trials to reduce overall and problematic SMU that will ultimately enhance sleep and mental health outcomes in youth.

Effect of Technology and Digital Media Use on Adolescent Health and Development: Protocol for a Multimethod Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND

Technology and digital media (TDM) use is integral to modern adolescence; adolescents have been labeled as "digital natives," since they have had exposure to digital technology for their entire lives. Previous evidence has illustrated TDM's connections with adolescent risk behaviors such as increased alcohol use and social media exposure, as well as relationships with adolescent well-being such as improved socioemotional health and social media connections with peers. Although several recent review articles have described both the benefits and risks of technology use, most individual studies adopt a singular risk-centered approach. In addition, reviews suggest that little evidence exists on the potential mediating and moderating factors between TDM use and well-being and health outcomes, which limits our understanding of what influences the outcomes of interest. Therefore, there is an urgent need to fill these gaps.

OBJECTIVE

This protocol addresses the need to understand how TDM exposure and use affect multiple developmental domains and health outcomes. We address the fragmented nature of previous research, the common focus on single behaviors or conditions, and the typical narrow lens on risks. Our approach further aligns with reviews that called for studies identifying and investigating the factors that moderate the relationships between social media and health behaviors and outcomes.

METHODS

We will address our objective by longitudinally examining over a 2-year period a common set of adolescent participants (N=400, aged 13-15 years) across 3 studies that adopt a multimethodological approach. Study 1 will use TDM to understand the mechanisms behind adolescent health and risk behaviors. Study 2 will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to understand how positive and negative TDM experiences relate to mental and behavioral health in a subsample of 150 adolescents. Study 3 will use a mixed methods design to evaluate self- and other-generated TDM content as the predictors of socioemotional well-being in sexual and gender minority and non-sexual and gender minority adolescents.

RESULTS

Recruitment is ongoing, and the initial results from the first wave of recruitment are expected in 2024.

CONCLUSIONS

This integrated approach to longitudinal data collection from a shared adolescent participant pool will lead to novel analyses and findings, allowing for the examination of the health and well-being risks and benefits associated with TDM use and factors that moderate these relationships. The findings from this study will advance conceptual models and inform new interventions to improve adolescent health.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/50984.

Identity development and online and offline prosocial behaviors among early and middle adolescents

Research has demonstrated that adolescents of the digital age engage in developmental tasks by interacting with others in both online and offline environments. However, no studies have investigated how adolescents develop their identity, a crucial developmental task, by engaging in online and offline prosocial behaviors. To address this research gap, we examined the role of online and offline prosocial behavior in identity development during adolescence using variable- and person-centered approaches. The participants were 608 individuals in early adolescence (50.2% girls; age range = 12-13 years, M_age = 12.75 years, SD = 0.43) and 594 individuals in middle adolescence (50.3% girls; age range = 15-16 years, M_age = 15.79 years, SD = 0.41) in Japan. They completed questionnaires to measure identity development, online and offline prosocial behavior, and demographic characteristics. The results from the variable-centered approach (i.e., identity dimensions) revealed that both online and offline prosocial behaviors were positively related to commitments and proactive explorations in early and middle adolescence. The findings from the person-centered approach (i.e., identity statuses) demonstrated that early and middle adolescents with higher levels of online prosocial behavior were more likely to show searching moratorium than all other identity statuses, whereas those with higher levels of offline prosocial behavior were more likely to show achievement than troubled diffusion, carefree diffusion, and undifferentiated. Consistent with both variable- and person-centered approaches, these findings highlight that online prosocial behavior can be a new resource for identity development in adolescence. Moreover, the results suggest that online prosocial behaviors lead to identity status in the process of maturing identity and that offline prosocial behavior is necessary to become more mature identity status. Regarding practical implications, educating adolescents on digital media literacy, including supportive behavior in online environments, is crucial to gradually exploring their identity. In addition, for adolescents to develop more mature identity, adults should create in-person environments in which they participate in offline prosocial behavior. The limitations of our findings with respect to the online and offline prosocial behavior scale items are discussed.

How do teens with a history of suicidal behavior and self-harm interact with social media?

BACKGROUND

This study examines how engagement with depression-related social media content varies by teens who report suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) versus those who had not experienced each behavior.

METHODS

Teens aged 15-17 years old (N = 93) were recruited from social media platforms from October 2016 to August 2018. Participants were asked three open-ended questions about the advantages and disadvantages of networking about depression-related content on social media. We conducted a qualitative analysis to capture themes in responses by question item. Univariate analyses were conducted to compare differences in the frequency of themes endorsed among the behavioral groups versus their counterparts.

RESULTS

Among participants (female, 73%; non-White, 45%; sexual minority, 57%), most (93%, n = 87) endorsed depressive symptoms. Sixty-five percent (n = 60) endorsed suicidal ideation within the past year, who were more likely to indicate unhelpful social interactions (p = .02) as a disadvantage of following depression content than peers who did not endorse suicidal ideation within the past year. Eighty percent (n = 74) endorsed lifetime experience of NSSI, who were more likely to indicate negative impact on relationships (p = .01) from posting depression content than peers who did not experience NSSI. Fifty-eight percent (n = 54) endorsed a lifetime suicide attempt, who were more likely to mention offering solutions (p = .03) to someone posting concerning content than peers who did not endorse a lifetime suicide attempt.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides diverse and unique perspectives on how engagement with depression-related social media varies by mental health behaviors and informs the use of social media for recruitment and outreach for teens.

Bullying and Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization: Prospective Within-Person Associations

Bidirectional associations between bullying and cyberbullying have consistently identified during adolescence. However, little is known about how this relationship works on the within-person level, after controlling for potential overlap at the between-person level. This study examined the bidirectional longitudinal associations between bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and victimization during 18-month period over four time points. A total of 2835 participants, aged 11 to 16 years in time 1 (50% girls; M_age = 13.13, SD = 1.06) were surveyed. Random intercept cross-lagged analyses revealed the stability of bullying perpetration and victimization. Cyberbullying victimization predicted inversely bullying and cyberbullying perpetration. The results indicate spirals of positive long-term associations between bullying (perpetration and victimization) and cyberbullying perpetration but no long-terms spirals of victimization.

The Perfect Storm: A Developmental-Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls' Body Image Concerns and Mental Health

In this theoretical review paper, we provide a developmental-sociocultural framework for the role of social media (SM) in adolescent girls' body image concerns, and in turn, depressive symptoms and disordered eating. We propose that the features of SM (e.g., idealized images of peers, quantifiable feedback) intersect with adolescent developmental factors (e.g., salience of peer relationships) and sociocultural gender socialization processes (e.g., societal over-emphasis on girls' and women's physical appearance) to create the "perfect storm" for exacerbating girls' body image concerns. We argue that, ultimately, body image concerns may be a key mechanism underlying associations between adolescent girls' SM use and mental health. In the context of proposing this framework, we provide empirical evidence for how SM may increase adolescent girls' body image concerns through heightening their focus on (1) other people's physical appearance (e.g., through exposure to idealized images of peers, celebrities, and SM influencers; quantifiable indicators of approval); and (2) their own appearance (e.g., through appearance-related SM consciousness; exposure to idealized self-images; encouraging over-valuing of appearance; and peer approval of photos/videos). Our framework highlights new avenues for future research on adolescent girls' SM use and mental health, which recognize the central role of body image.

A Dyadic Examination of Interpersonal Electronic Surveillance

Interpersonal electronic surveillance (IES) refers to monitoring a partner's location, conversations, and other private information such as search history. Although IES has been linked to relationship functioning, this work does not take into account the dyadic nature of relationships using data from both members of a dating pair. Thus, this study aimed to document rates and concordance of IES perpetration among a college sample of dating pairs, explore whether rates of IES perpetration differ by gender, and describe how each partner's IES perpetration is associated with trust, jealousy, negative relationship behaviors, and explore whether any associations are moderated by gender. A total of 136 couples (age 18-25 years) participated in a study wherein each member of the couple reported IES perpetration, trust, jealousy, and negative relationship behaviors. Results indicated that 44 percent of the sample presented with either one or both partners engaging in IES perpetration. Furthermore, results of actor-partner interdependence models indicated that there were significant actor effects for all outcomes such that one's own IES perpetration was related to lower trust in the partner, higher jealousy, and engagement in more negative partners toward the partner. However, no significant partner effects emerged. Results further indicated that actor effects were present for women, but not men. Overall, results of this study indicate that dyadic examinations of IES perpetration may shed light into the ways that couples use technology and that future research is warranted to determine how to prevent IES perpetration and ultimately potential relationship consequences.

Loneliness and Social Media Use Among Adolescents with Psychiatric Disorders

Studies have demonstrated that a prolonged feeling of loneliness is a major risk factor for psychopathology among children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between patterns of social media use with loneliness and psychopathology among 65 adolescents who were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and treated at a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Israel. Social capital (online and offline) was negatively associated with loneliness. There was no association between loneliness and patterns of social media use, age, gender, psychiatric diagnosis, or disease severity. Our findings indicate that both online and offline social capital are associated with loneliness, and highlight the importance of studying the effect of peer online social support in alleviating loneliness.

How Do Adolescents Use Social Networks and What Are Their Potential Dangers? A Qualitative Study of Gender Differences

The rapid development of software applications and the increasing use of the Internet have raised many questions about the impact of this technology on the lives of adolescents, especially on “digital natives.” The advent of social networks (SNs) restructures their relationships in various ways, affecting both adolescents’ development and mental health. The present study aims to investigate uses and dangers of SNs according to a sample of 296 (166 female and 130 male) Italian middle and high schools adolescents (age range 13–18) and build a model of how SNs can turn out to be dangerous. To achieve this, twenty-four audio-recorded focus groups of Italian male and female adolescents were investigated by a Grounded Theory approach, abstracting from the transcripts the main uses and dangers of SNs and proposing a final model for the interpretation of the whole set of categories. The results highlighted two main dangers of SNs: (a) the desperate search for popularity, and (b) the exhibition of violent or offensive behavior facilitated by the sense of protection and anonymity derived from being hidden behind a virtual account. Finally, a psychological model of how SNs can turn out to be dangerous is presented. This study could be useful in developing prevention procedures against the risks of SNs (e.g., cyberbullying, internet addiction) without demonizing the use of social media as such.

Reexamining Social Media and Socioemotional Well-Being Among Adolescents Through the Lens of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Theoretical Review and Directions for Future Research

Social media has rapidly transformed the ways in which adolescents socialize and interact with the world, which has contributed to ongoing public debate about whether social media is helping or harming adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified both the challenges and opportunities of adolescents' social-media use, which necessitates revisiting the conversation around teens and social media. In this article, we discuss key aspects of adolescent social-media use and socioemotional well-being and outline how these issues may be amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We use this as a springboard to outline key future research directions for the field, with the goal of moving away from reductionist approaches and toward a more nuanced perspective to understand the who, what, and when of social-media use and its impact on adolescent well-being. We conclude with a commentary on how psychological science can inform the translation of research to provide evidence-based recommendations for adolescent social-media use.

Relationship between online social support and adolescents' mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

The potential benefits of supportive interactions on social networking sites on adolescents' mental health are promising; however, no systematic evaluation has been conducted on this topic. This review examined empirical research on the relationship between social support derived from social networking sites and adolescents' mental health both theoretically and empirically.

METHODS

Followed PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic literature search on six English and three Chinese databases in February 2020. Four thousand one hundred and seventy-seven articles were screened first by title, then abstract, and lastly, full articles.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies (five English and nine Chinese) were identified, with total sample of 11,616 adolescents (age: 10-19 years; females: 42.7%-56.3%). Meta-analysis showed that the correlation of online social support with self-esteem was moderate and significant (r = .29), but with depression was small and insignificant (r = -.09). Sensitivity analysis indicated that social support from acquaintances on the internet may not be as beneficial as from real-life acquaintances. Despite that there isn't enough research on other specific mental health outcomes to run a quantitative synthesis, individual studies suggest that online social support (OSS) may be associated with increased self-identity and life satisfaction, decreased loneliness and social anxiety, it also counteracts the negative effect of stress and cyberbullying on mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

OSS might be beneficial for adolescents' mental health, especially self-esteem, although the causal relationship requires longitudinal studies to confirm, and the underlying mechanisms need further investigation.

Risky Decision Making Under Stressful Conditions: Men and Women With Smaller Cortisol Elevations Make Riskier Social and Economic Decisions

Men often make riskier decisions than women across a wide range of real-life behaviors. Whether this sex difference is accentuated, diminished, or stable under stressful conditions is, however, contested in the scientific literature. A critical blind spot lies amid this contestation: Most studies use standardized, laboratory-based, cognitive measures of decision making rather than complex real-life social simulation tasks to assess risk-related behavior. To address this blind spot, we investigated the effects of acute psychosocial stress on risk decision making in men and women (N = 80) using a standardized cognitive measure (the Iowa Gambling Task; IGT) and a novel task that simulated a real-life social situation (an online chatroom in which participants interacted with other men and women in sexually suggestive scenarios). Participants were exposed to either an acute psychosocial stressor or an equivalent control condition. Stressor-exposed participants were further characterized as high- or low-cortisol responders. Results confirmed that the experimental manipulation was effective. On the IGT, participants characterized as low-cortisol responders (as well as those in the Non-Stress group) made significantly riskier decisions than those characterized as high-cortisol responders. Similarly, in the online chatroom, participants characterized as low-cortisol responders (but not those characterized as high-cortisol responders) were, relative to those in the Non-Stress group, significantly more likely to make risky decisions. Together, these results suggest that at lower levels of cortisol both men and women tend to make riskier decisions in both economic and social spheres.

An observational study of Internet behaviours for adolescent females following sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with revictimization and sexual risk-taking behaviours. The Internet has increased the opportunities for teens to access sexually explicit imagery and has provided new avenues for victimization and exploitation. Online URL activity and offline psychosocial factors were assessed for 460 females aged 12-16 (CSA = 156; comparisons = 304) with sexual behaviours and Internet-initiated victimization assessed 2 years later. Females who experienced CSA did not use more pornography than comparisons but were at increased odds of being cyberbullied (odds ratio = 2.84, 95% confidence interval = 1.67-4.81). These females were also more likely to be represented in a high-risk latent profile characterized by heightened URL activity coupled with problematic psychosocial factors, which showed increased odds of being cyberbullied, receiving online sexual solicitations and heightened sexual activity. While Internet activity alone may not confer risk, results indicate a subset of teens who have experienced CSA for whom both online and offline factors contribute to problematic outcomes.

Digital Parenting of Emerging Adults in the 21st Century

In emerging adulthood, when many young people are away from their families for the first time, mobile phones become an important conduit for maintaining relationships with parents. Yet, objective assessment of the content and frequency of text messaging between emerging adults and their parents is lacking in much of the research to date. We collected two weeks of text messages exchanged between U.S. college students (N = 238) and their parents, which yielded nearly 30,000 parent-emerging adult text messages. We coded these text message exchanges for traditional features of parent-emerging adult communication indexing positive connection, monitoring and disclosures. Emerging adults texted more with mothers than with fathers and many messages constitute parental check-ins and emerging adult sharing regarding youth behavior and well-being. Findings highlight that both the frequency and content of parent-emerging adult text messages can be linked with positive (perceived text message support) and negative (perceived digital pressure) aspects of the parent-emerging adult relationship. The content of parent-emerging adult text messages offers a valuable, objective window into the nature of the parent-emerging adult relationships in the digital age of the 21st century.

Importance of Digital Communication in Adolescents' Development: Theoretical and Empirical Advancements in the Last Decade

The past decade saw a sharp increase in the use of smartphones and digital communication platforms. This manuscript reviews advancements in the study of digital communication and adolescent development over the last decade. We highlight theoretical models that seek to explain the power of digital media in adolescents' lives. We then examine research conducted over the last decade on five aspects of digital media: (1) potential to contribute to adolescent development, (2) associations with mental health, (3) differential impact of active versus passive social media use, (4) cyberbullying, and (5) sexting. We conclude with a discussion of potential opportunities and challenges for studying the role of digital communication in adolescents' development during the coming decade.

Reexamining Social Media and Socioemotional Well-Being Among Adolescents Through the Lens of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Theoretical Review and Directions for Future Research

Social media has rapidly transformed the ways in which adolescents socialize and interact with the world, which has contributed to ongoing public debate about whether social media is helping or harming adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified both the challenges and opportunities of adolescents' social-media use, which necessitates revisiting the conversation around teens and social media. In this article, we discuss key aspects of adolescent social-media use and socioemotional well-being and outline how these issues may be amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We use this as a springboard to outline key future research directions for the field, with the goal of moving away from reductionist approaches and toward a more nuanced perspective to understand the who, what, and when of social-media use and its impact on adolescent well-being. We conclude with a commentary on how psychological science can inform the translation of research to provide evidence-based recommendations for adolescent social-media use.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Observed Adolescent Text-Based Sexting and Adjustment

Despite strong concerns that sexting poses risks for adolescents' well-being, previous research finds mixed results. Moreover, these studies rely heavily on self-report measures and cross-sectional designs. This study utilizes observational methods to examine longitudinal relations between text-based sexting and both negative and positive indicators of psychosocial adjustment. An ethnically diverse sample of 197 adolescents was provided smartphones that captured their text messages across high school, from 2008-2012. Two, two-day samples of text messages from grades 9-12 were content-coded (468,201 total observations). Sexting was defined as sending and receiving text-based statements about past, present, or hypothetical sexual behaviors occurring between dyadic texting partners. Each year, adolescents reported on negative (internalizing, externalizing, and social problems; borderline personality features) and positive (life satisfaction, group belongingness, and positive self-perceptions) indicators of their psychosocial adjustment. Using concurrent and longitudinal multilevel models, greater sexting at one time point than one's average (within-person) was only associated with lower levels of group belongingness within the same year. For girls only, text-based sexting more than others on average (between-person) was related to increased externalizing symptoms and borderline personality disorder features, as well as decreased life satisfaction, group belongingness, self-perceived social competence, and global self-worth. No within-person differences by gender emerged, nor did longitudinal associations. Future studies and intervention efforts should examine when and why higher sexting might be related to psychosocial problems among girls.

Dispositional Awe and Online Altruism: Testing a Moderated Mediating Model

Dispositional awe has a positive effect on prosociality. However, it has not been tested whether this disposition appears in online altruism. Using a large sample of 3,080 Chinese undergraduates, this study tested a moderated mediating model that takes self-transcendent meaning in life (STML) as a mediator and subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) as a moderator. As predicted, dispositional awe was positively correlated with online altruism, partly via the indirect effect of STML. SSES moderated both the direct and indirect effects. Specifically, the predictive effects of dispositional awe on both online prosocial behavior and STML were greater for lower rather than higher SSES. This study extends the prosociality of dispositional awe to cyberspace. Other implications are also discussed herein.

Preservice teachers' nomophobia levels, sense of loneliness and adjustment to college life

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to investigate whether preservice teachers' nomophobia levels, sense of loneliness and adjustment to university life vary based on their demographic characteristics. Additionally, regression analyses were carried out to determine whether their sense of loneliness, nomophobia levels, and adjustment to university life were predictors of each other.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In this quantitative study, the cross-sectional survey research model was used. A total of 234 preservice teachers, 65 of whom were studying at the elementary mathematics department, 81 of whom were studying at the preschool education department, and 88 of whom were studying at the science education department, participated in this study. Independent-samples t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and simple linear regression analyses were used to analyze the quantitative data.

FINDINGS

The main conclusions from this study were that (a) the students with the highest sense of loneliness were the students of the elementary mathematics department, the students with the highest level of nomophobia were the science education students, and the students who adjusted the most to university life were the preschool education students. (b) There were no significant differences between the 1st and 2nd year preservice teachers in terms of their sense of loneliness, nomophobia levels, and adjustment to university life. (c) There were statistically significant differences between the mean total nomophobia scores of the male and female students in favor of the females especially in the "losing connectedness" and "not being able to access information" subscales of nomophobia. (d) A statistically significant difference was found between the preservice teachers whose mothers were high school and university graduates in terms of their academic adjustment in favor of the preservice teachers with mothers who had university degrees. (e) The preservice teachers, who stated that their relationship with their family was very good, had higher levels of sense of loneliness, mobile phone addiction, and adjustment to university life than the others. The results were statistically significant in all total scores of the loneliness scale and dimensions except for the dimensions of nomophobia. (f) The students who were hopeful for the future had a high sense of loneliness and adjustment to university life. It was also determined that the students who were desperate for their future had high mobile phone addiction levels. Apart from nomophobia and its dimensions and the social adjustment dimension of university life, statistically significant differences were found between the hopeful and hopeless students in terms of their sense of loneliness and adjustment to university life. (g) Statistically significant mean differences were found between the students who were generally satisfied with and those that were not satisfied with their life in terms of their sense of loneliness and adjustment to university life with its all dimensions in favor of the satisfied ones. (h) The preservice teachers who lived alone at home had a higher sense of loneliness and better adjustment to university life. It was also noteworthy that the students living in dormitories had higher nomophobia levels than the others. (i) A linear relationship was found between the students' sense of loneliness and adjustment to university life, and sense of loneliness was a significant predictor of adjustment to university life.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Determining students' nomophobia levels, sense of loneliness, and adjustment to university life would be beneficial in bringing students who have difficulty adapting to new living environments into social life.

Gender Diversity in Peer Relations: Best Research Practices and Marshalling Peer Influence

Young people are challenging gender to expand beyond a male/female binary, yet research practices still lag behind these conceptions. This call-to-action paper will review the traditional conceptualizations of gender as prevalent in peer relations research, contrasted with modern approaches from scholars studying gender and sexual orientation diversity, and outline how youth are challenging binary conceptualizations. We provide recommended best practices to sensitively bridge this gap, including: using open responses where possible, and two-step closed-ended question formats where necessary, to measure gender identity; considering the context and role that gender identity and each of its facets might play in the research design; and preserving underrepresented groups even though they may be small. We close by exploring the ways in which the power of peer socialization can be (and likely currently are being) harnessed to support the ever-changing, diverse gender identities emergent in today's youth, and provide questions for future research.

Mindfulness Promotes Online Prosocial Behavior via Cognitive Empathy

Mindfulness plays an important role in promoting prosocial behavior and well-being. With the spread of Internet usage, people's online prosocial behavior (OPB) has garnered great attention. Based on the link between online and offline behaviors, we predict that mindfulness can also facilitate OPB. We examined the association of mindfulness and OPB and the mediating effect of empathy. A total of 674 Chinese undergraduate students completed self-report measures of these constructs. The results showed that different dimensions of mindfulness predicted empathy, which in turn predicted OPB. Perspective taking was the main mediator in the mindfulness-OPB link. Mindfulness improves receptiveness to others' needs and feelings, thereby enhancing the willingness to help them, even in none-face-to-face situations.

Mapping out Violence Against Women of Influence on Twitter Using the Cyber-Lifestyle Routine Activity Theory

The study applies and expands the routine activity theory to examine the dynamics of online harassment and violence against women on Twitter in India. We collected 931,363 public tweets (original posts and replies) over a period of 1 month that mentioned at least one of 101 influential women in India. By undertaking both manual and automated text analysis of "hateful" tweets, we identified three broad types of violence experienced by women of influence on Twitter: dismissive insults, ethnoreligious slurs, and gendered sexual harassment. The analysis also revealed different types of individually motivated offenders: "news junkies," "Bollywood fanatics," and "lone-wolves", who do not characteristically engage in direct targeted attacks against a single person. Finally, we question the effectiveness of Twitter's form of "guardianship" against online violence against women, as we found that a year after our initial data collection in 2017, only 22% of hostile posts with explicit forms of harassment have been deleted. We conclude that in the social media age, online and offline public spheres overlap and intertwine, requiring improved regulatory approaches, policies, and moderation tools of "capable" guardianship that empower women to actively participate in public life.

Longitudinal Relationships among Cybervictimization, Peer pressure, and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms

BACKGROUND

Most studies have used cross-sectional designs, very few of which have examined the bidirectional relationship between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms. This study examined bidirectional relationships among adolescents' cybervictimization, peer pressure, and depressive symptoms, and the mediating effect of peer pressure. As a further expansion of the present study, we examined whether these relationships would vary as the roles of gender and economic stress.

METHODS

Participants were 2,407 adolescents (M_age = 12.75, SD = 0.58; n_male = 1191). They provided data in two waves (12 months apart).

RESULTS

Results showed that there were significant bidirectional relationships between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms and peer pressure. Peer pressure significantly mediated the relationship between cybervictimization at Time 1 and depressive symptoms at Time2. For males, the relationship between cybervictimization at Time 1 and depressive symptoms at Time2 became stronger. For females, there was no significant bidirectional relationship between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms. In addition, family socioeconomic status and adolescents perceived economic stress did not moderate the longitudinal relationships among cybervictimization, peer pressure, and depressive symptoms.

LIMITATIONS

Different types of victimization needed to be included. In addition, more waves data served to explore the mediating effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The increase of cybervictimization predicts higher levels of adolescents' depressive symptoms, but only for males and not for females. Peer pressure mediates the relationship between cybervictimization and depressive symptoms.

Context, Development, and Digital Media: Implications for Very Young Adolescents in LMICs

The rapidly expanding universe of information, media, and learning experiences available through digital technology is creating unique opportunities and vulnerabilities for children and adolescents. These issues are particularly salient during the developmental window at the transition from childhood into adolescence. This period of early adolescence is a time of formative social and emotional learning experiences that can shape identity development in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Increasingly, many of these foundational learning experiences are occurring in on-line digital environments. These expanding vulnerabilities and opportunities are being further amplified for young adolescents growing up in low resourced settings around the world. Cultural and contextual factors influence access, use, and appropriation of digital technology. Further, neurobehavioral changes associated with the onset of puberty often coincide with entry into social media and more autonomous use of technology. In low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), disparities in access, use, and appropriation of digital media can amplify prevailing economic gaps, and compound gender inequalities during early adolescence. In LMICs, adolescents are often the early adopters of mobile technology and social media platforms. While the impact of social media on the well-being, particularly mental health, of young adolescents has been a focus of research in high-income countries (HICs), much less is known about the impacts of social media use on young adolescents in LMICs. In this paper, we review what is known about the interaction between digital media and early adolescent development. We highlight crucial gaps in the evidence in LMICs; and describe some hypotheses and areas for future research to address these compelling issues.

Daily Parent-Adolescent Digital Exchanges

The present study tracked adolescents via mobile phones to describe how parents and their adolescent children are using digital technologies in daily life (i.e. facilitating warmth and behavioral control), and whether these uses are associated with the quality of offline parent-adolescent interactions and with adolescents' mental health. A sample of young adolescents (N = 388; mean age 13.37) completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment in 2016- 2017, reporting on their daily digital contact and offline interactions with their parents and their mental health. Adolescents reported using texting and calling to communicate somewhat infrequently with their parents (i.e., on 29% of days), but days with more digital contacts (for both warmth and behavioral control) were also more likely to be characterized by more positive offline interactions with parents. Furthermore, adolescents struggling with mental health symptoms across the study period reported using texts/calls more frequently to seek out parent support, and parents were more likely to do text/call "check ins" on young people who were experiencing more behavioral problems. Results highlight the potential for digital communication devices to be used as tools in fostering parent-adolescent connection, support provision, and behavioral control in the digital era.

Frequency of Text Messaging and Adolescents' Mental Health Symptoms Across 4 Years of High School

PURPOSE

The aim of the study was to examine the concurrent and longitudinal associations between adolescents' text messaging frequency and mental health symptoms across 4 years of high school.

METHODS

A total of 203 adolescents (aged 14-18 years) consented and were provided smartphones across 4 years of high school. Using billing records, daily frequencies of text messaging were created for each year. Adolescents reported on their mental health symptoms (internalizing, externalizing, social problems, and inattention) each summer.

RESULTS

Multilevel analyses tested the between- and within-person associations between texting and mental health symptoms. Between-person analyses revealed an association only between externalizing symptoms and texting. Girls who texted more (vs. less) frequently reported more externalizing and inattention symptoms, whereas there were no significant associations for boys. There were no significant within-person concurrent associations between texting and symptoms. Autoregressive latent cross-lagged model with structured residuals testing the longitudinal, bidirectional associations also did not find significant relations across 4 years of adolescence.

CONCLUSIONS

Across analyses, few robust associations emerged. Adolescent girls who text messaged more frequently reported greater externalizing and inattention symptoms. Contrasting the popular narrative that smartphones cause depression, this study did not find any consistent within-person or longitudinal associations between texting and mental health symptoms across adolescence. Research on the content, rather than quantity, of texts and device use is necessary to understand the potential effects on development.

Bridging Personality and Online Prosocial Behavior: The Roles of Empathy, Moral Identity, and Social Self-Efficacy

Personality has been considered as important influential factors of prosocial behavior (PB). This study aims to investigate whether the personality-PB association revealed in the real world is applicable to cyberspace. Researchers further considered moral identity (MI), empathy, and social self-efficacy as mediators accounting for the association of personality and online prosocial behavior (OPB). Self-reported measures were administrated to 1398 participants from eastern China. Results showed (1) extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were positively related to OPB, while neuroticism was negatively related to OPB; (2) perspective taking could serve as a mediator between all big five traits and OPB, social self-efficacy did the same job unless the predictor was agreeableness. Empathic concern and MI were less important mediators partly because OPB involves no face-to-face interaction. These findings show that personality has a significant effect on OPB through its influence on moral development.

Using ADAPT-ITT to Modify a Telephone-Based HIV Prevention Intervention for SMS Delivery: Formative Study

BACKGROUND

African American adolescent females are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. Given the elevated risk of STIs and HIV in African American women, there is an urgent need to identify innovative strategies to enhance the adoption and maintenance of STI and HIV preventive behaviors. Texting is a promising technology for creating preventive maintenance interventions (PMIs) that extend the efficacy of the original intervention. However, little guidance in public health literature is available for developing this type of application.

OBJECTIVE

This paper describes a formative pilot study that incorporates user experience methods to design and test PMI texts for Afiya, an original evidence-based intervention (EBI) specifically designed for African American adolescent females. This study aims to describe the adaptation process of health educator-led phone calling to text-based communication.

METHODS

The formative process followed the assessment, decision, adaptation, production, topical experts-integration, training, testing (ADAPT-ITT) framework for adapting EBIs and using them in a new setting, for a new target population or a modified intervention strategy. This study presents the details of how the phases of the ADAPT-ITT framework were applied to the design of the adaptation. An advisory board was constituted from the target population, consisting of 6 African American women aged 18-24 years, participating in formative activities for 12 weeks, and involving components of the PMI design. As Afiya included a telephone-based PMI, developers of the original Afiya phone scripts crafted the initial design of the SMS-based texts and texting protocol. The advisory board participated in the 1-day Afiya workshop, followed by 4 weeks of texting PMI messages and a midcourse focus group, followed by 4 more weeks of texting PMI messages, ultimately ending with a final focus group. At the advisory board's request, this phase included an optional, additional week of text-based PMI messages.

RESULTS

The methods provided a rich source of data and insights into the fundamental issues involved when constructing SMS-based PMI for this target population and for this EBI. Prior contact and context are essential as the health educator was identified as a key persona in the process and the messages were situated in the original (workshop) context. Narrative adaptations for personas emerged from advisory board discussions. Suggestions on how to expand the PMI to current, specific social contexts indicated that the use of narrative analysis is warranted.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of existing EBIs incorporating telephone-based PMI scripts facilitated the initial design of the texts, with a subsequent narrative analysis of the advisory board data providing additional adjustments given the actual context. Additional examination of the advisory board feedback revealed that personas would offer insight into and opportunities for a persona-specific modification of texting narratives.

How Adolescents Use Text Messaging Through their High School Years

Co-construction theory suggests adolescents use digital communication to address developmental challenges. For a sample of 214 ethnically diverse adolescents, this research used direct observation to investigate the frequency, content, and timing of texting with parents, peers, and romantic partners through grades 9-12. Analyses showed that texting frequency follows a curvilinear trajectory, peaking in eleventh grade. Adolescents discussed a range of topics, predominantly with peers. Communication with parents was less frequent, but consistent over time. Approximately 45-65% of adolescents communicated with romantic partners, texting heavily and about topics similar to those discussed with peers. Texting may help adolescents navigate key developmental challenges of adolescence-the establishment of autonomy, intimate peer relationships, romantic relationships, and self-identity.

Young Adolescents' Digital Technology Use, Perceived Impairments, and Well-Being in a Representative Sample

OBJECTIVE

To examine the cross-sectional associations between young adolescents' access, use, and perceived impairments related to digital technologies and their academic, psychological, and physical well-being.

STUDY DESIGN

There were 2104 adolescents (ages 10-15 years), representative of the North Carolina Public School population, who completed questionnaires in 2015. Administrative educational records were linked with parental consent.

RESULTS

Nearly all young adolescents (95%) had Internet access, 67% owned a mobile phone, and 68% had a social media account. Mobile phone ownership was not associated with any indicators of well-being (math and reading test scores, school belonging, psychological distress, conduct problems, or physical health) after controlling for demographic factors. Having a social media account and frequency of social media use were only robustly associated with conduct problems (explaining ∼3% of the variation in conduct problems). Despite the lack of strong associations, 91% of adolescents reported at least 1 perceived technology-related impairment and 29% of adolescents reported online-to-offline spillover of negative experiences. Economically disadvantaged adolescents reported similar access, but greater online-to-offline spillover and stronger associations between social media account ownership and poor psychological well-being compared with their more affluent peers.

CONCLUSIONS

At the population level, there was little evidence that digital technology access and use is negatively associated with young adolescents' well-being. Youth from economically disadvantaged families were equally likely to have access to digital technologies, but were more likely than their more affluent peers to report negative online experiences. Closing the digital divide requires prioritizing equity in experiences and opportunities, as well as in access.

Does Playing Video Games Increase Emotional Creativity?

Emotional creativity (EC), which constitutes a main aspect of the general creativity concept, is often shown to be substantially related to positive emotional experiences, effective motivation, and innovation at the workplace as well as at school. However, little is known about the relationship between emotional creativity and the time people tend to spend playing video games. Nowadays, video games and virtual reality have become an important aspect of public health and psychological research. They constitute a key element of popular culture and generate considerable economic profit as part of the public entertainment industry. Our study is based on the results of an emotional creativity inventory (ECI) survey that was administered at a snowball and convenient sample of 453 respondents (aged 18-60 years, M ± SD: 23.68 ± 6.36; 66.40% women, 20.00% with higher education) from the Czech Republic who were questioned about their habits and the time they devote to playing video games. The sample country was selected as one with a long tradition of homebrew video gaming going back to the 1980s. We employed a set of multinomial regression analyses, which revealed that more time devoted to playing video games is associated with lower emotional creativity, in general, as well as with lower novelty, preparedness, and effectiveness components of emotional creativity. The negative association above was less pronounced for women than for men. Moreover, in a sample containing only women, a longer time devoted to playing video games was associated with the higher novelty component of emotional creativity (the associations with the other two components were not statistically significant for women only). Our findings might considerably contribute to the study of the general overall long-term effect of video games and the use of digital technologies in general on public health.

Social media use and risky behaviors in adolescents: A meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the associations between social media use and risky behaviors during adolescence, and evaluated study characteristics (e.g., sample age, type of social media platform assessed) that may moderate these relationships.

METHODS

A comprehensive search strategy identified relevant studies from PsycInfo, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global.

RESULTS

The final sample included 27 independent cross-sectional studies with a total of 67,407 adolescents (M_age = 15.5, range: 12.6-18.0 years; 51.7% girls; 57.2% White). Results from random effects models indicated that there were positive, small-to-medium correlations between social media use and engagement in risky behaviors generally (r = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.16-0.25), substance use (r = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.12-0.26), and risky sexual behaviors (r = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.15-0.28). There were an insufficient number of independent samples available to conduct a random effect models for violence-related behaviors (k = 3). Moderator analyses suggested that studies assessing solely early social media platforms (e.g., Facebook/MySpace only) in relation to substance use had smaller effect sizes than substance use studies assessing a broader range of contemporary social media platforms. In addition, younger samples had larger effect sizes for studies focused on social media use and risky sexual behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

The positive links identified between social media and risky behaviors during adolescence in this meta-analysis suggest that developmental theories of risk taking would benefit from incorporating the social media context. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify directionality and make more specific practice and policy recommendations so that social media is a safe place in which adolescents can thrive.

Problematic Internet Use in Lonely Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Detachment from Parents

OBJECTIVE

The relationship between Problematic Internet Use (PIU) and loneliness in adolescence is a disputed issue. In the current study, we explored whether the relationship between loneliness and PIU in adolescence is mediated by detachment from parents.

METHOD

A community sample of 356 adolescents completed self-report questionnaires assessing Internet addiction symptoms, peer- and parent-related loneliness, and detachment from parents. Linear regression and mediation analyses were performed to explore the role of loneliness and detachment from parents in predicting PIU.

RESULTS

Peer-related loneliness positively predicted PIU, whereas detachment from parents fully mediated the association between parent-related loneliness and PIU.

CONCLUSIONS

Multidimensional assessment of subjective solitary experience is needed to explain the relationship between loneliness and PIU in adolescence. This is in line with previous research on adolescents' PIU, suggesting that peer-related loneliness is more strictly related with maladjustment, whereas parent-related loneliness is maladaptive in the context of a lack of parental support.

Exploring text messaging as a platform for peer socialization of social aggression

This study examined whether adolescents' social aggression is socialized through exposure to peers' socially aggressive text messaging. Using data on the socially aggressive content of text messages that 221 participants (Mage = 15.02 years; 46.7% female) sent to and received from peers, and teacher ratings of participants' in-person social aggression, this study found that exposure to peers' socially aggressive texting about out-dyad peers predicted positive changes in adolescents' text-based and in-person social aggression. Gender differences were examined, and results were mixed. In ninth grade, girls sent more socially aggressive text messages than boys; however, by 10th grade, these differences disappeared. Gender differences in adolescents' in-person social aggression and their exposure to peers' socially aggressive texting were nonsignificant at both time points. There was no evidence of gender differences in the links between exposure to peers' socially aggressive texting and adolescents' socially aggressive texting. However, marginal differences were found in the associations between exposure to peers' socially aggressive texting and adolescents' in-person social aggression. Results suggest that texting provides an additional platform for peer socialization of adolescents' social aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

AS, Thakur PC, N. S, Sahu M, John N, Tapatrikar A, Biswas A, Vishwakarma A, R. A, Singh P, Murthy KD. Pathways to Cybersex: Case-Report-Based Exploration

The internet has become the preferred platform for use of webcam. The interactive online aspect of webcamming allows participants to have stimulating enjoyable experience for each act. There has been an increasing trend in users seeking help from the service for healthy use of technology (SHUT) specialty clinic for the management of pornography use. Clinical interviews were used to elicit details about their concern. The cases demonstrated the role of online behaviors especially cybersex in managing stress, free time, loneliness, boredom, as well as the need for novelty. It implies the need for screening the pathways to cybersex as well as to evolve intervention to manage these pathways in an Indian context.