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Social Isolation, Psychological Health, and Protective Factors in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hall-Lande, Jennifer A.; Eisenberg, Marla E.; Christenson, Sandra L.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
This study investigates the relationships among social isolation, psychological health, and protective factors in adolescents. Feelings of social isolation may influence psychological health in adolescents, but protective factors such as family connectedness, school connectedness, and academic achievement may also play a key role. The sample…
Adolescent vulnerability to cardiovascular consequences of chronic social stress: Immediate and long-term effects of social isolation during adolescence.
Cruz, Fábio C; Duarte, Josiane O; Leão, Rodrigo M; Hummel, Luiz F V; Planeta, Cleopatra S; Crestani, Carlos C
It has been demonstrated that disruption of social bonds and perceived isolation (loneliness) are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Adolescence is proposed as a period of vulnerability to stress. Nevertheless, the impact of chronic social stress during this ontogenic period in cardiovascular function is poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the impact in cardiovascular function of social isolation for 3 weeks in adolescent and adult male rats. Also, the long-term effects of social isolation during adolescence were investigated longitudinally. Social isolation reduced body weight in adolescent, but not in adult animals. Disruption of social bonds during adolescence increased arterial pressure without affecting heart rate and pulse pressure (PP). Nevertheless, social isolation in adulthood reduced systolic arterial pressure and increased diastolic arterial pressure, which in turn decreased PP without affecting mean arterial pressure. Cardiovascular changes in adolescents, but not adults, were followed by facilitation of both baroreflex sensitivity and vascular reactivity to the vasodilator agent acetylcholine. Vascular responsiveness to either the vasodilator agent sodium nitroprusside or the vasoconstrictor agent phenylephrine was not affected by social isolation. Except for the changes in body weight and baroreflex sensitivity, all alterations evoked by social isolation during adolescence were reversed in adulthood after moving animals from isolated to collective housing. These findings suggest a vulnerability of adolescents to the effects of chronic social isolation in cardiovascular function. However, results indicate minimal cardiovascular consequences in adulthood of disruption of social bonds during adolescence. PMID:25914339
Understanding loneliness during adolescence: developmental changes that increase the risk of perceived social isolation.
Laursen, Brett; Hartl, Amy C
Loneliness is typically defined in terms of feeling states. In this review, we take a somewhat different approach, describing loneliness in terms of perceived social isolation. Vulnerabilities to perceived social isolation differ across the lifespan. Unique properties of adolescence are identified that carry special risk for perceived social isolation. These include (but are not limited to) developmental changes in companions, developmental changes in autonomy and individuation, identity exploration, cognitive maturation, developmental changes in social perspective taking, and physical maturation. Scholars are encouraged to consider loneliness through the lens of perceived social isolation so as to better understand how the experience of physical isolation varies across adolescence. PMID:23866959
The Relationship of Internet Use to Depression and Social Isolation among Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sanders, Christopher E.; Field, Tiffany M.; Diego, Miguel; Kaplan, Michele
Investigates whether higher levels of Internet use are associated with depression and social isolation among adolescents. Eighty-nine high school seniors were administered a questionnaire that measured Internet use; relationships with mother, father, and peers; and depression. Low Internet users, as compared with high users, reported better…
Psychopathology of social isolation
Baek, Sang-Bin
The most important defining factor of being human is the use of symbolic language. Language or communication problem occurs during the growth, the child will have a higher risk of social isolation and then the survival will be threatened constantly. Today, adolescents and youths are familiar with computer and smart-phone devices, and communication with others by these devices is easy than face-to-face communication. As adolescents and youths live in the comfortable and familiar cyber-world rather than actively participating real society, so they make social isolation. Extreme form of this isolation in adolescents and youths is so-called Socially Withdrawn Youth. In this study, the psychopathological factors inducing social isolation were discussed. Development stages of social isolation in relation with types of social isolation, Ego-syntonic isolation and Ego-dystonic isolation, were also considered. PMID:25061592
Lithium attenuates the proconvulsant effect of adolescent social isolation stress via involvement of the nitrergic system.
Amiri, Shayan; Haj-Mirzaian, Arya; Amini-Khoei, Hossein; Shirzadian, Armin; Rahimi-Balaei, Maryam; Razmi, Ali; Bergen, Hugo; Rastegar, Mojgan; Kordjazy, Nastaran; Haj-Mirzaian, Arvin; Ejtemai-Mehr, Shahram; Dehpour, Ahmad Reza
In this study, we tested whether acute administration of lithium mitigates the deleterious effect of adolescent social isolation stress (SIS) on seizure susceptibility. In comparison with socially conditioned (SC) mice, isolated conditioned (IC) mice exhibited an increase in seizure susceptibility to pentylenetetrazole. Acute administration of lithium (10mg/kg) reversed the proconvulsant effect of SIS in IC mice, but this effect was not observed in SC mice. Coadministration of subthreshold doses of lithium (3mg/kg) with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors reversed the effect of SIS on seizure susceptibility and decreased hippocampal nitrite levels in IC animals. In addition, a subthreshold dose of a nitric oxide precursor reduced the protective effect of lithium on seizure susceptibility and increased nitrite levels in the hippocampus of IC mice. These results suggest that lithium exerts a protective influence against the proconvulsant effect of adolescent SIS via a nitrergic system that includes activation of neuronal NOS in the hippocampus. PMID:27232376
Differential influence of social versus isolate housing on vicarious fear learning in adolescent mice.
Panksepp, Jules B; Lahvis, Garet P
Laboratory rodents can adopt the pain or fear of nearby conspecifics. This phenotype conceptually lies within the domain of empathy, a bio-psycho-social process through which individuals come to share each other's emotion. Using a model of cue-conditioned fear, we show here that the expression of vicarious fear varies with respect to whether mice are raised socially or in solitude during adolescence. The impact of the adolescent housing environment was selective: (a) vicarious fear was more influenced than directly acquired fear, (b) "long-term" (24-h postconditioning) vicarious fear memories were stronger than "short-term" (15-min postconditioning) memories in socially reared mice whereas the opposite was true for isolate mice, and (c) females were more fearful than males. Housing differences during adolescence did not alter the general mobility of mice or their vocal response to receiving the unconditioned stimulus. Previous work with this mouse model underscored a genetic influence on vicarious fear learning, and the present study complements these findings by elucidating an interaction between the adolescent social environment and vicarious experience. Collectively, these findings are relevant to developing models of empathy amenable to mechanistic exploitation in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record PMID:26881314
Differential influence of social versus isolate housing on vicarious fear learning in adolescent mice
Panksepp, Jules B.; Lahvis, Garet P.
Laboratory rodents can adopt the pain or fear of nearby conspecifics. This phenotype conceptually lies within the domain of empathy, a bio-psycho-social process through which individuals come to share each other's emotion. Using a model of cue-conditioned fear, we show here that the expression of vicarious fear varies with respect to whether mice are raised socially or in solitude during adolescence. The impact of the adolescent housing environment was selective: i) vicarious fear was more influenced than directly acquired fear, ii) 'Long-term' (24-h post-conditioning) vicarious fear memories were stronger than 'short-term' (15-min post-conditioning) memories in socially reared mice whereas the opposite was true for isolate mice, and iii) Females were more fearful than males. Housing differences during adolescence did not alter the general mobility of mice or their vocal response to receiving the unconditioned stimulus. Previous work with this mouse model underscored a genetic influence on vicarious fear learning, and the present study complements these findings by elucidating an interaction between the adolescent social environment and vicarious experience. Collectively, these findings are relevant to developing models of empathy amenable to mechanistic exploitation in the laboratory. PMID:26881314
Adolescent Social Isolation as a Model of Heightened Vulnerability to Comorbid Alcoholism and Anxiety Disorders.
Butler, Tracy R; Karkhanis, Anushree N; Jones, Sara R; Weiner, Jeffrey L
Individuals diagnosed with anxiety-related illnesses are at increased risk of developing alcoholism, exhibit a telescoped progression of this disease and fare worse in recovery, relative to alcoholics that do not suffer from a comorbid anxiety disorder. Similarly, preclinical evidence supports the notion that stress and anxiety represent major risk factors for the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Despite the importance of understanding the link between anxiety and alcoholism, much remains unknown about the neurobiological substrates underlying this relationship. One stumbling block has been the lack of animal models that reliably reproduce the spectrum of behaviors associated with increased vulnerability to these diseases. Here, we review the literature that has examined the behavioral and neurobiological outcomes of a simple rodent adolescent social isolation procedure and discuss its validity as a model of vulnerability to comorbid anxiety disorders and alcoholism. Recent studies have provided strong evidence that adolescent social isolation of male rats leads to the expression of a variety of behaviors linked with increased vulnerability to anxiety and/or AUD, including deficits in sensory gating and fear extinction, and increases in anxiety measures and ethanol drinking. Neurobiological studies are beginning to identify mesolimbic adaptations that may contribute to the behavioral phenotype engendered by this model. Some of these changes include increased excitability of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons and pyramidal cells in the basolateral amygdala and significant alterations in baseline and stimulated catecholamine signaling. A growing body of evidence suggests that adolescent social isolation may represent a reliable rodent model of heightened vulnerability to anxiety disorders and alcoholism in male rats. These studies provide initial support for the face, construct, and predictive validity of this model and highlight its utility in
Social isolation in adolescence alters behaviors in the forced swim and sucrose preference tests in female but not in male rats.
Hong, Suzie; Flashner, Bess; Chiu, Melissa; ver Hoeve, Elizabeth; Luz, Sandra; Bhatnagar, Seema
Social interactions in rodents are rewarding and motivating and social isolation is aversive. Accumulating evidence suggests that disruption of the social environment in adolescence has long-term effects on social interactions, on anxiety-like behavior and on stress reactivity. In previous work we showed that adolescent isolation produced increased reactivity to acute and to repeated stress in female rats, whereas lower corticosterone responses to acute stress and decreased anxiety-related behavior were noted in isolated males. These results indicate a sex specific impact on the effects of social stress in adolescence. However, little is known about whether social isolation impacts behaviors related to affect and whether it does so differently in male and female rats. The present study investigated the impact of adolescent social isolation from day 30-50 of age in male and female Sprague Dawley rats on behavior in the forced swim test at the end of adolescence and in adulthood and on behavior in the sucrose preference test in adulthood. Adult female rats that were isolated in adolescence exhibited increased climbing on the first and second day of the forced swim test and showed an increased preference for sucrose compared to adult females that were group-housed in adolescence. There were no effects in male rats. The results indicate that social isolation in adolescence produces a stable and active behavioral phenotype in adult female rats. PMID:21907226
A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Social Engagement, Isolation and Loneliness for Children and Adolescents with Autism
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mahjouri, Saara
The first study examined the social and emotional experience of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) who are fully included in middle and high schools. Participants reported higher than average levels of loneliness and were observed to be isolated during most unstructured times. However, their depression and multidimensional anxiety…
Chronic social isolation during adolescence augments catecholamine response to acute ethanol in the basolateral amygdala.
Karkhanis, Anushree N; Alexander, Nancy J; McCool, Brian A; Weiner, Jeffrey L; Jones, Sara R
Adolescent social isolation (SI) results in numerous behavioral alterations associated with increased risk of alcoholism. Notably, many of these changes involve the basolateral amygdala (BLA), including increased alcohol seeking. The BLA sends a strong glutamatergic projection to the nucleus accumbens and activation of this pathway potentiates reward-seeking behavior. Dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) exert powerful excitatory and inhibitory effects on BLA activity and chronic stress can disrupt the excitation-inhibition balance maintained by these catecholamines. Notably, the impact of SI on BLA DA and NE neurotransmission is unknown. Thus the aim of this study was to characterize SI-mediated catecholamine alterations in the BLA. Male Long Evans rats were housed in groups of four (GH) or in SI for 6 weeks during adolescence. DA and NE transporter levels were then measured using Western blot hybridization and baseline and ethanol-stimulated DA and NE levels were quantified using microdialysis. DA transporter levels were increased and baseline DA levels were decreased in SI compared to GH rats. SI also increased DA responses to an acute ethanol (2 g kg(-1)) challenge. While no group differences were noted in NE transporter or baseline NE levels, acute ethanol (2 g kg(-1)) only significantly increased NE levels in SI animals. Collectively, these SI-dependent changes in BLA catecholamine signaling may lead to an increase in BLA excitability and a strengthening of the glutamatergic projection between the BLA and NAc. Such changes may promote the elevated ethanol drinking behavior observed in rats subjected to chronic adolescent stress. PMID:25963724
Pro-social 50-kHz ultrasonic communication in rats: post-weaning but not post-adolescent social isolation leads to social impairments—phenotypic rescue by re-socialization
Seffer, Dominik; Rippberger, Henrike; Schwarting, Rainer K. W.; Wöhr, Markus
Rats are highly social animals and social play during adolescence has an important role for social development, hence post-weaning social isolation is widely used to study the adverse effects of juvenile social deprivation and to induce behavioral phenotypes relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia. Communication is an important component of the rat's social behavior repertoire, with ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) serving as situation-dependent affective signals. High-frequency 50-kHz USV occur in appetitive situations and induce approach behavior, supporting the notion that they serve as social contact calls; however, post-weaning isolation effects on the behavioral changes displayed by the receiver in response to USV have yet to be studied. We therefore investigated the impact of post-weaning isolation on socio-affective information processing as assessed by means of our established 50-kHz USV radial maze playback paradigm. We showed that post-weaning social isolation specifically affected the behavioral response to playback of pro-social 50-kHz but not alarm 22-kHz USV. While group-housed rats showed the expected preference, i.e., approach, toward 50-kHz USV, the response was even stronger in short-term isolated rats (i.e., 1 day), possibly due to a higher level of social motivation. In contrast, no approach was observed in long-term isolated rats (i.e., 4 weeks). Importantly, deficits in approach were reversed by peer-mediated re-socialization and could not be observed after post-adolescent social isolation, indicating a critical period for social development during adolescence. Together, these results highlight the importance of social experience for affiliative behavior, suggesting a critical involvement of play behavior on socio-affective information processing in rats. PMID:25983681
Cognitive dysfunction and epigenetic alterations of the BDNF gene are induced by social isolation during early adolescence.
Li, Man; Du, Wei; Shao, Feng; Wang, Weiwen
Early life adversity, such as social isolation, causes a variety of changes to the development of cognitive abilities and the nervous system. Increasing evidence has shown that epigenetic modifications mediate gene-environment interactions throughout the lifespan. In this study, we investigated the effect of adolescent social isolation on cognitive behaviours and epigenetic alterations of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either group-reared or isolation-reared conditions during post-natal days (PNDs) 21-34. On PND 56, all rats underwent behavioural testing and were then sacrificed for biochemical testing. Adolescent social isolation induced impaired PPI. Regarding BDNF, the isolation-reared rats demonstrated increased BDNF mRNA levels, H3 acetylation at the BDNF gene and BDNF protein expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In contrast, the BDNF mRNA levels, H3 acetylation of the BDNF gene and BDNF protein expression were decreased in the hippocampus of the isolation-reared rats. The present study indicated that epigenetic regulation of BDNF may be one of the molecular mechanisms that mediated the cognitive dysfunction. Moreover, the interaction between the mPFC and hippocampus might play an important role in the regulation of cognitive behaviour. PMID:27435421
Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Prediction from Clique Isolation, Loneliness, and Perceived Social Acceptance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Witvliet, Miranda; Brendgen, Mara; van Lier, Pol A. C.; Koot, Hans M.; Vitaro, Frank
This study examined whether clique isolation predicted an increase in depressive symptoms and whether this association was mediated by loneliness and perceived social acceptance in 310 children followed from age 11-14 years. Clique isolation was identified through social network analysis, whereas depressive symptoms, loneliness, and perceived…
Child Physical Abuse and Self-Perceived Social Isolation among Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Elliott, Gregory C.; Cunningham, Susan M.; Linder, Meadow; Colangelo, Melissa; Gross, Michelle
This research examines the connection between physical abuse and social isolation. Using data from the National Youth Survey, a measure of self-perceived social isolation was constructed indicating the extent to which respondents feel detached from their friends and from school. Those who had experienced violence were predicted to be more isolated…
Anxious Attachment, Social Isolation, and Indicators of Sex Drive and Compulsivity: Predictors of Child Sexual Abuse Perpetration in Adolescent Males?
Miner, Michael H; Swinburne Romine, Rebecca; Robinson, Beatrice Bean E; Berg, Dianne; Knight, Raymond A
It has been suggested that child sexual abuse is related to poor attachment to parents, which is associated with an inability to form intimate relationships. Seto and Lalumière indicated that there were too few studies of adolescent males to determine whether poor attachment was associated with perpetration. This study was designed to follow up on a previous study and further explored the association between insecure attachment to parents, social isolation, and interpersonal adequacy to child sexual abuse perpetration in adolescents. We compared two samples of adolescent males who had committed sexual offenses, those who committed offenses against children (n = 140) and those who committed offenses against peer or adults (n = 92), with a sample of similarly aged males in treatment for mental health or substance use issues (n = 93). Data were collected using a semi-structured interview and computer-administered questionnaire. We found an indirect association between anxious attachment and sexual offenses against child victims, which was accounted for by measures of social involvement and social isolation. These involvement and isolation measures also did not have a direct association with sexual offenses against child victims, in that their contribution was accounted for by a measure of Masculine Adequacy. This Masculine Adequacy, combined with decreased levels of Sexual Preoccupation and Hypersexuality and increased Sexual Compulsivity, was associated with commission of child sexual abuse. The interpersonal variables did not enter a model predicting sexual offending against peers/adults, which seemed solely associated with the interaction between Sexual Compulsivity and Hypersexuality. PMID:25143437
Adolescent social isolation increases anxiety-like behavior and ethanol intake and impairs fear extinction in adulthood: Possible role of disrupted noradrenergic signaling.
Skelly, M J; Chappell, A E; Carter, E; Weiner, J L
Alcohol use disorder, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly comorbid, and exposure to chronic stress during adolescence may increase the incidence of these conditions in adulthood. Efforts to identify the common stress-related mechanisms driving these disorders have been hampered, in part, by a lack of reliable preclinical models that replicate their comorbid symptomatology. Prior work by us, and others, has shown that adolescent social isolation increases anxiety-like behaviors and voluntary ethanol consumption in adult male Long-Evans rats. Here we examined whether social isolation also produces deficiencies in extinction of conditioned fear, a hallmark symptom of PTSD. Additionally, as disrupted noradrenergic signaling may contribute to alcoholism, we examined the effect of anxiolytic medications that target noradrenergic signaling on ethanol intake following adolescent social isolation. Our results confirm and extend previous findings that adolescent social isolation increases anxiety-like behavior and enhances ethanol intake and preference in adulthood. Additionally, social isolation is associated with a significant deficit in the extinction of conditioned fear and a marked increase in the ability of noradrenergic therapeutics to decrease ethanol intake. These results suggest that adolescent social isolation not only leads to persistent increases in anxiety-like behaviors and ethanol consumption, but also disrupts fear extinction, and as such may be a useful preclinical model of stress-related psychopathology. Our data also suggest that disrupted noradrenergic signaling may contribute to escalated ethanol drinking following social isolation, thus further highlighting the potential utility of noradrenergic therapeutics in treating the deleterious behavioral sequelae associated with early life stress. PMID:26044636
Family Rejection, Social Isolation, and Loneliness as Predictors of Negative Health Outcomes (Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Sexual Risk Behavior) among Thai Male-to-Female Transgender Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yadegarfard, Mohammadrasool; Meinhold-Bergmann, Mallika E.; Ho, Robert
This study examined the influence of family rejection, social isolation, and loneliness on negative health outcomes among Thai male-to-female transgender adolescents. The sample consisted of 260 male respondents, of whom 129 (49.6%) were self-identified as transgender and 131 (50.4%) were self-identified as cisgender (nontransgender). Initial…
Social isolation during peri-adolescence or adulthood: effects on sexual motivation, testosterone and corticosterone response under conditions of sexual arousal in male rats.
Amstislavskaya, Tamara G; Bulygina, Veta V; Tikhonova, Maria A; Maslova, Larissa N
Reproductive functions in adult organism are known to be affected by different factors. Effects of social environment at the postnatal ontogenesis attract particular attention since it has deep impact on the development of physiological and emotional state of an individual. Effects of chronic social isolation at different ages on male sexual motivation, testosterone and corticosterone response under conditions of sexual arousal were studied in Wistar rats. After weaning at the 21st [corrected] day of age, rats of one group were isolated for six weeks and after that they were housed in groups of five per cage for ten weeks (Iso3-9). Rats of the second group were housed in groups of five animals per cage till 13 weeks of age, and then they were isolated for six weeks (Iso13-19). Rats of the control group were housed in groups during the experiment. Adult 19 week- old male rats were tested under conditions of sexual arousal. The expression of sexual motivation was estimated as the behavioral activity of a male at the transparent perforated partition separating a receptive female. Isolation of adult male rats reduced the number of approaches to the partition, while the period of time a male spent at the partition was not changed and testosterone response was enhanced as compared to control rats. Chronic social isolation during peri-adolescence reduced sexual motivation and prevented arousal-induced elevation of testosterone. Plasma corticosterone increases at sexual arousal in the two groups of isolated rats did not differ from that in controls. Our results are evidence that social isolation during the post-maturity stage (Iso13-19) did not diminish the manifestation of sexual motivation and hormonal response to a receptive female, while isolation during peri-adolescence attenuated behavioral and hormonal expression of sexual arousal in adult males. PMID:23347014
Social networking and adolescents.
Fuld, Gilbert L
Online social networking is a 21st century innovation increasingly embraced by today's young people. It provides new opportunities for communication that expand an adolescent's world. Yet adults, often suspicious of new trends and technologies initially embraced by youth, often see these new environments as perilous places to visit. These fears have been accentuated by media hype, especially about sexual predators. How dangerous are they? Because the rush to go on these sites is a new phenomenon, research is as yet scant. This review explores current beliefs and knowledge about the dangers of social networking sites. PMID:19492691
Blockade of NMDA receptors reverses the depressant, but not anxiogenic effect of adolescence social isolation in mice.
Haj-Mirzaian, Arya; Amiri, Shayan; Kordjazy, Nastaran; Rahimi-Balaei, Maryam; Haj-Mirzaian, Arvin; Marzban, Hassan; Aminzadeh, Azadeh; Dehpour, Ahmad Reza; Mehr, Shahram Ejtemaei
Early life social isolation stress (SIS), a well-known chronic stress paradigm, is contributed to a number of pathophysiological and neurochemical changes including depression and anxiety. The underlying mechanisms for these disorders in socially isolated animals have not been fully cleared. Previous studies have shown that N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function is changed by social isolation condition. It is now well recognized that NMDA receptor blockade can exhibit antidepressant and anxiolytic actions. In our study, postnatal day 21-25 mice were randomly housed for 4 weeks under either social condition (SC) or isolated condition (IC). Then, animals were subjected to different behavioral experiments to investigate whether blockade of NMDA receptor resulted in behavioral alterations in animals. Social isolation stress induced depressive and anxiety-like behaviors in IC animals in comparison with SC mice. Also, we applied subeffective doses of antagonists including ketamine (1mg/kg), MK-801 (0.05mg/kg), and magnesium sulfate (10mg/kg) to both SC and IC mice prior to behavioral experiments. Administration of a single dose of all mentioned drugs did not affect the SC mice but modulated the depressant effects of SIS on IC mice. Administration of NMDA receptor antagonists decreased the immobility time in the forced swimming test as well as an increase in grooming behavior in splash test. However, anxiety-like behaviors in IC animals remained unchanged in hole-board test and open field test after blockade of NMDA receptors. Taken together, our results showed the possible involvement of the NMDA receptors in the depressive, but not anxiety-like behaviors induced by SIS. PMID:25592321
Early Adolescent Social Networks and Computer Use.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Orleans, Myron; Laney, Margaret C.
A research project was conducted to examine the interactions between the social networks of young adolescents and their computer usage. Particular attention was focused upon whether computers tend to isolate youthful users. Adult anxiety regarding the damaging effects of computers on children was assessed. Parental involvement, orientation to…
Co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive-like behaviors following adolescent social isolation in male mice; possible role of nitrergic system.
Amiri, Shayan; Haj-Mirzaian, Arya; Rahimi-Balaei, Maryam; Razmi, Ali; Kordjazy, Nastaran; Shirzadian, Armin; Ejtemaei Mehr, Shahram; Sianati, Hamed; Dehpour, Ahmad Reza
Approximately more than 50% of patients with depression have the co-occurrence of anxiety, which complicates the treatment of disease. Recently, social isolation stress (SIS) paradigm has been suggested as an animal model to investigate the underlying mechanism involved in depression-anxiety co-occurrence. In this study, applying six weeks of SIS to adolescent mice, we tested whether nitrergic system plays a role in co-occurrence of depression and anxiety. In this study, comparisons between socially and isolated conditioned (SC and IC) animals showed that SIS induces behaviors relevant to depression and anxiety in IC mice and in addition, nitrergic system is involved in mediating the negative outcomes of SIS. Administration of subeffective doses of aminoguanidine (a specific inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor or iNOS, 50mg/kg) and L-NAME (non-specific inhibitor of NOS, 10mg/kg) significantly reversed the negative effects of SIS on behavioral profile as well as nitrite levels in the cortex of IC mice, Although administration of subeffective dose of 7-nitroindazole (a specific neuronal NOS inhibitor, 25mg/kg) decreased the nitrite levels in the hippocampus, but had no effect on depressant and anxiogenic effects of SIS. Results of this study confirmed that SIS is an appropriate animal model to investigate the potential mechanisms in depression-anxiety co-occurrence. We also showed that nitrergic system has contributed to co-occurrence of depression and anxiety in IC mice as an underlying mechanism. PMID:25817356
Social Withdrawal Subtypes during Early Adolescence in India
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bowker, Julie C.; Raja, Radhi
The overarching goal of this study was to examine the associations between three social withdrawal subtypes (shyness, unsociability, avoidance), peer isolation, peer difficulties (victimization, rejection, exclusion, low acceptance), and loneliness in India during early adolescence. Participants were 194 adolescents in Surat, India (M age=13.35…
The Role of Social Isolation in Suicide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Trout, Deborah L.
Reviews the literature which relates to the role of social isolation in suicide. Major areas reviewed include theories on suicide and social isolation, measures of social isolation, and empirical studies which concern the relationship of social isolation to suicide. (Author)
Social Justice, Research, and Adolescence
Russell, Stephen T.
In what ways might research on adolescence contribute to social justice? My 2014 Presidential Address identified strategies for social justice in our field. First, we need research that is conscious of biases, power, and privilege in science, as well as in our roles as scholars. Second, we need research that attends to inequities in lives of adolescents, and as scholars we need to question the ways that our research may unwittingly reinforce those inequalities. Third, we need research that attends to urgencies, that is, issues or conditions that influence adolescents' well-being which demand attention and action. I draw from a range of concepts and theoretical perspectives to make the case for a framework of social justice in research on adolescence. PMID:27307689
Adolescents and social support situations.
Olsson, Ingrid; Hagekull, Berit; Giannotta, Fabrizia; Åhlander, Camilla
The present study concerned adolescents' needs for social support with a focus on specific situations. The Adolescent Need for Social Support Questionnaire (ANSSQ) was developed based on qualitative interviews with typically developing adolescents about situations in which they need parent support. The questionnaire was tested on a sample of 380 Swedish 15-year-olds. A 3-component structure reflecting the dimensions "Home and school", "Low mood", and "Sex and alcohol" was tested in SEM analyses. Scales based on these dimensions, measuring support from parents and peers, yielded satisfactory psychometric results. Parent support was preferred over peer support for "Home and school" situations; in the other two areas peers were more likely to be the support providers. Females turned more often to parents and friends for support than males. Seeking parental support was positively related to adolescent disclosure and negatively related to adolescent secrecy, indicating convergent and discriminant validity. Further validation of the ANSSQ is discussed. The current study points to possibilities for adapting measures of social support to contexts. PMID:27038341
The Psychological and Social Characteristics of Asian Adolescent Overdose.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kingsbury, Stephen
Compared social and psychological features of Asian (n=13) and Caucasian (n=37) adolescents who had taken drug overdoses. Found that Asians were more socially isolated than Caucasians and that, despite Asians having low suicidal intent, they had higher rates of depression, hopelessness, long premeditation time, and previous overdose. (Author/NB)
Social Information Processing in Deaf Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Torres, Jesús; Saldaña, David; Rodríguez-Ortiz, Isabel R.
The goal of this study was to compare the processing of social information in deaf and hearing adolescents. A task was developed to assess social information processing (SIP) skills of deaf adolescents based on Crick and Dodge's (1994; A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment.…
Impact of social isolation and enriched environment during adolescence on voluntary ethanol intake and anxiety in C57BL/6J mice.
Lopez, Marcelo F; Laber, Kathy
This study was designed to determine the impact of an enriched environment in a previously established stress model of isolation during early development that induces high alcohol (ethanol) self-administration. The study was conducted with male and female C57BL/6J mice housed in isolation or in groups that were either provided or withheld enrichment during adolescence. The impact of these housing conditions was assessed during adulthood by measuring weight gain, quantifying voluntary ethanol intake, measuring plasma corticosterone levels, and assessing anxiety-like behavior. Results showed that, regardless of sex, mice that were single-housed during adolescence showed a significant increase in voluntary ethanol intake, which was not observed in isolated mice that were provided with nesting material during adolescence (compared to group-housed non-enriched control group). Basal corticosterone was not affected by housing, enrichment conditions, or sex. Corticosterone levels did not relate to levels of voluntary ethanol intake. However, corticosterone levels were higher after three weeks of ethanol intake. Surprisingly, mice that were group-housed during adolescence showed higher levels of anxiety-like behavior in the light/dark test. Overall, these results indicate that housing conditions during a critical developmental period can significantly modulate voluntary ethanol intake later in life. PMID:25446196
Perceived Social Isolation and Cognition
Cacioppo, John T.; Hawkley, Louise C.
Social species, from Drosophila melanogaster to Homo sapiens, fare poorly when isolated. Homo sapiens, an irrepressibly meaning-making species, are, in normal circumstances, dramatically affected by perceived social isolation. Research indicates that perceived social isolation (i.e., loneliness) is a risk factor for, and may contribute to, poorer overall cognitive performance, faster cognitive decline, poorer executive functioning, more negativity and depressive cognition, heightened sensitivity to social threats, a confirmatory bias in social cognition that is self-protective and paradoxically self-defeating, heightened anthropomorphism, and contagion that threatens social cohesion. These differences in attention and cognition impact emotions, decisions, behaviors, and interpersonal interactions that may contribute to the association between loneliness and cognitive decline and between loneliness and morbidity more generally. PMID:19726219
The Social Ecology of Adolescent Alcohol Misuse
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ennett, Susan T.; Foshee, Vangie A.; Bauman, Karl E.; Hussong, Andrea; Cai, Li; Reyes, Heathe Luz McNaughton; Faris, Robert; Hipp, John; DuRant, Robert
A conceptual framework based on social ecology, social learning, and social control theories guided identification of social contexts, contextual attributes, and joint effects that contribute to development of adolescent alcohol misuse. Modeling of alcohol use, suggested by social learning theory, and indicators of the social bond, suggested by…
Psicologia social de la adolescencia (Social Psychology of the Adolescent).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Havighurst, Robert J.
An attempt is made (1) to define adolescence as a biological phenomenon, (2) to describe the characteristics of the adolescent in Latin America, and (3) to identify the adolescent within certain social and cultural groups of specific Latin American countries. The perspective of the four-part monograph is entirely sociological, and the report is…
Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice
Kercmar, Jasmina; Tobet, Stuart A.; Majdic, Gregor
Exposure to stress during puberty can lead to long-term behavioral alterations in adult rodents coincident with sex steroid hormone-dependent brain remodeling and reorganization. Social isolation is a stress for social animals like mice, but little is known about the effects of such stress during adolescence on later reproductive behaviors. The present study examined sexual behavior of ovariectomized, estradiol and progesterone primed female mice that were individually housed from 25 days of age until testing at approximately 95 days, or individually housed from day 25 until day 60 (during puberty), followed by housing in social groups. Mice in these isolated groups were compared to females that were group housed throughout the experiment. Receptive sexual behaviors of females and behaviors of stimulus males were recorded. Females housed in social groups displayed greater levels of receptive behaviors in comparison to both socially isolated groups. Namely, social females had higher lordosis quotients (LQs) and more often displayed stronger lordosis postures in comparison to isolated females. No differences between female groups were observed in stimulus male sexual behavior suggesting that female "attractiveness" was not affected by their social isolation. Females housed in social groups had fewer cells containing immunoreactive estrogen receptor (ER) α in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) and in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) than both isolated groups. These results suggest that isolation during adolescence affects female sexual behavior and re-socialization for 1 month in adulthood is insufficient to rescue lordosis behavior from the effects of social isolation during the pubertal period. PMID:25324747
Social Information Processing in Deaf Adolescents.
Torres, Jesús; Saldaña, David; Rodríguez-Ortiz, Isabel R
The goal of this study was to compare the processing of social information in deaf and hearing adolescents. A task was developed to assess social information processing (SIP) skills of deaf adolescents based on Crick and Dodge's (1994; A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74-101) reformulated six-stage model. It consisted of a structured interview after watching 18 scenes of situations depicting participation in a peer group or provocations by peers. Participants included 32 deaf and 20 hearing adolescents and young adults aged between 13 and 21 years. Deaf adolescents and adults had lower scores than hearing participants in all the steps of the SIP model (coding, interpretation, goal formulation, response generation, response decision, and representation). However, deaf girls and women had better scores on social adjustment and on some SIP skills than deaf male participants. PMID:27143715
Post-weaning Social Isolation Impairs Observational Fear Conditioning
Yusufishaq, Shabana; Rosenkranz, J. Amiel
Many mammals can utilize social information to learn by observation of conspecifics (social learning). Social learning of fear is expected to be especially advantageous for survival. However, disruption of social development in early life can impair social cognition and might also be expected to disrupt social learning. Social isolation during a critical period of adolescence disrupts social development. The purpose of this study was to determine whether disruption of social development through post-weaning social isolation leads to impairments of social fear learning. Rats were reared in isolation or pair-housed from immediately post-weaning, for 3 weeks. Social fear learning in rats was acquired by observation of tone-footshock pairings administered to a conspecific. Isolation-reared rats displayed less conditioned freezing than pair-housed rats when tested the next day. This reduction of conditioned freezing was correlated with conspecific-oriented behaviors during conditioning, was measured despite similarities in demonstrator behaviors, and occurred despite a manipulation that equalized freezing during conditioning between the pair-housed and isolation-reared rats. The results could not be explained by abnormal sensitization to a repeated tone or deficits in freezing or direct fear conditioning. These results demonstrate that observational fear conditioning is impaired by social isolation, and provide a model to study impaired social affective learning. Impaired social cognition, manifested as inability to recognize or appropriately interpret social cues, is a symptom of several psychiatric disorders. Better understanding of the mechanisms of impaired social fear learning can lead to novel treatments for social cognition symptoms of psychiatric disorders. PMID:23295398
Social information influences trust behaviour in adolescents.
Lee, Nikki C; Jolles, Jelle; Krabbendam, Lydia
Trust plays an integral role in daily interactions within adolescents' social environment. Using a trust game paradigm, this study investigated the modulating influence of social information about three interaction partners on trust behaviour in adolescents aged 12-18 (N = 845). After receiving information about their interaction partners prior to the task, participants were most likely to share with a 'good' partner and rate this partner as most trustworthy. Over the course of the task all interaction partners showed similar levels of trustworthy behaviour, but overall participants continued to trust and view the good partner as more trustworthy than 'bad' and 'neutral' partners throughout the game. However, with age the ability to overcome prior social information and adapt trust behaviour improved: middle and late adolescents showed a larger decrease in trust of the good partner than early adolescents, and late adolescents were more likely to reward trustworthy behaviour from the negative partner. PMID:26599529
Neural mechanisms of social influence in adolescence.
Welborn, B Locke; Lieberman, Matthew D; Goldenberg, Diane; Fuligni, Andrew J; Galván, Adriana; Telzer, Eva H
During the transformative period of adolescence, social influence plays a prominent role in shaping young people's emerging social identities, and can impact their propensity to engage in prosocial or risky behaviors. In this study, we examine the neural correlates of social influence from both parents and peers, two important sources of influence. Nineteen adolescents (age 16-18 years) completed a social influence task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. Social influence from both sources evoked activity in brain regions implicated in mentalizing (medial prefrontal cortex, left temporoparietal junction, right temporoparietal junction), reward (ventromedial prefrontal cortex), and self-control (right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex). These results suggest that mental state reasoning, social reward and self-control processes may help adolescents to evaluate others' perspectives and overcome the prepotent force of their own antecedent attitudes to shift their attitudes toward those of others. Findings suggest common neural networks involved in social influence from both parents and peers. PMID:26203050
Illness Behavior and Social Competence in Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walker, Lynn S.; Van Slyke, Deborah A.
This study examined the relationship of illness behavior to perceived competence and gender in adolescents. It was hypothesized that, like adults, adolescents with lower levels of perceived social competence would report more illness behavior. A significant gender difference was expected such that girls would report more illness behavior than…
Adolescent neurobiological susceptibility to social context.
Schriber, Roberta A; Guyer, Amanda E
Adolescence has been characterized as a period of heightened sensitivity to social contexts. However, adolescents vary in how their social contexts affect them. According to neurobiological susceptibility models, endogenous, biological factors confer some individuals, relative to others, with greater susceptibility to environmental influences, whereby more susceptible individuals fare the best or worst of all individuals, depending on the environment encountered (e.g., high vs. low parental warmth). Until recently, research guided by these theoretical frameworks has not incorporated direct measures of brain structure or function to index this sensitivity. Drawing on prevailing models of adolescent neurodevelopment and a growing number of neuroimaging studies on the interrelations among social contexts, the brain, and developmental outcomes, we review research that supports the idea of adolescent neurobiological susceptibility to social context for understanding why and how adolescents differ in development and well-being. We propose that adolescent development is shaped by brain-based individual differences in sensitivity to social contexts - be they positive or negative - such as those created through relationships with parents/caregivers and peers. Ultimately, we recommend that future research measure brain function and structure to operationalize susceptibility factors that moderate the influence of social contexts on developmental outcomes. PMID:26773514
Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A): Measuring Social Anxiety among Finnish Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ranta, Klaus; Junttila, Niina; Laakkonen, Eero; Uhmavaara, Anni; La Greca, Annette M.; Niemi, Paivi M.
The aim of this study was to investigate symptoms of social anxiety and the psychometric properties of the "Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents" (SAS-A) among Finnish adolescents, 13-16 years of age. Study 1 (n = 867) examined the distribution of SAS-A scores according to gender and age, and the internal consistency and factor structure of the…
Social Influence on Risk Perception During Adolescence
Magis-Weinberg, Lucía; Speekenbrink, Maarten; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne
Adolescence is a period of life in which peer relationships become increasingly important. Adolescents have a greater likelihood of taking risks when they are with peers rather than alone. In this study, we investigated the development of social influence on risk perception from late childhood through adulthood. Five hundred and sixty-three participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations and were then informed about the ratings of a social-influence group (teenagers or adults) before rating each situation again. All age groups showed a significant social-influence effect, changing their risk ratings in the direction of the provided ratings; this social-influence effect decreased with age. Most age groups adjusted their ratings more to conform to the ratings of the adult social-influence group than to the ratings of the teenager social-influence group. Only young adolescents were more strongly influenced by the teenager social-influence group than they were by the adult social-influence group, which suggests that to early adolescents, the opinions of other teenagers about risk matter more than the opinions of adults. PMID:25810453
Online Social Networking: Usage in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Raju, Nevil Johnson; Valsaraj, Blessy Prabha; Noronha, Judith
Online social networking (OSN) has played a significant role on the relationship among college students. It is becoming a popular medium for socializing online and tools to facilitate friendship. Young adults and adolescents are the most prolific users of OSN sites. The frequent use of OSN sites results in addiction toward these sites and…
Tickling during adolescence alters fear-related and cognitive behaviors in rats after prolonged isolation.
Hori, Miyo; Yamada, Kazuo; Ohnishi, Junji; Sakamoto, Shigeko; Furuie, Hiroki; Murakami, Kazuo; Ichitani, Yukio
Social interactions during adolescence are important especially for neuronal development and behavior. We recently showed that positive emotions induced by repeated tickling could modulate fear-related behaviors and sympatho-adrenal stress responses. In the present study, we examined whether tickling during early to late adolescence stage could reverse stress vulnerability induced by socially isolated rearing. Ninety-five male Fischer rats were reared under different conditions from postnatal day (PND) 21 to 53: group-housed (three rats/cage), isolated-nontickled (one rat/cage) and isolated-tickled (received tickling stimulation for 5min a day). Auditory fear conditioning was then performed on the rats at PND 54. Isolated-tickled rats exhibited significantly lower freezing compared with group-housed rats in the first retention test performed 48h after conditioning and compared with isolated-nontickled rats in the second retention test performed 96h after conditioning. Moreover, group-housed and isolated-tickled rats tended to show a significant decrease in freezing responses in the second retention test; however, isolated-nontickled rats did not. In the Morris water maze task that was trained in adulthood (PND 88), but not in adolescence (PND 56), isolated-nontickled rats showed slower decrease of escape latency compared to group-housed rats; however, tickling treatment significantly improved this deficit. These results suggest that tickling stimulation can alleviate the detrimental effects of isolated rearing during adolescence on fear responses and spatial learning. PMID:24727339
Social Networks and Social Influences in Adolescence.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cotterell, John
Young people are concerned with making and keeping friends, and they invest a great deal of energy in group social life to do so. This book charts the interactions of young people both in and out of school and the role of peers and friends in strengthening social attachments and in establishing social identities. It describes how social identities…
Adolescence and the social determinants of health.
Viner, Russell M; Ozer, Elizabeth M; Denny, Simon; Marmot, Michael; Resnick, Michael; Fatusi, Adesegun; Currie, Candace
The health of adolescents is strongly affected by social factors at personal, family, community, and national levels. Nations present young people with structures of opportunity as they grow up. Since health and health behaviours correspond strongly from adolescence into adult life, the way that these social determinants affect adolescent health are crucial to the health of the whole population and the economic development of nations. During adolescence, developmental effects related to puberty and brain development lead to new sets of behaviours and capacities that enable transitions in family, peer, and educational domains, and in health behaviours. These transitions modify childhood trajectories towards health and wellbeing and are modified by economic and social factors within countries, leading to inequalities. We review existing data on the effects of social determinants on health in adolescence, and present findings from country-level ecological analyses on the health of young people aged 10-24 years. The strongest determinants of adolescent health worldwide are structural factors such as national wealth, income inequality, and access to education. Furthermore, safe and supportive families, safe and supportive schools, together with positive and supportive peers are crucial to helping young people develop to their full potential and attain the best health in the transition to adulthood. Improving adolescent health worldwide requires improving young people's daily life with families and peers and in schools, addressing risk and protective factors in the social environment at a population level, and focusing on factors that are protective across various health outcomes. The most effective interventions are probably structural changes to improve access to education and employment for young people and to reduce the risk of transport-related injury. PMID:22538179
Understanding Social Change in Conducting Research on Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pinquart, Martin; Silbereisen, Rainer K.
In the present essay, we focus on G. Stanley Hall's contributions to the study of the role of social change for adolescent development. After introducing Hall's main ideas, we discuss recent demands adolescents face because of social change and how Hall's work could inform research on adolescent development in times of social change.
Different gain/loss sensitivity and social adaptation ability in gifted adolescents during a public goods game.
Chung, Dongil; Yun, Kyongsik; Kim, Jin Ho; Jang, Bosun; Jeong, Jaeseung
Gifted adolescents are considered to have high IQs with advanced mathematical and logical performances, but are often thought to suffer from social isolation or emotional mal-adaptation to the social group. The underlying mechanisms that cause stereotypic portrayals of gifted adolescents are not well known. We aimed to investigate behavioral performance of gifted adolescents during social decision-making tasks to assess their affective and social/non-social cognitive abilities. We examined cooperation behaviors of 22 gifted and 26 average adolescents during an iterative binary public goods (PG) game, a multi-player social interaction game, and analyzed strategic decision processes that include cooperation and free-riding. We found that the gifted adolescents were more cooperative than average adolescents. Particularly, comparing the strategies for the PG game between the two groups, gifted adolescents were less sensitive to loss, yet were more sensitive to gain. Additionally, the behavioral characteristics of average adolescents, such as low trust of the group and herding behavior, were not found in gifted adolescents. These results imply that gifted adolescents have a high cognitive ability but a low ability to process affective information or to adapt in social groups compared with average adolescents. We conclude that gain/loss sensitivity and the ability to adapt in social groups develop to different degrees in average and gifted adolescents. PMID:21359224
Loneliness, Friendship Quality and the Social Networks of Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism in an Inclusive School Setting
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Locke, Jill; Ishijima, Eric H.; Kasari, Connie; London, Nancy
By definition, children with autism have poor peer relationships despite age and ability. When children enter adolescence, social problems typically worsen and feelings of loneliness and isolation may emerge. Thus, the overarching goal of the current study is to examine the social-emotional relationships of adolescents with autism and their…
Social Anxiety, Stress Type, and Conformity among Adolescents
Zhang, Peng; Deng, Yanhe; Yu, Xue; Zhao, Xin; Liu, Xiangping
Social anxiety and stress type can influence strong conformity among adolescents; however, the interaction between them is not clear. In this study, 152 adolescents were recruited and assigned one of two conditions: an interaction and a judgment condition. In the interaction condition, adolescents with high social anxiety (HSA) were less likely to conform when completing a modified Asch task, compared to adolescents who had low social anxiety. In the judgment condition, adolescents with HSA were more likely to conform to the opinions from the unanimous majority. The results suggest that adolescents with HSA may show different styles of strong conformity with the change of stress type. We believe that socially anxious adolescents avoid potential social situations with weaker conformity, while avoiding negative evaluations from others with stronger conformity. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the social dysfunctions among adolescents with HSA and provide a new direction for clinical interventions. PMID:27242649
Sexual Socialization during Early Adolescence: The Menarche.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Amann-Gainotti, Merete
Explored early socialization of beliefs and attitudes toward menarche in 258 adolescents, aged 11 to 14 years, male and female pre- and postmenarcheal, from southern Italy. Results showed a consistent lack of accurate information by a high percentage of subjects, both male and female; negative beliefs were held only by girls, boys tended to ignore…
Training Blind Adolescents in Social Skills.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Hasselt, Vincent B.; And Others
Social skills training four blind unassertive adolescent females include instructions, feedback, behavior rehearsal, modeling, and manual guidance. Most behaviors selected for modification changed markedly, although some decreased after four weeks, requiring "booster" sessions to promote a return to posttreatment levels. (Author/CL)
Social Neuroscience of Child and Adolescent Depression
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, Anita
The social neuroscience of child and adolescent depression is inherently multidisciplinary. Depressive disorders beginning early in life can have serious developmental and functional consequences. Psychopathology research has described depression's defining clinical and contextual features, and intervention research has characterized its response…
Social and interpersonal factors relating to adolescent suicidality: a review of the literature.
King, Cheryl A; Merchant, Christopher R
This article reviews the empirical literature concerning social and interpersonal variables as risk factors for adolescent suicidality (suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, death by suicide). It also describes major social constructs in theories of suicide and the extent to which studies support their importance to adolescent suicidality. PsychINFO and PubMed searches were conducted for empirical studies focused on family and friend support, social isolation, peer victimization, physical/sexual abuse, or emotional neglect as these relate to adolescent suicidality. Empirical findings converge in documenting the importance of multiple social and interpersonal factors to adolescent suicidality. Research support for the social constructs in several major theories of suicide is summarized and research challenges are discussed. PMID:18576200
Social and Interpersonal Factors Relating to Adolescent Suicidality: A Review of the Literature
King, Cheryl A.; Merchant, Christopher R.
This article reviews the empirical literature concerning social and interpersonal variables as risk factors for adolescent suicidality (suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, death by suicide. It also describes major social constructs in theories of suicide and the extent to which studies support their importance to adolescent suicidality. PsychINFO and PubMed searches were conducted for empirical studies focused on family and friend support, social isolation, peer victimization, physical/sexual abuse, or emotional neglect as these relate to adolescent suicidality. Empirical findings converge in documenting the importance of multiple social and interpersonal factors to adolescent suicidality. Research support for the social constructs in several major theories of suicide is summarized and research challenges are discussed. PMID:18576200
Arab Adolescents: Health, Gender, and Social Context.
Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf; Bott, Sarah; Sassine, Anniebelle J
This article reviews the evidence about adolescent health in the Arab world, against the background of social, economic, and political change in the region, and with a particular focus on gender. For the literature review, searches were conducted for relevant articles, and data were drawn from national population- and school-based surveys and from the Global Burden of Disease project. In some parts of the Arab world, adolescents experience a greater burden of ill health due to overweight/obesity, transport injuries, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, and mental health disorders than those in other regions of the world. Poor diets, insufficient physical activity, tobacco use, road traffic injuries, and exposure to violence are major risk factors. Young men have higher risks of unsafe driving and tobacco use and young women have greater ill-health due to depression. Several features of the social context that affect adolescent health are discussed, including changing life trajectories and gender roles, the mismatch between education and job opportunities, and armed conflict and interpersonal violence. Policy makers need to address risk factors behind noncommunicable disease among adolescents in the Arab region, including tobacco use, unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, unsafe driving, and exposure to violence. More broadly, adolescents need economic opportunity, safe communities, and a chance to have a voice in their future. PMID:25770651
Isolation and normlessness: attitudinal comparisons of adolescent sex offenders, juvenile offenders, and nondelinquents.
Miner, Michael H; Munns, Rosemary
The authors explored attitudinal differences among adolescent male sex offenders, juvenile delinquents, and nondelinquent youth based on three variables drawn from integrated delinquency theory: conventional attitudes, normlessness, and social isolation. Consistent with previous juvenile delinquency studies, the results indicate no differences among the three groups on conventional attitudes. With respect to normlessness, both the sex offenders and juvenile delinquent groups demonstrated more school normlessness than did nondelinquent youths, and adolescent sex offenders showed greater peer normlessness than did either nondelinquent youths or juvenile delinquents. Examination of perceived social isolation among the three groups indicates that sex offenders consistently perceived themselves as more isolated than other youths with their families, in their school, and among their peers. These results suggest that interpersonal factors, in addition to a lack of social controls and normlessness, are associated with sexually inappropriate behavior. PMID:16260479
Members, isolates, and liaisons: meta-analysis of adolescents' network positions and their smoking behavior.
Choi, Hye Jeong; Smith, Rachel A
Existing research finds that peer networks play an important role in adolescents' smoking behaviors. To evaluate this research, meta-analysis was utilized to investigate the relationship between social positions (e.g., group members vs. isolates vs. liaisons) in friendship networks and smoking behaviors. The results (N = 5,067, k = 8) showed that adolescents from multiple countries who are isolated in friendship networks are more likely to report smoking behaviors than those with friends (members or liaisons). The results also show that these differential odds of smoking based on network position has decreased over the past 15 years. PMID:23750772
Completely Isolated? Health Information Seeking among Social Isolates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Askelson, Natoshia M.; Campo, Shelly; Carter, Knute D.
To better target messages it is important to determine where people seek their health information. Interpersonal networks are a common way most people gather health information, but some people have limited networks. Using data from the 2004 General Social Survey (N = 984), we compared social isolates and nonisolates in their health…
The Role of Socialization, Effortful Control, and Ego Resiliency in French Adolescents' Social Functioning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hofer, Claire; Eisenberg, Nancy; Reiser, Mark
The relations among effortful control, ego resiliency, socialization, and social functioning were examined with a sample of 182 French adolescents (14-20 years old). Adolescents, their parents, and/or teachers completed questionnaires on these constructs. Effortful control and ego resiliency were correlated with adolescents' social functioning,…
Assessing Social Isolation: Pilot Testing Different Methods.
Taylor, Harry Owen; Herbers, Stephanie; Talisman, Samuel; Morrow-Howell, Nancy
Social isolation is a significant public health problem among many older adults; however, most of the empirical knowledge about isolation derives from community-based samples. There has been less attention given to isolation in senior housing communities. The objectives of this pilot study were to test two methods to identify socially isolated residents in low-income senior housing and compare findings about the extent of isolation from these two methods. The first method, self-report by residents, included 47 out of 135 residents who completed in-person interviews. To determine self-report isolation, residents completed the Lubben Social Network Scale 6 (LSNS-6). The second method involved a staff member who reported the extent of isolation on all 135 residents via an online survey. Results indicated that 26% of residents who were interviewed were deemed socially isolated by the LSNS-6. Staff members rated 12% of residents as having some or a lot of isolation. In comparing the two methods, staff members rated 2% of interviewed residents as having a lot of isolation. The combination of self-report and staff report could be more informative than just self-report alone, particularly when participation rates are low. However, researchers should be aware of the potential discrepancy between these two methods. PMID:27276687
Approaches to counter loneliness and social isolation.
Price, Bob
Social isolation and loneliness are significant threats for older people and may be associated with mental and physical health problems. This article revisits what is meant by social isolation and loneliness and explores the way in which social change can trigger both problems. Social networks are discussed as the means by which older people can mediate the stresses of change around them. The article summarises some of the health consequences of loneliness, indicates some simple measures nurses can use to limit the risk of institutional loneliness and then examines how collaborative community ventures, mentoring and befriending schemes can help older people to access and rebuild social networks that may assist them to sustain wellbeing. Case study material is used to highlight contrasting profiles of older people who may be either more or less at risk of social isolation. PMID:26310232
Social isolation disrupts hippocampal neurogenesis in young non-human primates
Cinini, Simone M.; Barnabe, Gabriela F.; Galvão-Coelho, Nicole; de Medeiros, Magda A.; Perez-Mendes, Patrícia; Sousa, Maria B. C.; Covolan, Luciene; Mello, Luiz E.
Social relationships are crucial for the development and maintenance of normal behavior in non-human primates. Animals that are raised in isolation develop abnormal patterns of behavior that persist even when they are later reunited with their parents. In rodents, social isolation is a stressful event and is associated with a decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis but considerably less is known about the effects of social isolation in non-human primates during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. To investigate how social isolation affects young marmosets, these were isolated from other members of the colony for 1 or 3 weeks and evaluated for alterations in their behavior and hippocampal cell proliferation. We found that anxiety-related behaviors like scent-marking and locomotor activity increased after social isolation when compared to baseline levels. In agreement, grooming—an indicative of attenuation of tension—was reduced among isolated marmosets. These results were consistent with increased cortisol levels after 1 and 3 weeks of isolation. After social isolation (1 or 3 weeks), reduced proliferation of neural cells in the subgranular zone of dentate granule cell layer was identified and a smaller proportion of BrdU-positive cells underwent neuronal fate (doublecortin labeling). Our data is consistent with the notion that social deprivation during the transition from adolescence to adulthood leads to stress and produces anxiety-like behaviors that in turn might affect neurogenesis and contribute to the deleterious consequences of prolonged stressful conditions. PMID:24733997
Retrospective Report of Social Withdrawal during Adolescence and Current Maladjustment in Young Adulthood: Cross-Cultural Comparisons between Australian and South Korean Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kim, Jinkwan; Rapee, Ronald M.; Ja Oh, Kyung; Moon, Hye-Shin
The current study investigated associations between the frequency of and motivations for social withdrawal during adolescence and emotional distresses in young adulthood. Perceived motivations for social withdrawal included unsociability, isolation, shyness, and low mood. Social withdrawal during adolescence was assessed using a retrospective…
The Role of Social Networking Sites in Early Adolescents' Social Lives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Antheunis, Marjolijn L.; Schouten, Alexander P.; Krahmer, Emiel
The aim of this study was to examine the role of social networking sites (SNSs) in early adolescents' social lives. First, we investigated the relation between SNS use and several aspects of early adolescents' social lives (i.e., friendship quality, bridging social capital, and bonding social capital). Second, we examined whether there are…
Isolated fallopian tube torsion in adolescents.
Rajaram, S; Bhaskaran, S; Mehta, S
Background. Fallopian tube torsion is a rare cause of acute abdomen, occurring commonly in females of reproductive age. It lacks pathognomonic symptoms, signs, or imaging features, thus causing delay in surgical intervention. Case. We report two cases of isolated fallopian tube torsion in adolescent girls. In the first case a 19-year-old patient presented with acute pain in the left iliac region associated with episodes of vomiting for one day and mild tenderness on examination. Laparoscopy revealed left sided twisted fallopian tube associated with hemorrhagic cyst of ovary. The tube was untwisted and salvaged. In another case an 18-year-old virgin girl presented with similar complaints since one week, associated with mild tenderness in the lower abdomen and tender cystic mass on per rectal examination. On laparoscopy right twisted fallopian tube associated with a paratubal cyst was found. Salpingectomy was done as the tube was gangrenous. Conclusion. Fallopian tube torsion, though rare, should be considered in women of reproductive age with unilateral pelvic pain. Early diagnostic laparoscopy is important for an accurate diagnosis and could salvage the tube. PMID:24251052
[Social drinking and adolescent parties].
Míguez, H A; Verruno, C; Cinolo Vernengo, R
A study carried out with 250 young students showed how much alcohol is socially accepted during young people parties. Significant differences were observed according to kind of alcoholic beverage, specially greater alcohol consumption of those of less alcoholic graduation. PMID:8762703
Adolescent Use of Mobile Phones: A Social Context
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
F, J.; Pullen, Darren; Swabey, Karen
During adolescence (e.g. ages 13-15) communication and connectedness with peers is an essential part of adolescents' self-formation; mobiles phones are a conduit that maintains both communication and connectedness among adolescents whereby social interactions and connectedness are not limited by place, context or time. To study mobile phone usage…
Romantic Partner Selection and Socialization during Early Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Simon, Valerie A.; Aikins, Julie Wargo; Prinstein, Mitchell J.
This prospective study examined romantic partner selection and socialization among a sample of 78 young adolescents (6th-8th graders). Independent assessments of adolescent and romantic partner adjustment were collected before and after relationships initiated via peer nomination and self-report. Prior to their relationship, adolescents and…
Effects of Social Isolation on Glucocorticoid Regulation in Social Mammals
Hawkley, Louise C.; Cole, Steve W.; Capitanio, John P.; Norman, Greg J.; Cacioppo, John T.
The regulation and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and glucocorticoids have been well conserved across vertebrate species. Glucocorticoids influence a wide range of physiological functions that include glucose regulation, metabolism, inflammatory control, as well as cardiovascular, reproductive, and neuronal effects. Some of these are relatively quick-acting non-genomic effects, but most are slower-acting genomic effects. Thus, any stimulus that affects HPA function has the potential to exert wide-ranging short-term and long-term effects on much of vertebrate physiology. Here, we review the effects of social isolation on the functioning of the HPA axis in social species, and on glucocorticoid physiology in social mammals in particular. Evidence indicates that objective and perceived social isolation alter HPA regulation, although the nature and direction of the HPA response differs among species and across age. The inconsistencies in the direction and nature of HPA effects have implications for drawing cross-species conclusions about the effects of social isolation, and are particularly problematic for understanding HPA-related physiological processes in humans. The animal and human data are incommensurate because, for example, animal studies of objective isolation have typically not been modeled on, or for comparability with, the subjective experience of isolation in humans. An animal model of human isolation must be taken more seriously if we want to advance our understanding of the mechanisms for the effects of objective and perceived isolation in humans. PMID:22663934
Social Anxiety and Social Adaptation among Adolescents at Three Age Levels
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peleg, Ora
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between social anxiety and social adaptation among adolescents. This is the first study to research these parameters among three age groups: early, middle and late adolescence. On the whole, a negative relation was found between social anxiety and social adaptation. Specifically, for adolescents…
An Exploration of Young Adolescents' Social Achievement Goals and Social Adjustment in Middle School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ryan, Allison M.; Shim, S. Serena
Two studies investigated the proposition that social achievement goals (different orientations toward social competence) are an important aspect of young adolescents' social motivation. Study 1 (N = 153 6th-grade students) established that different orientations toward developing or demonstrating social competence can be seen in young adolescents'…
Social Skills and Depressive Symptoms across Adolescence: Social Support as a Mediator in Girls versus Boys
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nilsen, Wendy; Karevold, Evalill; Roysamb, Espen; Gustavson, Kristin; Mathiesen, Kristin S.
The current population-based study of Norwegian adolescents examined gender-specific patterns in the prospective association between social skills in early adolescence (age 12.5; n = 566) and changes in depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence (age 16.5; n = 375). Further, a potential mediation effect of social support (from peers,…
Cognitive Correlates of Social Phobia among Children and Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alfano, Candice A.; Beidel, Deborah C.; Turner, Samuel M.
We examined different cognitive phenomena in relation to social phobia among children (aged 7 to 11) and adolescents (aged 12-16) separately. Fifty socially phobic youths were compared to 30 normal control children on measures of social anxiety, social expectation as well as self-and observer-rated performance during two social tasks involving a…
Adolescent Social Defeat Induced Alterations in Social Behavior and Cognitive Flexibility in Adult Mice: Effects of Developmental Stage and Social Condition
Zhang, Fan; Yuan, Sanna; Shao, Feng; Wang, Weiwen
Negative social experiences during adolescence increase the risk of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. Using "resident-intruder" stress, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of adolescent social defeat on emotional and cognitive symptoms associated with psychiatric disorders during adulthood and the effects of the developmental stage and social condition on this process. In Experiment 1, animals were exposed to social defeat or manipulation for 10 days during early adolescence (EA, postnatal days [PND] 28–37), late adolescence (LA, PND 38–47), and adulthood (ADULT, PND 70–79) and then singly housed until the behavioral tests. Behaviors, including social avoidance of the defeat context and cortically mediated cognitive flexibility in an attentional set-shifting task (AST), were assessed during the week following stress or after 6 weeks during adulthood. We determined that social defeat induced significant and continuous social avoidance across age groups at both time points. The mice that experienced social defeat during adulthood exhibited short-term impairments in reversal learning (RL) on the AST that dissipated after 6 weeks. In contrast, social defeat during EA but not LA induced a delayed deficit in extra-dimensional set-shifting (EDS) in adulthood but not during adolescence. In Experiment 2, we further examined the effects of social condition (isolation or social housing after stress) on the alterations induced by social defeat during EA in adult mice. The adult mice that had experienced stress during EA exhibited social avoidance similar to the avoidance identified in Experiment 1 regardless of the isolation or social housing after the stress. However, social housing after the stress ameliorated the cognitive flexibility deficits induced by early adolescent social defeat in the adult mice, and the social condition had no effect on cognitive function. These findings suggest that the effects of social defeat on emotion and cognitive
Development of an Adolescent Depression Ontology for Analyzing Social Data.
Jung, Hyesil; Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Song, Tae-Min; Jeon, Eunjoo; Kim, Ae Ran; Lee, Joo Yun
Depression in adolescence is associated with significant suicidality. Therefore, it is important to detect the risk for depression and provide timely care to adolescents. This study aims to develop an ontology for collecting and analyzing social media data about adolescent depression. This ontology was developed using the 'ontology development 101'. The important terms were extracted from several clinical practice guidelines and postings on Social Network Service. We extracted 777 terms, which were categorized into 'risk factors', 'sign and symptoms', 'screening', 'diagnosis', 'treatment', and 'prevention'. An ontology developed in this study can be used as a framework to understand adolescent depression using unstructured data from social media. PMID:26262398
Social-Perspective Coordination and Gifted Adolescents' Friendship Quality
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Masden, Catherine A.; Leung, Olivia N.; Shore, Bruce M.; Schneider, Barry H.; Udvari, Stephen J.
This research examined links among academic ability, social-perspective coordination, and friendship quality, within the context of gifted adolescents' friendships. The sample consisted of 120 early adolescents (59 girls, 61 boys), 81 of whom were identified as gifted. Academic ability, sex, and grade significantly predicted social-perspective…
Social Integration and the Mental Health of Black Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rose, Theda; Joe, Sean; Shields, Joseph; Caldwell, Cleopatra H.
The influence of family, school, and religious social contexts on the mental health of Black adolescents has been understudied. This study used Durkheim's social integration theory to examine these associations in a nationally representative sample of 1,170 Black adolescents, ages 13-17. Mental health was represented by positive and negative…
Social-Emotional Adjustment of Integrated Hearing Impaired Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cole, Elizabeth B.; Shade, Maureen
Social-emotional adjustment patterns of eight mainstreamed hearing impaired adolescents were compared with identical measures of a matched group of eight normally hearing adolescents. No statistically significant differences between the groups were found. Results presented a picture of social and emotional well-being similar for both the hearing…
Relationship of Family Socialization Processes to Adolescent Moral Thought.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
White, Fiona A.
Investigates the relationship between family socialization processes, focusing on adaptability, cohesion, and parent-child communication, and adolescent moral thought. Used a sample of 271 Australian adolescents and their parents. Presents the findings. The results suggest that there is a relationship between family-socialization processes and…
Patterns of Stress, Coping Styles and Social Supports among Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Latha, K. S.; Reddy, Hanumanth
Introduction: This study aimed to assess the nature of stress, social support systems and coping styles among adolescents. Methods: 100 students in Pre University College (II year) of both genders in the age range of 16-19 years were assessed with the Adolescent Stress Scale, a semi-structured interview to elicit social support, and a self-report…
Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: The Roles of Mothers and Fathers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brand, Ann E.; Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie
This chapter provides a review of the literature that examines the role of mothers and fathers in socializing emotion in their sons and daughters during adolescence. Within the context of this chapter, we focus on mother-father similarities, differences, and coordinated efforts in socializing the emotion of their adolescent children. Empirical…
Social Class Privilege and Adolescent Women's Perceived Career Options
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lapour, Anne Scott; Heppner, Mary J.
This qualitative study examined the perceived career options of 10 White adolescent young women who experienced social class privilege in their families of origin. The model of contextual privilege and career selection for adolescent White women emerged from the data, and it describes how social class privilege, gender, achievement expectations,…
Internet Lives: Social Context and Moral Domain in Adolescent Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bradley, Karen
Adolescents nowadays socialize, network, and sort out their friendships and relationships online. As such, it is assumed that adolescents' experiences in the online world will influence their experiences in the face-to-face world and will play an important role in their development of social and moral knowledge. In this article, the author…
Looking at the Social Activity for Adolescents with Orthopedic Impairments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Biastro, Leslie; Frank, Heather; Larwin, Karen H.
Adolescents with identified orthopedic impairments are often less likely to participate in social activities outside of the school setting. However, the adolescents who are able to participate in activities have higher social skills, more academic successes, and show more satisfaction in their roles as family member or friend. The aim of this…
How Israeli social workers perceive adolescent girls in prostitution.
Peled, Einat; Lugasi, Reut
The phenomenon of girls in prostitution poses great challenges to professionals who work with adolescent girls at risk and in distress. Prostitution is socially stigmatized and seen as something shameful. However, current theory and research show adolescent girls in prostitution to be victims of violence, exploitation and trauma. This naturalistic qualitative study examined the views of 15 social workers at six Adolescent Girls Treatment Units in Israel on prostitution and on adolescent girls in prostitution. Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The participants struggled to link the term "prostitution" with the adolescent girls in their care. The findings explore the source this perceived conflict, and its manifestation in the participants' professional intervention with the girls. The discussion examines the participants' professional discourse about adolescent girls in prostitution, and offers explanations for their difficulty in associating the adolescent girls in their care with prostitution. PMID:25620319
TV and Teens: Television In Adolescent Social Development.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Luker, Richard; Johnston, Jerome
Presents television as an instrument through which adolescents can gain social experience and strengthen social development. Examines the link between watching television and social relationships, discussing how television viewing can provide "blueprints" for behavior in social situations. Lists four steps for using television as a learning tool.…
Supporting the Social Lives of Adolescents Who Are Blind: Research to Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arndt, Katrina; Lieberman, Lauren; James, Alisa
Seven adolescents who are blind and seven of their parents were interviewed about the adolescents' social lives. Adolescent and parent perspectives are reviewed, followed by implications for teachers to support the social connections of students who are blind.
Strategies to Enhance the Social Identities and Social Networks of Adolescent Students with Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zambo, Debby M.
For youth with disabilities, it is good to belong to multiple groups and have multiple identities. Social groups are important to people because they are social creatures. Unless a child has a severe social disability, connecting with others is important, especially during adolescence. Adolescence is the time when young people define themselves by…
[The development of organization of medical social care of adolescents].
Chicherin, L P; Nagaev, R Ia
The model of the subject of the Russian Federation is used to consider means of development of health protection and health promotion in adolescents including implementation of the National strategy of activities in interest of children for 2012-2017 approved by decree No761 of the President of Russia in June 1 2012. The analysis is carried out concerning organization of medical social care to this group of population in medical institutions and organizations of different type in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Nowadays, in 29 territories medical social departments and rooms, 5 specialized health centers for children, 6 clinics friendly to youth are organized. The analysis of manpower support demonstrates that in spite of increasing of number of rooms and departments of medical social care for children and adolescents decreasing of staff jobs both of medical personnel and psychologists and social workers occurs. The differences in priorities of functioning of departments and rooms of medical social care under children polyclinics, health centers for children and clinics friendly to youth are established. The questionnaire survey of pediatricians and adolescents concerning perspectives of development of adolescent service established significant need in development of specialized complex center. At the basis of such center problems of medical, pedagogical, social, psychological, legal profile related to specific characteristics of development and medical social needs of adolescents can be resolved. The article demonstrates organizational form of unification on the functional basis of the department of medical social care of children polyclinic and clinic friendly to youth. During three years, number of visits of adolescents to specialists of the center increases and this testifies awareness of adolescents and youth about activities of department of medical social care. The most percentage of visits of adolescents to specialists was made with prevention purpose. Among
Longitudinal associations between social anxiety symptoms and cannabis use throughout adolescence: the role of peer involvement.
Nelemans, Stefanie A; Hale, William W; Raaijmakers, Quinten A W; Branje, Susan J T; van Lier, Pol A C; Meeus, Wim H J
There appear to be contradicting theories and empirical findings on the association between adolescent Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) symptoms and cannabis use, suggesting potential risk as well as protective pathways. The aim of this six-year longitudinal study was to further examine associations between SAD symptoms and cannabis use over time in adolescents from the general population, specifically focusing on the potential role that adolescents' involvement with their peers may have in these associations. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (57 % boys; M age = 13.03 at T1), who completed annual self-report questionnaires for 6 successive years. Cross-lagged panel analysis suggested that adolescent SAD symptoms were associated with less peer involvement 1 year later. Less adolescent peer involvement was in turn associated with lower probabilities of cannabis use as well as lower frequency of cannabis use 1 year later. Most importantly, results suggested significant longitudinal indirect paths from adolescent SAD symptoms to cannabis use via adolescents' peer involvement. Overall, these results provide support for a protective function of SAD symptoms in association with cannabis use in adolescents from the general population. This association is partially explained by less peer involvement (suggesting increased social isolation) for those adolescents with higher levels of SAD symptoms. Future research should aim to gain more insight into the exact nature of the relationship between anxiety and cannabis use in adolescents from the general population, especially regarding potential risk and protective processes that may explain this relationship. PMID:26254219
Social bonds and internet pornographic exposure among adolescents.
Mesch, Gustavo S
Concern has grown regarding possible harm to the social and psychological development of children and adolescents exposed to Internet pornography. Parents, academics and researchers have documented pornography from the supply side, assuming that its availability explains consumption satisfactorily. The current paper explored the user's dimension, probing whether pornography consumers differed from other Internet users, as well as the social characteristics of adolescent frequent pornography consumers. Data from a 2004 survey of a national representative sample of the adolescent population in Israel were used (n=998). Adolescent frequent users of the Internet for pornography were found to differ in many social characteristics from the group that used the Internet for information, social communication and entertainment. Weak ties to mainstream social institutions were characteristic of the former group but not of the latter. X-rated material consumers proved to be a distinct sub-group at risk of deviant behaviour. PMID:18694593
Expressive Art for the Social and Community Integration of Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injuries: A Systematic Review
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goyal, Anita; Keightley, Michelle L.
Adolescents with acquired brain injuries suffer from social and community withdrawal that result in isolation from their peer groups. The review highlights the evidence of effectiveness of expressive art interventions in the form of theatre for populations with difficulties in physical, emotional, cognitive, or social functioning. A systematic…
Providing Children and Adolescents Opportunities for Social Interaction as a Standard of Care in Pediatric Oncology.
Christiansen, Heather L; Bingen, Kristin; Hoag, Jennifer A; Karst, Jeffrey S; Velázquez-Martin, Blanca; Barakat, Lamia P
Experiences with peers constitute an important aspect of socialization, and children and adolescents with cancer may experience reduced social interaction due to treatment. A literature review was conducted to investigate the evidence to support a standard of care evaluating these experiences. Sixty-four articles were reviewed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Moderate quality of evidence suggest that social interaction can be beneficial to increase knowledge, decrease isolation, and improve adjustment and constitute an important, unmet need. The evidence supports a strong recommendation for youth with cancer to be provided opportunities for social interaction following a careful assessment of their unique characteristics and preferences. PMID:26700923
The developmental psychopathology of social anxiety in adolescents.
Hayward, Chris; Wilson, Kimberly A; Lagle, Kristy; Kraemer, Helena C; Killen, Joel D; Taylor, C Barr
To evaluate a developmental psychopathology approach for understanding adolescent social anxiety, parent-reported predictors of social anxiety were examined in a nonclinical sample of adolescents. Structured diagnostic interviews were obtained from biological parents of 770 participants. Potential risk factors assessed included child characteristics: negative affect, shyness, separation anxiety disorder, and childhood chronic illness, as well as parent characteristics: major depression, panic disorder, and agoraphobia. Adolescent social anxiety was measured multiple times during high school. Findings indicate stability in social anxiety symptoms across time. Parent-reported, childhood negative affect, shyness, and chronic illness as well as parental panic disorder or agoraphobia were associated with adolescent social anxiety. Interactions were observed between parent-reported childhood shyness and gender and between parent-reported childhood shyness and parent-reported childhood chronic illness in the prediction of social anxiety. Parent-reported childhood shyness was a stronger predictor of adolescent social anxiety in females compared to males. The combined effect of subjects being positive for both parent-reported childhood shyness and parent-reported childhood chronic illness was greater than would be expected based on additive effects. This study provides support for a multifactorial and developmentally informed understanding of adolescent social anxiety. PMID:17348001
Social Isolation and Mental Health at Primary and Secondary School Entry: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Matthews, Timothy; Danese, Andrea; Wertz, Jasmin; Ambler, Antony; Kelly, Muireann; Diver, Ashleen; Caspi, Avshalom; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Arseneault, Louise
Objective We tested whether children who are socially isolated early in their schooling develop mental health problems in early adolescence, taking into account their mental health and family risk at school entry. Method We used data from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 children born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. We measured social isolation using mothers' and teachers' reports at ages 5 and 12 years. We assessed mental health symptoms via mothers' and teachers' ratings at age 5 and self-report measures at age 12. We collected mother-reported information about the family environment when children were 5 years old. We conducted regression analyses to test concurrent and longitudinal associations between early family factors, social isolation, and mental health difficulties. Results At both primary and secondary school, children who were socially isolated experienced greater mental health difficulties. Children with behavioral problems or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms at age 5 years had an elevated risk of becoming more socially isolated at age 12. However, children who were isolated at age 5 did not have greater mental health symptoms at age 12, over and above pre-existing difficulties. Conclusion Although social isolation and mental health problems co-occur in childhood, early isolation does not predict worse mental health problems later on. However, children who exhibit problematic behaviors may struggle to cope with the social challenges that accompany their progression through the early school years. PMID:25721188
Multitasking during social interactions in adolescence and early adulthood
Mills, Kathryn L.; Dumontheil, Iroise; Speekenbrink, Maarten; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne
Multitasking is part of the everyday lives of both adolescents and adults. We often multitask during social interactions by simultaneously keeping track of other non-social information. Here, we examined how keeping track of non-social information impacts the ability to navigate social interactions in adolescents and adults. Participants aged 11–17 and 22–30 years old were instructed to carry out two tasks, one social and one non-social, within each trial. The social task involved referential communication, requiring participants to use social cues to guide their decisions, which sometimes required taking a different perspective. The non-social task manipulated cognitive load by requiring participants to remember non-social information in the form of one two-digit number (low load) or three two-digit numbers (high load) presented before each social task stimulus. Participants showed performance deficits when under high cognitive load and when the social task involved taking a different perspective, and individual differences in both trait perspective taking and working memory capacity predicted performance. Overall, adolescents were less adept at multitasking than adults when under high cognitive load. These results suggest that multitasking during social interactions incurs performance deficits, and that adolescents are more sensitive than adults to the effects of cognitive load while multitasking. PMID:26715991
Empathy development in adolescence predicts social competencies in adulthood.
Allemand, Mathias; Steiger, Andrea E; Fend, Helmut A
This 23-year study explored the predictive associations between empathy development in adolescence and self-reported social competencies and outcomes in adulthood. Participants were 1,527 adults aged 35 years (48.3% female). The predictor variable (adolescent empathy) was measured yearly at the ages of 12 to 16 years. The outcome variables (adult empathy, communication skills, social integration, relationship satisfaction, and conflicts in relationships) were measured at the age of 35 years. Five important results stand out. First, longitudinal measurement invariance was established for the measure of adolescent empathy. Second, empathy tended to increase during the adolescent years. Third, significant interindividual differences in level and change of adolescent empathy were found. Fourth, gender was related to level of adolescent empathy, favoring girls over boys. Fifth, not only level but also change in adolescent empathy predicted individual differences in social competencies in adulthood two decades later. These findings demonstrate that developmental processes that are relevant for adjustment reveal long-term social consequences beyond the adolescent years. PMID:24684661
Autonomy and Adolescent Social Functioning: The Moderating Effect of Risk
McElhaney, Kathleen Boykin; Allen, Joseph P.
This study examined the moderating effect of risk on the relation between autonomy processes and family and adolescent functioning. The present sample comprised 131 adolescents from either a low-risk or high-risk social context, their mothers, and their peers. Observational ratings of autonomy processes within the mother-adolescent dyad were obtained, along with adolescent reports of the quality of the mother-adolescent relationship, and both adolescent and peer reports of the adolescent's functioning. Consistent with past research, in low-risk families, behavior undermining autonomy was negatively related to relationship quality, and adolescents' expressions of autonomy were linked with positive indices of social functioning. In high-risk families, however, undermining of autonomy was positively linked with mother-adolescent relationship quality, and adolescents' expressions of autonomy were linked with negative indices of social functioning. Results are interpreted as demonstrating the ways in which the developmental task of attaining autonomy in adolescence is systematically altered depending on the level of risk and challenge in the adolescent's social context. PMID:11280481
Socialization Agents Influencing the Religious Identity of Religious Israeli Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fisherman, Shraga
Of all the dimensions of religiosity, where the Israeli religious adolescent is concerned, faith identity and religious behavior seem the most relevant. Research findings on the relative influence of various socialization agents on the religiosity of adolescents are ambiguous. The primary objective of this study was to compare the various agents…
Sociodemographic Variables in Relation to Social Appearance Anxiety in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sahin, Ertugrul; Barut, Yasar; Ersanli, Ercüment
This study examined the effects of gender, age, grade level, and the educational level of the mother and father on social appearance anxiety in Turkish adolescents. This was a cross-sectional study in which a simple random sampling method was used. Participants were 2,219 adolescents (1089 boys, 1130 girls) with a mean age of 12.76 years old (SD =…
Ethnic Differences in Adolescents' Mental Distress, Social Stress, and Resources
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Choi, Heeseung; Meininger, Janet C.; Roberts, Robert E.
Limited data on ethnic group differences among young adolescents exist regarding the prevalence of mental distress, social stress, and resources. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine ethnic differences among African American (AA), European American (EA), Hispanic American (HA), and Asian American adolescents in mental distress,…
Rejection Sensitivity in Late Adolescence: Social and Emotional Sequelae
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marston, Emily G.; Hare, Amanda; Allen, Joseph P.
This study used longitudinal, multireporter data, in a community sample, to examine the role of rejection sensitivity in late adolescents' social and emotional development. Rejection sensitivity was linked to a relative increase in adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms over a 3-year period, even after accounting for teens' baseline level of…
Adolescents' Online Social Networking Following the Death of a Peer
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Amanda L.; Merten, Michael J.
The purpose of this study was to examine how online social networking facilitates adolescent grieving following the sudden death of a peer. Researchers reviewed 20 profiles authored by adolescents who had died between 2005 and 2007 collecting information from commentary posted to the profiles posthumously. Observed themes included adolescent…
Adolescent Risk-Taking and Social Meaning: A Commentary
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sunstein, Cass R.
Adolescent risk-taking can be illuminated through an understanding of the development of the brain, of dual-processing theories, and of social norms and meanings. When adolescents take unjustified risks, it is often because of the weakness of their analytic systems, which provide an inadequate check on impulsive or ill-considered decisions. Social…
Addressing Adolescent Needs for Socialization in the Distance Learning Environment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dawidowicz, Paula M.
One important aspect of adolescent education, regardless of the learning environment, is learning acceptable human interaction, socialization styles, and cooperation mechanisms. However, when adolescent students attend cyber schools, they no longer receive those traditional opportunities to gain the human interactions required for such…
Exploring Social Connectivity through the Use of Adolescent Queer Literature
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Watson, Dwight C.
In order for adolescents to undergo a healthy maturation into adulthood, they must be given common opportunities to reinvent themselves and to progress along stages of psychosocial development. Due to heterosexual conditioning and a lack of awareness of the need for social connectivity that may lead to intimacy, gay and lesbian adolescents lapse…
Peer Perceptions of Social Skills in Socially Anxious and Nonanxious Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miers, Anne C.; Blote, Anke W.; Westenberg, P. Michiel
Previous studies using adult observers are inconsistent with regard to social skills deficits in nonclinical socially anxious youth. The present study investigated whether same age peers perceive a lack of social skills in the socially anxious. Twenty high and 20 low socially anxious adolescents (13-17 years old) were recorded giving a 5-min…
Friendships Moderate Psychosocial Maladjustment in Socially Anxious Early Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erath, Stephen A.; Flanagan, Kelly S.; Bierman, Karen L.; Tu, Kelly M.
Close mutual friendships may help protect socially anxious early adolescents against concurrent psychosocial risks. This study investigated whether close mutual friendships moderated associations among social anxiety and several indices of psychosocial maladjustment (loneliness, peer victimization, and low social self-efficacy) in early…
Hmong American Adolescents' Perceptions of Ethnic Socialization Practices
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moua, MyLou Y.; Lamborn, Susie D.
Guided by an ecological framework, this study explored ethnic socialization practices from the perspective of Southeast Asian American adolescents. Defined as a multidimensional construct that is conceptually distinct from racial socialization, ethnic socialization involves parents' communication to children about their ethnic heritage. The…
Social Resource Characteristics and Adolescent Substance Abuse Relapse.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vik, Peter W.; And Others
Examined social resource network characteristics of adolescent substance abusers (n=19). Perceived similarity to one's social network emerged as important moderator of whether social network provided support to remain abstinent or elevated risk for relapse. Increased perceived support predicted continued posttreatment abstinence when recovering…
Mathematically gifted adolescents have deficiencies in social valuation and mentalization.
Yun, Kyongsik; Chung, Dongil; Jang, Bosun; Kim, Jin Ho; Jeong, Jaeseung
Many mathematically gifted adolescents are characterized as being indolent, underachieving and unsuccessful despite their high cognitive ability. This is often due to difficulties with social and emotional development. However, research on social and emotional interactions in gifted adolescents has been limited. The purpose of this study was to observe differences in complex social strategic behaviors between gifted and average adolescents of the same age using the repeated Ultimatum Game. Twenty-two gifted adolescents and 24 average adolescents participated in the Ultimatum Game. Two adolescents participate in the game, one as a proposer and the other as a responder. Because of its simplicity, the Ultimatum Game is an apt tool for investigating complex human emotional and cognitive decision-making in an empirical setting. We observed strategic but socially impaired offers from gifted proposers and lower acceptance rates from gifted responders, resulting in lower total earnings in the Ultimatum Game. Thus, our results indicate that mathematically gifted adolescents have deficiencies in social valuation and mentalization. PMID:21483742
Nervousness and Performance Characteristics as Predictors of Peer Behavior towards Socially Anxious Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blote, Anke W.; Duvekot, Jorieke; Schalk, Rozemarijn D. F.; Tuinenburg, Eveline M.; Westenberg, P. Michiel
Social anxiety in adolescents has frequently been linked to negative outcomes from social interactions. The present study investigated whether socially anxious adolescents are treated negatively by their classmates and which characteristics of socially anxious adolescents could explain negative social responses. Classroom observations of class…
Social cognition in adolescent girls with fragile X syndrome
Turkstra, Lyn S.; Abbeduto, Leonard; Meulenbroek, Peter
This study aimed to characterize social cognition, executive functions (EFs), and everyday social functioning in adolescent girls with fragile X syndrome, and identify relationships among these variables. Participants were 20 girls with FXS and 20 typically developing peers. Results showed significant between-groups differences in social cognition, accounted for by differences in IQ and language. Within the FXS group, IQ and language were related to social cognition; parent-reported social functioning was related to language and EFs; and self-reported social functioning was generally good and not related to cognitive or social cognition variables. Results suggest that intervention might focus on managing language and cognitive contributions to social functioning, rather than social cognition, and underscore the importance of considering parent and adolescent perspectives. (120 words) PMID:25007297
Developmental change in social responsibility during adolescence: An ecological perspective.
Wray-Lake, Laura; Syvertsen, Amy K; Flanagan, Constance A
Social responsibility can be defined as a set of prosocial values representing personal commitments to contribute to community and society. Little is known about developmental change-and predictors of that change-in social responsibility during adolescence. The present study used an accelerated longitudinal research design to investigate the developmental trajectory of social responsibility values and ecological assets across family, school, community, and peer settings that predict these values. Data come from a 3-year study of 3,683 U.S. adolescents enrolled in upper-level elementary, middle, and high schools in rural, semiurban, and urban communities. Social responsibility values significantly decreased from age 9 to 16 before leveling off in later adolescence. Family compassion messages and democratic climate, school solidarity, community connectedness, and trusted friendship, positively predicted within-person change in adolescents' social responsibility values. These findings held after accounting for other individual-level and demographic factors and provide support for the role of ecological assets in adolescents' social responsibility development. In addition, fair society beliefs and volunteer experience had positive between- and within-person associations with social responsibility values. The manuscript discusses theoretical and practical implications of the conclusion that declines in ecological assets may partly explain age-related declines in social responsibility values. (PsycINFO Database Record PMID:26619322
Developmental pathways of social avoidance across adolescence: the role of social anxiety and negative cognition.
Miers, Anne C; Blöte, Anke W; Heyne, David A; Westenberg, P Michiel
It is argued that the adolescent onset of social anxiety disorder (SAD) may be partly attributable to an increase in avoidance of social situations across this period. The current cohort-sequential study investigated developmental pathways of social avoidance in adolescence and examined the explanatory role of social anxiety and negative cognitive processes. A community sample of youth (9-21 years, N=331) participated in a four-wave study. Trajectory analyses revealed two pathways: an increased avoidance pathway and a low avoidance pathway. The pathways were hardly distinguishable at age 9 and they steadily diverged across adolescence. Logistic regression analyses showed that social anxiety and post-event rumination were significantly related to the increased avoidance pathway; anticipatory processing and self-focused attention were not. The findings suggest that adolescence is a key developmental period for the progression of social avoidance among youth who show relatively high levels of social anxiety and post-event rumination. PMID:25265547
The developmental roots of social responsibility in childhood and adolescence.
Wray-Lake, Laura; Syvertsen, Amy K
Social responsibility is a value orientation, rooted in democratic relationships with others and moral principles of care and justice, that motivates certain civic actions. Given its relevance for building stronger relationships and communities, the development of social responsibility within individuals should be a more concerted focus for developmental scholars and youth practitioners. During childhood and adolescence, the developmental roots of individuals' social responsibility lie in the growth of executive function, empathy and emotion regulation, and identity. Efforts to cultivate children and adolescents' social responsibility in the proximal settings of their everyday lives should emphasize modeling prosocial behaviors, communicating concerns for others, and creating opportunities to practice civic skills. PMID:22147598
Social competence: evaluation of assertiveness in Spanish adolescents.
Castedo, Antonio López; Juste, Margarita Pino; Alonso, José Domínguez
Relations between assertiveness in adolescents' social behavior and demographic variables were assessed in 4,943 Spanish adolescents, ages 12 to 17 years, enrolled in 32 schools for Compulsory Secondary Education. Province of residence, school size, age, grade, and academic focus were statistically significant sources of variance in assertiveness scores. All effects were small. Patterns in responses indicate the items should be reviewed to improve the measure for adolescents, and as a tool for addressing teens' social competence in real life situations. PMID:25621673
African American Adolescents' Perceptions of Ethnic Socialization and Racial Socialization as Distinct Processes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Paasch-Anderson, Julie; Lamborn, Susie D.
Ethnic socialization and racial socialization were examined as discrete concepts using a semistructured interview to assess message content for each form of socialization. We were interested in whether adolescents distinguished between these forms of socialization. Fifty-five African American 11th- and 12th-grade students were asked separate…
Nicotine-induced plasma corticosterone is attenuated by social interactions in male and female adolescent rats.
Pentkowski, N S; Painter, M R; Thiel, K J; Peartree, N A; Cheung, T H C; Deviche, P; Adams, M; Alba, J; Neisewander, J L
Most smokers begin smoking during adolescence, a period during which social reward is highly influential. Initial exposure to nicotine can produce anxiogenic effects that may be influenced by social context. This study examined play behavior and plasma corticosterone following nicotine administration (0.6 mg/kg, s.c.) in both male and female adolescent (PND39) Sprague-Dawley rats in either isolate or social contexts. In blood samples collected immediately following the 15-min test session, nicotine increased plasma corticosterone relative to saline in both male and female isolate rats, but failed to do so in both males and females placed together in same-sex pairs. Nicotine also attenuated several indices of play behavior including nape attacks, pins and social contact. In isolate rats, nicotine selectively increased locomotor activity in females; however, when administered to social pairs, nicotine decreased locomotion in both sexes. These findings suggest that the presence of a social partner may decrease the initial negative, stress-activating effects of nicotine, perhaps leading to increased nicotine reward. PMID:21782841
Nicotine-induced plasma corticosterone is attenuated by social interactions in male and female adolescent rats
Pentkowski, N.S.; Painter, M.R.; Thiel, K.J.; Peartree, N.A.; Cheung, T.H.C.; Deviche, P.; Adams, M.; Alba, J.; Neisewander, J.L.
Most smokers begin smoking during adolescence, a period during which social reward is highly influential. Initial exposure to nicotine can produce anxiogenic effects that may be influenced by social context. This study examined play behavior and plasma corticosterone following nicotine administration (0.6 mg/kg, s.c.) in both male and female adolescent (PND39) Sprague-Dawley rats in either isolate or social contexts. In blood samples collected immediately following the 15-min test session, nicotine increased plasma corticosterone relative to saline in both male and female isolate rats, but failed to do so in both males and females placed together in same-sex pairs. Nicotine also attenuated several indices of play behavior including nape attacks, pins and social contact. In isolate rats, nicotine selectively increased locomotor activity in females; however, when administered to social pairs, nicotine decreased locomotion in both sexes. These findings suggest that the presence of a social partner may decrease the initial negative, stress-activating effects of nicotine, perhaps leading to increased nicotine reward. PMID:21782841
Social Milieu and Future Orientation: The Case of Kibbutz vs. Urban Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seginer, Rachel
Examines the effect of one social milieu factor (Israeli kibbutz vs. urban lifestyle) on adolescents' future orientation. Analysis of questionnaires from 114 kibbutz and 112 urban adolescents shows that kibbutz adolescents express fewer hopes for the future. (SKC)
[Social consequences of birth in adolescents].
Beck, A; Hoffellner, L
234 Austrian women gave birth to a child in the years 1972--74 before the age of 18. 95 of them were invited to an interview and interrogated about changes in their life-situation due to the birth. The general attitude was, if they could choose again the date of the first pregnancy they would prefer after 20 years. No correlation was found between early menarche and early sexual intercourse. For 60 of the women pregnancy was the reason for their marriage. Most of the young women had experience with contraceptives, but did not use them for different reasons. After the birth of the child most of them took the pill, but there are 11 women left without any contraception, exposing themselves to the risk of a repeat pregnancy. Young age at birth has an impact upon pre-vocational training: either through interruption of the training or through total discontinuation of their education. A possible solution of the present unsatisfactory situation for young pregnant women and their social problems are interdisciplinary projects for the guidance of adolescents in some centers in the USA. PMID:595966
Assessing Adolescent Social Competence Using the Social Responsiveness Scale: Should We Ask Both Parents or Will Just One Do?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pearl, Amanda M.; Murray, Michael J.; Smith, Laura A.; Arnold, Mariah
There is a paucity of instruments designed to measure social competence of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. The Social Responsiveness Scale is one of a few that can be used. This study compared differences between mother and father reports of social competence of adolescents. Data were collected from parents of 50 adolescents with and…
Adolescent Social Issues: Using Media to Address Crucial Concerns.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sokoloff, Michele
This article describes media resources available to help adolescents deal with a variety of social concerns, including substance abuse, dropouts, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), suicide, and pregnancy. A list of 56 companies that provide resources dealing with social issues is also provided. (LRW)
Adolescent Fathers Involved with Child Protection: Social Workers Speak
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gordon, Derrick M.; Watkins, Natasha D.; Walling, Sherry M.; Wilhelm, Sara; Rayford, Brett S.
This study examined adolescent paternity through structured interviews with their social workers. It adds to the literature by exploring if there were young men involved with the child protection services (CPS) system who are fathers, identifying their unique needs, and beginning discussions on working with these young men. CPS social workers from…
Social Capital, Safety Concerns, Parenting, and Early Adolescents' Antisocial Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vieno, Alessio; Nation, Maury; Perkins, Douglas D.; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo
This study explores the relations between neighborhood social capital (neighbor support and social climate), safety concerns (fear of crime and concern for one's child), parenting (solicitation and support), and adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 952 parents (742 mothers) and 588 boys and 559 girls from five middle schools (sixth…
Social Intelligence and Academic Achievement as Predictors of Adolescent Popularity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meijs, Noortje; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.; Scholte, Ron H. J.; Segers, Eliane; Spijkerman, Renske
This study compared the effects of social intelligence and cognitive intelligence, as measured by academic achievement, on adolescent popularity in two school contexts. A distinction was made between sociometric popularity, a measure of acceptance, and perceived popularity, a measure of social dominance. Participants were 512, 14-15 year-old…
Understanding Adolescent Parenting: The Dimensions and Functions of Social Support.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nath, Pamela S.; And Others
Presents model of adolescent parenting, emphasizing multiple influences that social support has on maternal personality, health and nutritional status, cognitive readiness for parenting, and actual parenting behavior and child development. Concludes life span perspective is useful in evaluating teenage mother's social support needs and individual…
Developmental Change in Social Responsibility during Adolescence: An Ecological Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wray-Lake, Laura; Syvertsen, Amy K.; Flanagan, Constance A.
Social responsibility can be defined as a set of prosocial values representing personal commitments to contribute to community and society. Little is known about developmental change--and predictors of that change--in social responsibility during adolescence. The present study used an accelerated longitudinal research design to investigate the…
Treating Social Anxiety in Adolescents: Ten Group Therapy Lesson Plans
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mazur-Elmer, Alison; McBride, Dawn
This project provides a comprehensive overview of the research literature on social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents and concludes by offering a set of 10 group therapy lesson plans for SAD that therapists can use in their practice. The overview includes a description of social anxiety disorder and highlights various theories of anxiety. The…
Social Interaction Research for Adolescents with Severe Handicaps.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gaylord-Ross, Robert; Haring, Thomas
Research on social interaction of severely disabled adolescents is reviewed. A conceptual model for research and instruction is based on the reciprocal exchange of responses between two interactants. Among topics addressed are peer initiation strategies, teaching disabled students to initiate, the environmental context, social scripts, and school…
Social Contexts in Adolescent Smoking: Does School Policy Matter?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Piontek, D.; Buehler, A.; Rudolph, U.; Metz, K.; Kroeger, C.; Gradl, S.; Floeter, S.; Donath, C.
According to an ecological perspective in psychology and in line with social cognitive theory, smoking behaviour is determined by different social contexts (for example, peers, family and school) providing adolescents with important role models. This paper investigates the effects of personal characteristics as well as family, peer and school…
Adolescent Social Competence: Effectiveness in a Group Setting.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Englund, Michelle M.; Levy, Alissa K.; Hyson, Daniel M.; Sroufe, L. Alan
Examined the validity of an observational assessment of adolescent social competence within a group interaction during a revealed differences task. Found that ratings of task enjoyment, involvement, leadership, self-confidence in task, and global social competence showed strong correlations to counselor ratings and peer sociometrics and were…
Social Cognition in Adolescent Girls with Fragile X Syndrome
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turkstra, Lyn S.; Abbeduto, Leonard; Meulenbroek, Peter
This study aimed to characterize social cognition, executive functions (EFs), and everyday social functioning in adolescent girls with fragile X syndrome, and identify relationships among these variables. Participants were 20 girls with FXS and 20 age-matched typically developing peers. Results showed significant between-groups differences in…
Perfectionism, Perspective Taking, and Social Connection in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gilman, Rich; Rice, Kenneth G.; Carboni, Inga
Although studies examining multidimensional perfectionism among adolescents have increased over the past two decades, most continue to focus on psychological outcomes such as anxiety or depression. The purpose of this study was to examine two social outcomes that may differ among perfectionistic subtypes: "social perspective taking"…
Ethnic, Social Class, and Gender Differences in Adolescent Drinking
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stewart, Cindy; Power, Thomas G.
The independent effects of ethnicity and social class on multiple aspects of adolescent drinking were examined. African American, European American, and Mexican American high school students (1,134 females, 740 males) from three social classes completed measures of drinking frequency and quantity, drinking consequences, reasons for drinking, and…
The Influence of Academic Tracking on Adolescent Social Networks
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fisher, Kim W.; Shogren, Karrie A.
This study examined adolescents' social capital, through social network analyses (i.e., ego network analyses), in two high schools where students were placed into academic tracks adopted by the schools and shaped by disability status (i.e., general education, co-taught, segregated special education classrooms). The impact of academic tracks, as…
Parental management of peer relationships and early adolescents' social skills.
Mounts, Nina S
Despite a growing body of research on parental management of peer relationships, little is known about the relationship between parental management of peers and early adolescents' social skills or the precursors to parental management of peer relationships. The goals of this short-term longitudinal investigation were to examine the relationship between parental management of peers (consulting and guiding), conflict about peers, and adolescents' social skills (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control) and to examine potential precursors (goals of improving peer relationships and beliefs about authority over peer relationships) to parental management of peer relationships. A predominantly White sample (71%) of 75 seventh-graders (57% female) and their primary caregivers participated in the 9-month investigation. Caregivers completed questionnaires regarding goals of improving their adolescents' peer relationships, beliefs about parental authority over peer relationships, parental management of peers, and adolescents' social skills. Adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their social skills. Path analyses suggest that a greater number of caregivers' goals of improving peer relationships and higher beliefs about parental authority over peers were related to higher levels of consulting, guiding, and conflict about peers. Higher levels of conflict about peers in conjunction with higher levels of consulting were related to lower levels of assertion and responsibility in peer relationships over time. When parents reported having a greater number of goals of improving peer relationships, adolescents reported higher levels of cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self control over time. Findings suggest that caregivers' goals and beliefs are important in predicting parental management of peer relationships and adolescents' social skills over time, and that conflict about peers undermines caregivers' efforts to be positively involved in
Growing up wired: social networking sites and adolescent psychosocial development.
Spies Shapiro, Lauren A; Margolin, Gayla
Since the advent of social networking site (SNS) technologies, adolescents' use of these technologies has expanded and is now a primary way of communicating with and acquiring information about others in their social network. Overall, adolescents and young adults' stated motivations for using SNSs are quite similar to more traditional forms of communication-to stay in touch with friends, make plans, get to know people better, and present oneself to others. We begin with a summary of theories that describe the role of SNSs in adolescents' interpersonal relationships, as well as common methodologies used in this field of research thus far. Then, with the social changes that occur throughout adolescence as a backdrop, we address the ways in which SNSs intersect with key tasks of adolescent psychosocial development, specifically peer affiliation and friendship quality, as well as identity development. Evidence suggests that SNSs differentially relate to adolescents' social connectivity and identity development, with sociability, self-esteem, and nature of SNS feedback as important potential moderators. We synthesize current findings, highlight unanswered questions, and recommend both methodological and theoretical directions for future research. PMID:23645343
Social contagion and adolescent sexual behavior: a developmental EMOSA model.
Rodgers, J L; Rowe, D C
Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA models) describe the spread of adolescent transition behaviors (e.g., sexuality, smoking, and drinking) through an interacting adolescent network. A theory of social contagion is defined to explain how social influence affects sexual development. Contacts within a network can, with some transition rate or probability, result in an increase in level of sexual experience. Five stages of sexual development are posited. One submodel proposes a systematic progression through these stages; a competing submodel treats each as an independent process. These models are represented in sets of dynamically interacting recursive equations, which are fit to empirical prevalence data to estimate parameters. Model adjustments are substantively interpretable and can be used to test for and better understand social interaction processes that affect adolescent sexual behavior. PMID:8356187
Effects of social isolation and re-socialization on cognition and ADAR1 (p110) expression in mice.
Chen, Wei; An, Dong; Xu, Hong; Cheng, Xiaoxin; Wang, Shiwei; Yu, Weizhi; Yu, Deqin; Zhao, Dan; Sun, Yiping; Deng, Wuguo; Tang, Yiyuan; Yin, Shengming
It has been reported that social isolation stress could be a key factor that leads to cognitive deficit for both humans and rodent models. However, detailed mechanisms are not yet clear. ADAR1 (Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) is an enzyme involved in RNA editing that has a close relation to cognitive function. We have hypothesized that social isolation stress may impact the expression of ADAR1 in the brain of mice with cognitive deficit. To test our hypothesis, we evaluated the cognition ability of mice isolated for different durations (2, 4, and 8 weeks) using object recognition and object location tests; we also measured ADAR1 expression in hippocampus and cortex using immunohistochemistry and western blot. Our study showed that social isolation stress induced spatial and non-spatial cognition deficits of the tested mice. In addition, social isolation significantly increased both the immunoreactivity and protein expression of ADAR1 (p110) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Furthermore, re-socialization could not only recover the cognition deficits, but also bring ADAR1 (p110) immunoreactivity of hippocampus and frontal cortex, as well as ADAR1 (p110) protein expression of hippocampus back to the normal level for the isolated mice in adolescence. In conclusion, social isolation stress significantly increases ADAR1 (p110) expression in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of the mice with cognitive deficit. This finding may open a window to better understand the reasons (e.g., epigenetic change) that are responsible for social isolation-induced cognitive deficit and help the development of novel therapies for the resulted diseases. PMID:27602277
Effects of social isolation and re-socialization on cognition and ADAR1 (p110) expression in mice
Cheng, Xiaoxin; Wang, Shiwei; Yu, Weizhi; Yu, Deqin; Zhao, Dan; Sun, Yiping; Deng, Wuguo; Tang, Yiyuan
It has been reported that social isolation stress could be a key factor that leads to cognitive deficit for both humans and rodent models. However, detailed mechanisms are not yet clear. ADAR1 (Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) is an enzyme involved in RNA editing that has a close relation to cognitive function. We have hypothesized that social isolation stress may impact the expression of ADAR1 in the brain of mice with cognitive deficit. To test our hypothesis, we evaluated the cognition ability of mice isolated for different durations (2, 4, and 8 weeks) using object recognition and object location tests; we also measured ADAR1 expression in hippocampus and cortex using immunohistochemistry and western blot. Our study showed that social isolation stress induced spatial and non-spatial cognition deficits of the tested mice. In addition, social isolation significantly increased both the immunoreactivity and protein expression of ADAR1 (p110) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Furthermore, re-socialization could not only recover the cognition deficits, but also bring ADAR1 (p110) immunoreactivity of hippocampus and frontal cortex, as well as ADAR1 (p110) protein expression of hippocampus back to the normal level for the isolated mice in adolescence. In conclusion, social isolation stress significantly increases ADAR1 (p110) expression in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of the mice with cognitive deficit. This finding may open a window to better understand the reasons (e.g., epigenetic change) that are responsible for social isolation-induced cognitive deficit and help the development of novel therapies for the resulted diseases. PMID:27602277
Social motivation in individuals with isolated cleft lip and palate
van der Plas, Ellen; Koscik, Timothy R; Conrad, Amy L; Moser, David; Nopoulos, Peg
Social isolation is common among individuals with isolated cleft lip and palate (ICLP), but the available data on why this may be are mixed. We present a novel theory relating to reduced social motivation in ICLP, called the social abulia hypothesis. Based on this hypothesis, we predicted that reduced social motivation would lead to reduced responsiveness to negative social feedback, both in terms of explicit responses and non-controlled, psychophysiological responses. Twenty males with ICLP and 20 normal comparison males (NC group) between 13 and 25 years old participated in the study. Social motivation was examined by measuring participants' response to negative social feedback (social exclusion). Additionally, psychophysiological reactivity to positive and negative social stimuli was measured. In order to rule out other potential contributors to social isolation, we tested basic social perception, emotion recognition, and social anxiety. In line with the social abulia hypothesis, we show that negative social feedback had less of an effect on males with ICLP relative to healthy male peers, which was evident in explicit responses, and non-controlled, psychophysiological responses to negative social feedback. Our results could not be attributed to problems in social perception, a lack of understanding facial expressions, or increased social anxiety, as groups did not differ on these constructs. This study suggests that current views on social isolation in ICLP may need to be reconsidered to include the possibility that isolation in this population may be the direct result of reduced social motivation. PMID:23634967
Social motivation in individuals with isolated cleft lip and palate.
van der Plas, Ellen; Koscik, Timothy R; Conrad, Amy L; Moser, David J; Nopoulos, Peg
Social isolation is common among individuals with isolated cleft lip and palate (ICLP), but the available data on why this may be are mixed. We present a novel theory relating to reduced social motivation in ICLP, called the social abulia hypothesis. Based on this hypothesis, we predicted that reduced social motivation would lead to reduced responsiveness to negative social feedback, in terms of both explicit responses and noncontrolled, psychophysiological responses. Twenty males with ICLP and 20 normal comparison males between 13 and 25 years old participated in the study. Social motivation was examined by measuring participants' response to negative social feedback (social exclusion). Additionally, psychophysiological reactivity to positive and negative social stimuli was measured. In order to rule out other potential contributors to social isolation, we tested basic social perception, emotion recognition, and social anxiety. In line with the social abulia hypothesis, we show that negative social feedback had less of an effect on males with ICLP than on healthy male peers, which was evident in explicit responses and noncontrolled, psychophysiological responses to negative social feedback. Our results could not be attributed to problems in social perception, a lack of understanding facial expressions, or increased social anxiety, as groups did not differ on these constructs. This study suggests that current views on social isolation in ICLP may need to be reconsidered to include the possibility that isolation in this population may be the direct result of reduced social motivation. PMID:23634967
Adolescents' Social Reasoning about Relational Aggression
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldstein, Sara E.; Tisak, Marie S.
We examined early adolescents' reasoning about relational aggression, and the links that their reasoning has to their own relationally aggressive behavior. Thinking about relational aggression was compared to thinking about physical aggression, conventional violations, and personal behavior. In individual interviews, adolescents (N = 103) rated…
Systematic Review of Social Network Analysis in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seo, Dong-Chul; Huang, Yan
Background: Social networks are important in adolescent smoking behavior. Previous research indicates that peer context is a major causal factor of adolescent smoking behavior. To date, however, little is known about the influence of peer group structure on adolescent smoking behavior. Methods: Studies that examined adolescent social networks with…
Social defeat in adolescent mice increases vulnerability to alcohol consumption.
Rodriguez-Arias, Marta; Navarrete, Francisco; Blanco-Gandia, Maria Carmen; Arenas, Maria Carmen; Bartoll-Andrés, Adrián; Aguilar, Maria A; Rubio, Gabriel; Miñarro, José; Manzanares, Jorge
This study employs an oral operant conditioning paradigm to evaluate the effects of repeated social defeat during adolescence on the reinforcing and motivational actions of ethanol in adult OF1 mice. Social interaction, emotional and cognitive behavioral aspects were also analyzed, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiments were performed to study gene expression changes in the mesocorticolimbic and hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal (HHA) axis. Social defeat did not alter anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze or cognitive performance in the passive avoidance and Hebb-Williams tests. A social interaction test revealed depression-like symptoms and social subordination behavior in defeated OF1 mice. Interestingly, social defeat in adolescence significantly increased the number of effective responses, ethanol consumption values and motivation to drink. Finally, real-time PCR analyses revealed that social defeat significantly increased tyrosine hydroxylase and corticotropin-releasing hormone in the ventral tegmental area and paraventricular nucleus, respectively. In contrast, mu-opioid receptor gene expression was decreased in the nucleus accumbens of socially defeated mice. In summary, these findings suggest that exposure to social defeat during adolescence increases vulnerability to the rewarding effects of ethanol without affecting emotional or cognitive performance. The gene expression alterations we have observed in the mesocorticolimbic and HHA axis systems of defeated mice could be related with their increased ethanol consumption. These results endorse future research into pharmacological strategies that modulate these systems for the treatment of social stress-related alcohol consumption problems. PMID:25219790
Brief Report: Parent-Adolescent Informant Discrepancies of Social Skill Importance and Social Skill Engagement for Higher-Functioning Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMahon, Camilla M.; Solomon, Marjorie
Parent- and adolescent-report of social skill importance and social skill engagement on the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham and Elliott in The social skills rating system, American Guidance Service, Circle Pines, 1990) were assessed in higher-functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Compared to parents, adolescents…
Cross-cultural adaptation of an adolescent HIV prevention program: social validation of social contexts and behavior among Botswana adolescents.
St Lawrence, Janet S; Seloilwe, Esther; Magowe, Mabel; Dithole, Kefalotse; Kgosikwena, Billy; Kokoro, Elija; Lesaane, Dipuo
An evidence-based HIV prevention intervention was adapted for Botswana youth with qualitative interviews, input from an adolescent panel, and social validation. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 boys and girls ages 13-19. An adolescent panel then drafted scenarios reflecting social situations described in the interviews that posed risk for HIV. A social validation sample (N = 65) then indicated the prevalence and difficulty of each situation. Youth described informational needs, pressures to use alcohol and drugs, peer pressure for unprotected sex, and intergenerational sex initiations as risk-priming situations. From 17% to 57% of the social validation sample had personally experienced the situations drafted by the adolescent panel. There were no differences in the ratings of boys versus girls, but youth over age 16 more often reported that they had experienced these risky situations. The results were embedded into the intervention. Major changes to the intervention resulted from this three-phase process. PMID:23837806
Social Isolation Rearing: Species Differences in Behavior of Macaque Monkeys
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sackett, Gene P.; And Others
Social and nonsocial behaviors of infant rhesus (macaca mulatta) and pigtail (M. nemestrina) monkeys reared in total social isolation were compared with those of socialized controls. Results question the generality of rhesus total isolate behavior as a model for some human problems. (Author/SB)
Social skills and psychopathic traits in maltreated adolescents.
Ometto, Mariella; de Oliveira, Paula Approbato; Milioni, Ana Luiza; Dos Santos, Bernardo; Scivoletto, Sandra; Busatto, Geraldo F; Nunes, Paula V; Cunha, Paulo Jannuzzi
Child maltreatment has frequently been associated with impaired social skills and antisocial features, but there are still controversies about the effect of each type of maltreatment on social behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare the social functioning and psychopathic traits of maltreated adolescents (MTA) with a control group (CG) and to investigate what types of maltreatments and social skills were associated with psychopathic traits in both groups. The types and intensity of maltreatment were evaluated through the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) in 107 adolescents, divided into the MTA group (n = 66) and non-maltreated youths (n = 41), our CG. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) and a detailed inventory for evaluation of social skills in adolescents were also applied in all individuals. MTA presented more psychopathic traits than the CG, in all domains measured by PCL: YV, independently of IQ levels and the presence of psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, the groups did not differ significantly from each other on indicators of social skills. Multiple regression analysis revealed that emotional neglect was the only maltreatment subtype significantly associated with psychopathic traits, more specifically with the PCL: YV interpersonal factor (F1), and that some social skills (empathy, self-control and social confidence) were related to specific psychopathic factors. The results highlight that emotional neglect may be more detrimental to social behaviours than physical and sexual abuse, and that neglected children require more specific and careful attention. PMID:26224584
Parental Influence on Substance Use in Adolescent Social Networks
Shakya, Holly B.; Christakis, Nicholas A.; Fowler, James H.
Objectives Both peer and parental influences have been associated with the use of addictive substances in adolescence. We evaluated the relationship between the parenting style of an adolescent's peers' parents and an adolescent's substance use. Design Longitudinal survey Setting Adolescents across the United States were interviewed at school and at home Participants Nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States Main Exposure Authoritative versus neglectful parenting style of adolescent's parents and adolescent's friends parents; adolescent substance use Main Outcome Measures Adolescent alcohol abuse, smoking, marijuana use, and binge drinking Results If an adolescent has a friend whose mother is authoritative, that adolescent is 40% (95% CI 12%–58%) less likely to drink to the point of drunkenness, 38% (95% CI 5%–59%) less likely to binge drink, 39% (95% CI 12%–58%) less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 43% (95% CI 1%–67%) less likely to use marijuana than an adolescent whose friend's mother is neglectful, controlling for the parenting style of the adolescent's own mother, school level fixed effects, and demographics. These results are only partially mediated by peer substance use. Conclusion Social network influences may extend beyond the homogeneous dimensions of own-peer or own-parent to include extra-dyadic influences of the wider network. The value of parenting interventions should be re-assessed to take into account these spillover effects in the greater network. PMID:23045157
Social Status, Perceived Social Reputations, and Perceived Dyadic Relationships in Early Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Badaly, Daryaneh; Schwartz, David; Gorman, Andrea Hopmeyer
This investigation examined social acceptance and popularity as correlates of perceived social reputations and perceived dyadic relationships in a cross-sectional sample of 418 6th and 7th grade students (approximate average age of 12 years). We assessed early adolescents' social status using peer nominations and measured their perceptions of…
Social Media Use and Social Connectedness in Adolescents: The Positives and the Potential Pitfalls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Allen, Kelly A.; Ryan, Tracii; Gray, DeLeon L.; McInerney, Dennis M.; Waters, Lea
As social media use is rising among adolescents, the issue of whether this use leads to positive or negative outcomes warrants greater understanding. This article critically reviews the literature related to this important topic. Specifically, we examine how social media use affects social connectedness in terms of three elements of adolescent…
The impact of social media on the sexual and social wellness of adolescents.
Cookingham, Lisa M; Ryan, Ginny L
For most adolescents in the United States, the use of social media is an integral part of daily life. While the advent of the Internet has enhanced information dispersal and communication worldwide, it has also had a negative impact on the sexual and social wellness of many of its adolescent users. The objective of this review is to describe the role of social media in the evolution of social norms, to illustrate how online activity can negatively impact adolescent self-esteem and contribute to high-risk adolescent behaviors, to elucidate how this activity can result in real-world consequences with life-long results, and to provide guidance regarding social media use for those who care for adolescents. Although research is now aimed at use of social media for positive health and wellness interventions, much work needs to be done to determine the utility of these programs. Adolescent healthcare providers are important contributors to this new field of study and must resolve to stay informed and to engage this up-and-coming generation on the benefits and risks of social media use. PMID:25555296
Social integration and the mental health of Black adolescents
Rose, Theda; Joe, Sean; Shields, Joseph; Caldwell, Cleopatra Howard
The influence of family, school, and religious social contexts on the mental health of Black adolescents has been understudied. This study used Durkheim's Social Integration Theory to examine these associations in a nationally representative sample of 1,170 Black adolescents, ages 13-17. Mental health was represented by positive and negative psychosocial well-being indicators. Results showed that adolescents' integration into family and school were related to better mental health. Additionally, commitment to religious involvement positively influenced mental health. Although the direct effect of religious involvement was inversely related to mental health, mediation analyses revealed a positive influence through religious commitment. Findings suggest a greater emphasis on all three social contexts when designing strategies to improve the mental health of Black adolescents. PMID:24815855
Social influences on morphine sensitization in adolescent females.
Hofford, Rebecca S; Roberts, Kris W; Wellman, Paul J; Eitan, Shoshana
We recently observed that social interactions influence morphine responsiveness in adolescent males. Given sex-related differences in both social interactions and responses to morphine, the present study examines social influences on morphine sensitization in adolescent female mice. Four experimental groups were examined: (1) morphine-treated mice (twice daily, 10-40 mg/kg, s.c.) housed physically and visually separated from saline-treated mice ('morphine only'), (2) morphine-treated mice housed together with saline-treated mice ('morphine cage-mates (of saline)'), (3) saline-treated mice housed together with morphine-treated mice ('saline cage-mates (of morphine)'), and (4) saline-treated mice housed physically and visually separated from morphine-treated mice ('saline only'). Following the treatment period, mice were tested individually for their locomotor response to 20 mg/kg morphine (s.c.). There were no significant differences in morphine-induced hyper-locomotion between saline only and saline cage-mates (of morphine) female adolescent mice. Notably, morphine only mice exhibited significantly greater morphine sensitization as compared to morphine cage-mates (of saline). Thus, this study demonstrates social influences on morphine sensitization in adolescent females. Drug use during early adolescence is a key predictor of later drug abuse and dependence during adulthood. Thus, understanding the specific vulnerabilities to drug use in this age group may represent a first step in helping develop more effective treatment programs. PMID:20456874
Stability and change of social goals in adolescence.
Trucco, Elisa M; Wright, Aidan G C; Colder, Craig R
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of continuity and change in social goals using the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model across adolescence (ages 11-16). Five complementary definitions of stability were examined: structural, rank-order, absolute, individual, and ipsative. Data were taken from a longitudinal study of early adolescent problem behavior. Social goals were assessed during each wave, with data collection occurring at three annual intervals (Wave 1, ages 10-12). A community sample of adolescents (N = 387) was recruited. Adolescents were evenly split on gender, and a majority (82.7%) was White. Results suggest a modest increase in stability across social goals, yet significant interindividual heterogeneity. Although levels of Agentic and Communal factors increase over time, these patterns were driven by decreases in the Submissive and Separate octants. This offers evidence for the utility of examining lower-order facets of interpersonal dispositions, as it provides a nuanced picture of adolescent personality development. Furthermore, findings suggest that change and continuity in social goals may both be relevant in this developmental period. The difficulty is accounting for trait stability as well as change, and the IPC model may be particularly useful for meeting this challenge. PMID:23998889
Gonadectomy Negatively Impacts Social Behavior of Adolescent Male Primates
Richards, A. Brent; Morris, Richard W.; Ward, Sarah; Schmitz, Stephanie; Rothmond, Debora A.; Noble, Pam L.; Woodward, Ruth A.; Winslow, James T.; Weickert, Cynthia Shannon
Social behavior changes dramatically during primate adolescence. However, the extent to which testosterone and other gonadal hormones are necessary for adolescent social behavioral development is unknown. In this study, we determined that gonadectomy significantly impairs social dominance in naturalistic settings and changes reactions to social stimuli in experimental settings. Rhesus macaques were castrated (n = 6) or sham operated (n = 6) at age 2.4 years, group-housed for 2 years, and ethograms were collected weekly. During adolescence the gonadally intact monkeys displayed a decrease in subordinate behaviors and an increase in dominant behaviors, which ultimately related to a rise in social status and rank in the dominance hierarchy. We measured monkey's reactions to emotional faces (fear, threat, neutral) of conspecifics of three ages (adult, peer, infant). Intact monkeys were faster to retrieve a treat in front of a threatening or infant face, while castrated monkeys did not show a differential response to different emotional faces or ages. No group difference in reaction to an innate fear-eliciting object (snake) was found. Approach and proximity responses to familiar versus unfamiliar conspecifics were tested, and intact monkeys spent more time proximal to a novel conspecific as compared to castrates who tended to spend more time with a familiar conspecific. No group differences in time spent with novel or familiar objects were found. Thus, gonadectomy resulted in the emergence of significantly different responses to social stimuli, but not non-social stimuli. Our work suggests that intact gonads, which are needed to produce adolescent increases in circulating testosterone, impact social behavior during adolescences in primates. PMID:19361511
Early Adolescent Emergence of Reversal Learning Impairments in Isolation-Reared Rats
Powell, Susan B.; Khan, Asma; Young, Jared W.; Scott, Christine N.; Buell, Mahalah R.; Caldwell, Sorana; Tsan, Elisa; de Jong, Loek A.W.; Acheson, Dean T.; Lucero, Jacinta; Geyer, Mark A.; Behrens, M. Margarita
Cognitive impairments appear early in the progression of schizophrenia, often preceding the symptoms of psychosis. Thus, the systems subserving these functions may be more vulnerable to, and mechanistically linked with, the initial pathology. Understanding the trajectory of behavioral and anatomical abnormalities relevant to the schizophrenia prodrome and their sensitivity to interventions in relevant models will be critical to identifying early therapeutic strategies. Isolation rearing of rats is an environmental perturbation that deprives rodents of social contact from weaning through adulthood and produces behavioral and neuronal abnormalities that mirror some pathophysiology associated with schizophrenia, e.g. frontal cortex abnormalities and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle deficits. Previously, we showed that PPI deficits in isolation-reared rats emerge in mid-adolescence (4 weeks after weaning; approx. postnatal day 52) but are not present when tested at 2 weeks after weaning (approx. postnatal day 38). Because cognitive deficits are reported during early adolescence, are relevant to the prodrome, and are linked to functional outcome, we examined the putative time course of reversal learning deficits in isolation-reared rats. Separate groups of male Sprague Dawley rats were tested in a two-choice discrimination task at 2 and 8 weeks after weaning, on postnatal day 38 and 80, respectively. The isolation-reared rats displayed impaired reversal learning at both time points. Isolation rearing was also associated with deficits in PPI at 4 and 10 weeks after weaning. The reversal learning deficits in the isolated rats were accompanied by reductions in parvalbumin immunoreactivity, a marker for specific subpopulations of GABAergic neurons, in the hippocampus. Hence, isolation rearing of rats may offer a unique model to examine the ontogeny of behavioral and neurobiological alterations that may be relevant to preclinical models of prodromal psychosis. PMID
Rejection Sensitivity in Late Adolescence: Social and Emotional Sequelae
Marston, Emily G.; Hare, Amanda; Allen, Joseph P.
This study used longitudinal, multi-reporter data, in a community sample, to examine the role of rejection sensitivity in late adolescents' social and emotional development. Rejection sensitivity was linked to a relative increase in adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms over a three-year period, even after accounting for teens' baseline level of social competence. Additionally, reciprocal relationships emerged between rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. Rejection sensitivity was also linked to relative decreases in peer-reports of teens' social competence over a three-year period. Consistent with research on gendered socialization, males reported higher levels of rejection sensitivity than females at age 16 and 17. Results are interpreted as highlighting the importance of rejection sensitivity in understanding late adolescent social and emotional development. PMID:21113326
The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families.
O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin; Clarke-Pearson, Kathleen
Using social media Web sites is among the most common activity of today's children and adolescents. Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs. Such sites offer today's youth a portal for entertainment and communication and have grown exponentially in recent years. For this reason, it is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children and adolescents. Pediatricians are in a unique position to help families understand these sites and to encourage healthy use and urge parents to monitor for potential problems with cyberbullying, "Facebook depression," sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content. PMID:21444588
Too Many Friends: Social Integration, Network Cohesion and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Falci, Christina; McNeely, Clea
Using a nationally representative sample of adolescents, we examine associations among social integration (network size), network cohesion (alter-density), perceptions of social relationships (e.g., social support) and adolescent depressive symptoms. We find that adolescents with either too large or too small a network have higher levels of…
A Developmental Study of Social Self-Conceptions in Adolescence: Impressions and Misimpressions.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herzberger, Sharon, D.; And Others
Investigates adolescents' perceptions of impressions held about them by important others, focusing on cross-sectional differences from early to late adolescence in the structure of social self-conceptions, on differences between parental and peer social self-conceptions and between individual and social self-conceptions, and on adolescents'…
The Social Distribution of Primary Social Isolation among the Aged: A Subcultural Approach.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rutzen, S. Robert
Examines subcultural variations in primary social isolation in older persons in Albany. Seven hypothetical subcultures contain enough respondents to be numerically important. Two subcultures have above-average rates of primary social isolation. Three subcultures have below-average rates. Results indicate that primary social isolation is a group…
Social Goals, Social Status, and Problem Behavior among Low-Achieving and High-Achieving Adolescents from Rural Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ludden, Alison Bryant
The current research examines how social goals and perceptions of what is needed for social status at school relate to school misbehavior and substance use among rural adolescents (N = 683). Results indicate that social goals and perceptions of social status have differential links to problem behaviors depending upon adolescents' achievement.…
Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Neurons Represent the Experience of Social Isolation.
Matthews, Gillian A; Nieh, Edward H; Vander Weele, Caitlin M; Halbert, Sarah A; Pradhan, Roma V; Yosafat, Ariella S; Glober, Gordon F; Izadmehr, Ehsan M; Thomas, Rain E; Lacy, Gabrielle D; Wildes, Craig P; Ungless, Mark A; Tye, Kay M
The motivation to seek social contact may arise from either positive or negative emotional states, as social interaction can be rewarding and social isolation can be aversive. While ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons may mediate social reward, a cellular substrate for the negative affective state of loneliness has remained elusive. Here, we identify a functional role for DA neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), in which we observe synaptic changes following acute social isolation. DRN DA neurons show increased activity upon social contact following isolation, revealed by in vivo calcium imaging. Optogenetic activation of DRN DA neurons increases social preference but causes place avoidance. Furthermore, these neurons are necessary for promoting rebound sociability following an acute period of isolation. Finally, the degree to which these neurons modulate behavior is predicted by social rank, together supporting a role for DRN dopamine neurons in mediating a loneliness-like state. PAPERCLIP. PMID:26871628
Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Neurons Represent the Experience of Social Isolation
Matthews, Gillian A.; Nieh, Edward H.; Vander Weele, Caitlin M.; Halbert, Sarah A.; Pradhan, Roma V.; Yosafat, Ariella S.; Glober, Gordon F.; Izadmehr, Ehsan M.; Thomas, Rain E.; Lacy, Gabrielle D.; Wildes, Craig P.; Ungless, Mark A.; Tye, Kay M.
Summary The motivation to seek social contact may arise from either positive or negative emotional states, as social interaction can be rewarding and social isolation can be aversive. While ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons may mediate social reward, a cellular substrate for the negative affective state of loneliness has remained elusive. Here, we identify a functional role for DA neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), in which we observe synaptic changes following acute social isolation. DRN DA neurons show increased activity upon social contact following isolation, revealed by in vivo calcium imaging. Optogenetic activation of DRN DA neurons increases social preference but causes place avoidance. Furthermore, these neurons are necessary for promoting rebound sociability following an acute period of isolation. Finally, the degree to which these neurons modulate behavior is predicted by social rank, together supporting a role for DRN dopamine neurons in mediating a loneliness-like state. PaperClip PMID:26871628
Social skills and depression in adolescent substance abusers.
Van Hasselt, V B; Null, J A; Kempton, T; Bukstein, O G
The present study provided an assessment of social skills and depression in adolescent substance abusers hospitalized in an inpatient psychiatric setting. Level of social skill was evaluated using the Adolescent Assertion Expression Scale and the Loneliness Scale. Depression and related problems were examined through administration of the Beck Depression Inventory. Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Comparisons with normative values and clinical cut-offs (by gender) indicated that female adolescent substance abusers were less submissive and more aggressive than normative counterparts; male substance abusers exhibited less assertiveness. In addition, mild to moderate levels of depression were evident in both female and male substance abusers. Further, results of correlational analyses revealed several significant relationships between measures of social skills and depression. Results are discussed in terms of: (a) the need for finer grained analyses of social functioning in adolescent substance abusers, (b) the potential value of skills intervention for a subgroup of these individuals, and (c) the need for longitudinal data to more clearly explicate patterns and sequencing of social (mal)adjustment, affective disorder, and onset of substance abuse in this population. PMID:8465682
Social determinants of adolescent depression: an examination of racial differences.
Respress, Brandon N; Morris, Diana L; Gary, Faye A; Lewin, Linda C; Francis, Shelley A
Conventional behavior theories that assert adolescent risk behaviors are determined by peer and parental relationships are being challenged as research begins to consider broader socioenvironmental factors. This study, using data from the Longitudinal Study for Adolescent Health (Add Health), Wave II, Public Use Data, and the Social Determinants of Adolescent Risk Behaviors (SDOARB) framework, examines relationships among socioeconomic status (SES), academic performance, perceived peer prejudice, and perceived teacher discrimination as predictors of depressive symptoms among high school adolescents. Overall, the study found that GPA was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms across all three racial groups (Black, White, and Other Minority). Teacher discrimination predicted depressive symptoms among White and Other minority adolescents, but not Black adolescents. These findings suggest the need for interventions within schools for both students and teachers around racial differences in perceptions of prejudice and discrimination. Failure to address overt and covert subtleties of discrimination and prejudice within schools and policies which affect these interpersonal dynamics may have a significant impact on the overall mental wellbeing of adolescents. PMID:23875556
Racial Socialization, Racial Identity, and Academic Attitudes Among African American Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Influence of Parent-Adolescent Communication.
Tang, Sandra; McLoyd, Vonnie C; Hallman, Samantha K
A significant gap remains in our understanding of the conditions under which parents' racial socialization has consequences for adolescents' functioning. The present study used longitudinal data to examine whether the frequency of communication between African American parents and adolescents (N = 504; 49 % female) moderates the association between parent reports of racial socialization (i.e., cultural socialization and preparation for bias) at 8th grade and adolescent reports of racial identity (perceived structural discrimination, negative public regard, success-oriented centrality) at 11th grade, and in turn, academic attitudes and perceptions. Parents' racial socialization practices were significant predictors of multiple aspects of adolescents' racial identity in families with high levels of communication, but they did not predict any aspects of adolescents' racial identity in families with low levels of communication. Results highlight the importance of including family processes when examining the relations between parents' racial socialization and adolescents' racial identity and academic attitudes and perceptions. PMID:26369349
Social protection: potential for improving HIV outcomes among adolescents
Cluver, Lucie D; Hodes, Rebecca J; Sherr, Lorraine; Mark Orkin, F; Meinck, Franziska; Lim Ah Ken, Patricia; Winder-Rossi, Natalia E; Wolfe, Jason; Vicari, Marissa
Introduction Advances in biomedical technologies provide potential for adolescent HIV prevention and HIV-positive survival. The UNAIDS 90–90–90 treatment targets provide a new roadmap for ending the HIV epidemic, principally through antiretroviral treatment, HIV testing and viral suppression among people with HIV. However, while imperative, HIV treatment and testing will not be sufficient to address the epidemic among adolescents in Southern and Eastern Africa. In particular, use of condoms and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) remain haphazard, with evidence that social and structural deprivation is negatively impacting adolescents' capacity to protect themselves and others. This paper examines the evidence for and potential of interventions addressing these structural deprivations. Discussion New evidence is emerging around social protection interventions, including cash transfers, parenting support and educational support ("cash, care and classroom"). These interventions have the potential to reduce the social and economic drivers of HIV risk, improve utilization of prevention technologies and improve adherence to ART for adolescent populations in the hyper-endemic settings of Southern and Eastern Africa. Studies show that the integration of social and economic interventions has high acceptability and reach and that it holds powerful potential for improved HIV, health and development outcomes. Conclusions Social protection is a largely untapped means of reducing HIV-risk behaviours and increasing uptake of and adherence to biomedical prevention and treatment technologies. There is now sufficient evidence to include social protection programming as a key strategy not only to mitigate the negative impacts of the HIV epidemic among families, but also to contribute to HIV prevention among adolescents and potentially to remove social and economic barriers to accessing treatment. We urge a further research and programming agenda: to actively combine
Parenting Practices and the Development of Adolescents' Social Trust
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wray-Lake, Laura; Flanagan, Constance A.
Social trust (ST) (i.e., beliefs that people are generally fair and trustworthy) is a critical disposition for democratic governance. Yet there has been scant research on its developmental foundations. We assess factors related to ST in 11-18 year olds with survey data collected over two years from 1150 U.S. adolescents and their mothers.…
Prospective Links between Social Anxiety and Adolescent Peer Relations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tillfors, Maria; Persson, Stefan; Willen, Maria; Burk, William J.
This study examines bi-directional links between social anxiety and multiple aspects of peer relations (peer acceptance, peer victimization, and relationship quality) in a longitudinal sample of 1528 adolescents assessed twice with one year between (754 females and 774 males; M = 14.7 years of age). Lower levels of peer acceptance predicted…
Adolescents' and Emerging Adults' Social Networking Online: Homophily or Diversity?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mazur, Elizabeth; Richards, Lacey
More than half of all online American adolescents and emerging adults have created personal profiles for social networking on the Internet. Does homophily in their offline friendships extend online? Drawing mainly on research of face-to-face friendship, we collected data from the public spaces, called "walls," of 129 young Americans ages 16 to 19…
Social Problem-Solving among Adolescents Treated for Depression
Becker-Weidman, Emily G.; Jacobs, Rachel H.; Reinecke, Mark A.; Silva, Susan G.; March, John S.
Studies suggest that deficits in social problem-solving may be associated with increased risk of depression and suicidality in children and adolescents. It is unclear, however, which specific dimensions of social problem-solving are related to depression and suicidality among youth. Moreover, rational problem-solving strategies and problem-solving motivation may moderate or predict change in depression and suicidality among children and adolescents receiving treatment. The effect of social problem-solving on acute treatment outcomes were explored in a randomized controlled trial of 439 clinically depressed adolescents enrolled in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). Measures included the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire – Grades 7-9 (SIQ-Jr), and the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R). A random coefficients regression model was conducted to examine main and interaction effects of treatment and SPSI-R subscale scores on outcomes during the 12-week acute treatment stage. Negative problem orientation, positive problem orientation, and avoidant problem-solving style were non-specific predictors of depression severity. In terms of suicidality, avoidant problem-solving style and impulsiveness/carelessness style were predictors, whereas negative problem orientation and positive problem orientation were moderators of treatment outcome. Implications of these findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. PMID:19775677
Social Support and Children's and Adolescents' Adaptation to Sexual Abuse.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feiring, Candice; Taska, Lynn S.; Lewis, Michael
Analyzes how social support helps explain variations in child and adolescent psychological distress at time of sexual-abuse discovery (N=154). Support from a parent was related to less psychological distress, whereas support from friends is related to increased adjustment difficulties. (Author/MKA)
Social Cognitive Predictors of African American Adolescents' Career Interests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quimby, Julie L.; Wolfson, Jane L.; Seyala, Nazar D.
This study examined the influence of social cognitive variables on African American adolescents' interest in environmental science. The sample consisted of 132 (57 male, 75 female) high school seniors enrolled in an urban scientific and technical high school from which 95% of graduates continue in higher education. Results of the regression…
Parental Management of Peer Relationships and Early Adolescents' Social Skills
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mounts, Nina S.
Despite a growing body of research on parental management of peer relationships, little is known about the relationship between parental management of peers and early adolescents' social skills or the precursors to parental management of peer relationships. The goals of this short-term longitudinal investigation were to examine the relationship…
Social Bonds and Internet Pornographic Exposure among Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mesch, Gustavo S.
Concern has grown regarding possible harm to the social and psychological development of children and adolescents exposed to Internet pornography. Parents, academics and researchers have documented pornography from the supply side, assuming that its availability explains consumption satisfactorily. The current paper explored the user's dimension,…
Mass Media and Interpersonal Influence in Adolescent Consumer Socialization.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moore, Roy L.; And Others
This study explores the consumer socialization process in adolescents with regard to mass media and interpersonal factors associated with the acquisition of consumer skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Questionnaires were completed by 300 consumer education students in three Grand Forks, North Dakota schools, assessing such variables as "consumer…
Physical Activity and Social Support in Adolescents: A Systematic Review
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mendonça, Gerfeson; Cheng, Luanna Alexandra; Mélo, Edilânea Nunes; de Farias, José Cazuza, Jr.
The objective of this review was to systematically synthesize the results of original studies on the association between physical activity and social support in adolescents, published until April 2011. Searches were carried out in Adolec, ERIC, Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, Scopus, SportsDiscus and Web of Science electronic databases and the reference…
Adolescent Fathers' Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Involvement with Infants
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fagan, Jay; Bernd, Elisa; Whiteman, Valerie
The present study examined the relationship between concurrent measures of adolescent fathers' parenting stress, social support, and fathers' care-giving involvement with the 3-month-old infant, controlling for fathers' prenatal involvement. The study sample consisted of 50 teenage father-mother dyads. Findings from multivariate regression…
Social Psychological Factors in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sherman, Steven J.; And Others
Results emanating from smoking cessation programs suggest the necessity for a greater commitment to research for primary smoking prevention. Because of the early onset of smoking, more research must focus on adolescents and preadolescents who have not yet begun to smoke regularly. Three areas of concentrated study are proposed: (1) the initiation…
Residence, Kinship and Social Isolation among the Aged Baganda.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nahemow, Nina
Investigated impact of interactions with kin on social integration in old age. A nonrandom sample of aged Baganda in Uganda was interviewed concerning perceptions of loneliness and social isolation. Results show that the majority of subjects did not view old age as a period of loneliness or isolation. (Author)
Freedom from Social Isolation for Young Students with Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rodriguez, Diane; Smith-Canter, Lora Lee; Voytecki, Karen S.
Currently, students in early childhood special education programs experience social isolation. To ameliorate the inappropriate behaviors that often contribute to this isolation, it is imperative that educators begin to include instruction in appropriate social interaction in the general education early childhood curriculum for children with…
Isolating the delay component of impulsive choice in adolescent rats
McClure, Jesse; Podos, Jeffrey; Richardson, Heather N.
Impulsive choice—the preference for small immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards—has been linked to various psychological conditions ranging from behavioral disorders to addiction. These links highlight the critical need to dissect the various components of this multifaceted behavioral trait. Delay discounting tasks allow researchers to study an important factor of this behavior: how the subjective value of a rewards changes over a delay period. However, existing methods of delay discounting include a confound of different reward sizes within the procedure. Here we present a new approach of using a single constant reward size to assess delay discounting. A complementary approach could hold delay constant and assess the utility of changing quantities of a reward. Isolating these behavioral components can advance our ability to explore the behavioral complexity of impulsive choice. We present in detail the methods for isolating delay, and further capitalize on this method by pairing it with a standard peak interval task to test whether individual variation in delay discounting can be explained by differences in perception of time in male and female adolescent rats. We find that rats that were more precise in discriminating time intervals were also less impulsive in their choice. Our data suggest that differences in timing and delay discounting are not causally related, but instead are more likely influenced by a common factor. Further, the mean-level change in our measure between post-natal day 28 and 42 suggests this test may be capturing a developmental change in this factor. In summary, this new method of isolating individual components of impulsive choice (delay or quantity) can be efficiently applied in either adolescent or adult animal models and may help elucidate the mechanisms underlying impulsivity and its links to psychological disorders. PMID:24478644
Parental Ethnic Socialization and Adolescent Coping with Problems Related to Ethnicity.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Phinney, Jean S.; Chavira, Victor
Investigated ethnic socialization by parents of minority group adolescents and adolescents' ethnic identity and strategies for coping with stereotypes and discrimination. Interviewed 60 American-born adolescents drawn from 3 ethnic groups (Japanese, Mexican, African) and 1 parent of each adolescent. Discovered significant differences in parental…
Social isolation and brain development in the ant Camponotus floridanus.
Seid, Marc A; Junge, Erich
Social interactions play a key role in the healthy development of social animals and are most pronounced in species with complex social networks. When developing offspring do not receive proper social interaction, they show developmental impairments. This effect is well documented in mammalian species but controversial in social insects. It has been hypothesized that the enlargement of the mushroom bodies, responsible for learning and memory, observed in social insects is needed for maintaining the large social networks and/or task allocation. This study examines the impact of social isolation on the development of mushroom bodies of the ant Camponotus floridanus. Ants raised in isolation were shown to exhibit impairment in the growth of the mushroom bodies as well as behavioral differences when compared to ants raised in social groups. These results indicate that social interaction is necessary for the proper development of C. floridanus mushroom bodies. PMID:27126402
Social isolation and brain development in the ant Camponotus floridanus
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Seid, Marc A.; Junge, Erich
Social interactions play a key role in the healthy development of social animals and are most pronounced in species with complex social networks. When developing offspring do not receive proper social interaction, they show developmental impairments. This effect is well documented in mammalian species but controversial in social insects. It has been hypothesized that the enlargement of the mushroom bodies, responsible for learning and memory, observed in social insects is needed for maintaining the large social networks and/or task allocation. This study examines the impact of social isolation on the development of mushroom bodies of the ant Camponotus floridanus. Ants raised in isolation were shown to exhibit impairment in the growth of the mushroom bodies as well as behavioral differences when compared to ants raised in social groups. These results indicate that social interaction is necessary for the proper development of C. floridanus mushroom bodies.
Recognizing Non-Verbal Social Cues Promotes Social Performance in LD Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Greenbank, Alicia; Sharon, Assia
The research examined whether an educational intervention could enhance the ability of learning disabled (LD) adolescents to recognize non-verbal emotional messages and thus their social functioning. Most LD children have problems recognizing non-verbal cues, particularly emotional ones, and have social difficulties. The study examined the…
Racial/Ethnic Socialization Messages, Social Support, and Personal Efficacy among Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pernice-Duca, Francesca; Owens, Delila
Associations between ethnic socialization and a sense of personal efficacy were explored among African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian adolescents. We found that those who reported greater intimacy with their mothers were more likely to perceive them as sources of race-related socialization messages. Consisting of primarily African-American and…
A Social Process Mode of Adolescent Deviance: Combining Social Control and Differential Association Perspectives.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erickson, Kristan Glasgow; Crosnoe, Robert; Dornbusch, Sanford M.
Examined social factors associated with changes in two forms of adolescent deviance, substance use and delinquency using a model that combines social control and differential association perspectives. Results for approximately 2,000 high school students support the model and show that strong bonds to family, school, and community protect…
Embeddedness and Empathy: How the Social Network Shapes Adolescents' Social Understanding
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wolfer, Ralf; Cortina, Kai S.; Baumert, Jurgen
Based on theories of social-cognitive development, the present study investigated the yet unknown social structure that underlies the concept of empathy in adolescence. A total of 3.159 seventh graders (13.67 years, 56% girls) from 166 school classes participated by providing information on empathy, related psychosocial factors, and friendship…
Learned Social Hopelessness: The Role of Explanatory Style in Predicting Social Support during Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ciarrochi, Joseph; Heaven, Patrick C. L.
Background: Almost no research has examined the impact of explanatory style on social adjustment. We hypothesised that adolescents with a pessimistic style would be less likely to develop and maintain social support networks. Methods: Seven hundred and nineteen students (351 males and 366 females; 2 unknown; M[subscript AGE] = 12.28, SD = 0.49)…
The Political Socialization of Adolescent Children of Immigrants*
Humphries, Melissa; Muller, Chandra; Schiller, Kathryn S.
Objectives This study aims to evaluate the adolescent political socialization processes that predict political participation in young adulthood, and whether these processes are different for children of immigrants compared to white 3rd-plus generation adolescents. We focus on socialization agents based in the family, community and school. Methods We use a nationally representative longitudinal survey of adolescents to evaluate the predictors of three measures of political participation: Voter registration, voting, and political party identification, and whether the process leading to political participation varies by immigrant status and race/ethnic group. Results We find that the parental education level of adolescents is not as predictive for many minority children of immigrants compared to white children of native-born parents for registration. Additionally, the academic rigor of the courses taken in high school has a greater positive estimated effect on the likelihood of registration and party identification for Latino children of immigrants compared to white 3rd-plus generation young adults. Conclusions The process of general integration into U.S. society for adolescent children of immigrants may lead to differing pathways to political participation in young adulthood, with certain aspects of their schooling experience having particular importance in developing political participation behaviors. PMID:24489413
Adolescent and adult risk-taking in virtual social contexts
Haddad, Anneke D. M.; Norman, Thomas
There is a paucity of experimental data addressing how peers influence adolescent risk-taking. Here, we examined peer effects on risky decision-making in adults and adolescents using a virtual social context that enabled experimental control over the peer "interactions." 40 adolescents (age 11–18) and 28 adults (age 20–38) completed a risk-taking (Wheel of Fortune) task under four conditions: in private; while being observed by (fictitious) peers; and after receiving 'risky' or 'safe' advice from the peers. For high-risk gambles (but not medium-risk or even gambles), adolescents made more risky decisions under peer observation than adults. Adolescents, but not adults, tended to resist 'safe' advice for high-risk gambles. Although both groups tended to follow 'risky' advice for high-risk gambles, adults did so more than adolescents. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between the effects of peer observation and peer advice on risky decision-making. PMID:25566150
Peer Contagion in Child and Adolescent Social and Emotional Development
Dishion, Thomas J.; Tipsord, Jessica M.
In this article, we examine the construct of peer contagion in childhood and adolescence and review studies of child and adolescent development that have identified peer contagion influences. Evidence suggests that children's interactions with peers are tied to increases in aggression in early and middle childhood and amplification of problem behaviors such as drug use, delinquency, and violence in early to late adolescence. Deviancy training is one mechanism that accounts for peer contagion effects on problem behaviors from age 5 through adolescence. In addition, we discuss peer contagion relevant to depression in adolescence, and corumination as an interactive process that may account for these effects. Social network analyses suggest that peer contagion underlies the influence of friendship on obesity, unhealthy body images, and expectations. Literature is reviewed that suggests how peer contagion effects can undermine the goals of public education from elementary school through college and impair the goals of juvenile corrections systems. In particular, programs that "select" adolescents at risk for aggregated preventive interventions are particularly vulnerable to peer contagion effects. It appears that a history of peer rejection is a vulnerability factor for influence by peers, and adult monitoring, supervision, positive parenting, structure, and self-regulation serve as protective factors. PMID:19575606
Peer contagion in child and adolescent social and emotional development.
Dishion, Thomas J; Tipsord, Jessica M
In this article, we examine the construct of peer contagion in childhood and adolescence and review studies of child and adolescent development that have identified peer contagion influences. Evidence suggests that children's interactions with peers are tied to increases in aggression in early and middle childhood and amplification of problem behaviors such as drug use, delinquency, and violence in early to late adolescence. Deviancy training is one mechanism that accounts for peer contagion effects on problem behaviors from age 5 through adolescence. In addition, we discuss peer contagion relevant to depression in adolescence, and corumination as an interactive process that may account for these effects. Social network analyses suggest that peer contagion underlies the influence of friendship on obesity, unhealthy body images, and expectations. Literature is reviewed that suggests how peer contagion effects can undermine the goals of public education from elementary school through college and impair the goals of juvenile corrections systems. In particular, programs that "select" adolescents at risk for aggregated preventive interventions are particularly vulnerable to peer contagion effects. It appears that a history of peer rejection is a vulnerability factor for influence by peers, and adult monitoring, supervision, positive parenting, structure, and self-regulation serve as protective factors. PMID:19575606
Social isolation associated with depression: A case report of hikikomori
Teo, Alan R
Background Social isolation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A severe form of social isolation or social withdrawal, called hikikomori in Japan, has been described, but controversy over the etiology and universality of the phenomenon remains. Method Case report. Results Diagnostic assessment by structured clinical interview and psychometric tools revealed hikikomori and underlying bipolar disorder, in which the patient's social withdrawal occurred exclusively during major depressive episodes. The patient declined pharmacotherapy, but his hikikomori and depression went into remission after 25 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy targeting his social isolation. Conclusions This is the first reported case of hikikomori in the Americas. It illustrates the association between hikikomori and a mood disorder, and suggests the importance of international study of the prevalence and potential treatment strategies for severe social isolation. PMID:22408115
Social anxiety, disengagement coping, and alcohol use behaviors among adolescents
Blumenthal, Heidemarie; Ham, Lindsay S.; Cloutier, Renee M.; Bacon, Amy K.; Douglas, Megan E.
Background and Objectives Although research indicates that social anxiety (SA) is associated with problematic drinking, few studies have examined these relations among adolescents, and all alcohol-related assessments have been retrospective. Socially anxious youth may be at risk to drink in an effort to manage negative affectivity, and a proclivity towards disengagement coping (e.g., avoidance of aversive stimuli) may enhance the desire to drink and learning of coping-related use. Design Adding to research addressing adolescent SA and alcohol use, the current study examined (1) proportional drinking motives (subscale scores divided by the sum of all subscales), (2) current desire to drink in a socially-relevant environment (introduction to research laboratory), and (3) the indirect effect of retrospectively-reported disengagement in social stress contexts on proportional coping motives and desire to drink. Method Participants were 70 community-recruited adolescents who reported recent alcohol use. Level of SA, disengagement coping, drinking motives, and desire to drink following laboratory introduction were assessed. Results Proclivity toward disengagement in prior socially-stressful contexts accounted for significant variance in the positive relations between SA and both proportional coping motives and current desire to drink. Conclusions These data complement existing work. Continued efforts in building developmentally-sensitive models of alcohol use are needed. PMID:26235528
[Old age for adolescents: a social representations approach].
Pereira, Rafaelly Fernandes; de Freitas, Maria Célia; Ferreira, Márcia de Assunção
Qualitative research, based on the Theory of Social Representations, which aimed to apprehend the social representations of teenagers in a public school and a private on ageing, and to compare them between these two groups. Participants were 60 adolescents, 30 from the private school and 30 from the public school, who responded to semi-structured interviews in the period May-June 2012. The collected data were subjected to content analysis techniques, from which emerged three categories, namely: representations of ageing, the treatment of the elderly, and the recognition of oneself as a subject in the aging process. The adolescents' social representations have showed negative and positive aspects in relation to old age, marked by the influence of socio-cultural aspects. PMID:25271586
Social Variations in Perceived Parenting Styles among Norwegian Adolescents.
Elstad, Jon Ivar; Stefansen, Kari
Previous research has documented the associations between parenting and parenting styles and child and adolescent outcomes. Little is known, however, about the social structuring of parenting in contemporary Nordic welfare states. A possible hypothesis is that socioeconomic variations in parenting styles in present-day Norway will be small because of material affluence, limited income inequality, and an active welfare state. This study examines social variations in parenting as perceived by Norwegian adolescents (N = 1362), with a focus on four parenting style dimensions: responsiveness, demandingness, neglecting, and intrusive. Responsiveness seems to capture major divisions in parenting. Adolescents in families with fewer economic resources experienced their parents as somewhat less responsive, but responsiveness was not related to parents' education. Low parental education was on the other hand associated with perceptions of parents as neglecting and intrusive. Viewing parents as demanding did neither vary with parental education nor with family economy. Substantial variations in parenting styles persist in present-day Norway, and these variations correspond moderately with the families' placement in the social structure. Indicators of parenting and parenting styles may be useful indicators of some aspects of child and adolescent well-being. PMID:25132873
Growing Up Wired: Social Networking Sites and Adolescent Psychosocial Development
Shapiro, Lauren A. Spies; Margolin, Gayla
Since the advent of SNS technologies, adolescents' use of these technologies has expanded and is now a primary way of communicating with and acquiring information about others in their social network. Overall, adolescents and young adults' stated motivations for using SNSs are quite similar to more traditional forms of communication—to stay in touch with friends, make plans, get to know people better, and present oneself to others. We begin with a summary of theories that describe the role of SNSs in adolescents' interpersonal relationships, as well as common methodologies used in this field of research thus far. Then, with the social changes that occur throughout adolescence as a backdrop, we address the ways in which SNSs intersect with key tasks of adolescent psychosocial development, specifically peer affiliation and friendship quality, as well as identity development. Evidence suggests that SNSs differentially relate to adolescents' social connectivity and identity development, with sociability, self-esteem, and nature of SNS feedback as important potential moderators. We synthesize current findings, highlight unanswered questions, and recommend both methodological and theoretical directions for future research. PMID:23645343
Empathy in adolescence: Relations with emotion awareness and social roles.
Rieffe, Carolien; Camodeca, Marina
In this study, we aimed at gaining a better understanding of the individual differences contributing to feelings of empathy in adolescents. Therefore, we examined the extent to which emotion awareness (e.g., recognizing and appreciating one's own and the emotions of others) and a tendency for certain social roles (e.g., helping or teasing peers when being bullied) are related to adolescents' levels of empathy. The sample was comprised of 182 adolescents aged between 11 and 16. Empathy and emotion awareness were assessed using self-report measures. Peer reports were used to indicate adolescents' different social roles: Bullying, defending the victim, and outsider behaviour. Outcomes demonstrated that evaluating one's own and the emotions of others, and more defending nominations were associated with both affective and cognitive empathy, whereas aspects of emotion awareness which are linked with internalizing symptoms were related to empathic distress, suggesting maladaptive emotion appraisal. Furthermore, outsider behaviour was associated with empathic distress, emphasizing a self-focused orientation. In contrast, more bullying was negatively associated with cognitive empathy. Overall, these outcomes demonstrate that, besides social roles, emotion awareness is an important factor for adaptive empathic reactions, whereas emotion dysregulation might cause distress when witnessing the negative feelings of others. PMID:26778274
Associations of maternal and adolescent religiosity and spirituality with adolescent alcohol use in Chile: Implications for social work practice among Chilean social workers
Adaniya, Fernando Andrade; Sanhueza, Guillermo; Han, Yoonsun
To inform social work practice with adolescents who may consume alcohol, we examined if alcohol use among Chilean adolescents varied as a function of their mothers' and their own religiosity and spirituality. Data were from 787 Chilean adolescents and their mothers. Adolescent spirituality was a protective factor against more deleterious alcohol use. Parental monitoring and alcohol using opportunities mediated the associations. The practice of religious behaviors by themselves without meaningful faith were not associated with alcohol use among adolescents. Implications for social work practice are discussed. PMID:25729092
Work Socialization and Adolescents' Work-Related Values in Single-Mother African American Families
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Toyokawa, Teru; McLoyd, Vonnie C.
This study examined African American mothers' work socialization messages in relation to adolescents' work-related values. Moderation effects of mother-adolescent relation quality on the linkage between maternal socialization messages and adolescents' outcomes were also examined. Participants were 245 single African American mothers and their…
Maternal Socialization of Positive Affect: The Impact of Invalidation on Adolescent Emotion Regulation and Depressive Symptomatology
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yap, Marie B. H.; Allen, Nicholas B.; Ladouceur, Cecile D.
This study examined the relations among maternal socialization of positive affect (PA), adolescent emotion regulation (ER), and adolescent depressive symptoms. Two hundred early adolescents, 11-13 years old, provided self-reports of ER strategies and depressive symptomatology; their mothers provided self-reports of socialization responses to…
Longitudinal Investigation of the Associations between Adolescents' Popularity and Cyber Social Behaviors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wright, Michelle F.
As adolescents become increasingly immersed in electronic technologies, popular adolescents may act in similar ways online as they do offline. This longitudinal study employed peer nominations and self-reports to examine perceived popularity and social preference in relation to cyber social behaviors among 256 adolescents during the fall (T1) and…
The Self-Esteem, Perceived Social Support and Hopelessness in Adolescents: The Structural Equation Modeling
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Savi Cakar, Firdevs; Karatas, Zeynep
In this study, a developed model to explain a causal relationship between adolescent's self-esteem, perceived social support and hopelessness is tested. The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between self-esteem, perceived social support and hopelessness in adolescents. A total of 257 adolescents, including 143 female and 114…
An Evaluation of the Applicability of the Tripartite Constructs to Social Anxiety in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderson, Emily R.; Veed, Glen J.; Inderbitzen-Nolan, Heidi M.; Hansen, David J.
The current study examined the tripartite model of anxiety and depression in relation to social phobia in a nonclinical sample of adolescents (ages 13-17). Adolescent/parent dyads participated in a semistructured interview and completed self-report measures of the tripartite constructs and social anxiety. Adolescents gave an impromptu speech, and…
Modeling the contribution of personality, social identity and social norms to problematic Facebook use in adolescents.
Marino, Claudia; Vieno, Alessio; Pastore, Massimiliano; Albery, Ian P; Frings, Daniel; Spada, Marcantonio M
Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world providing the opportunity to maintain and/or establish relationships, to share media contents and experiences with friends, and to easily communicate with them. Despite the resources and the innovative social features offered by Facebook research has emerged indicating that its use may become problematic, with negative consequences on personal psycho-social well-being, especially among adolescents and young adults. The main aim of this study was to examine the unique contribution of personality traits and social influence processes (i.e. subjective norms, group norms, and social identity) to perceived frequency of Facebook Use and Problematic Facebook Use in a sample of adolescents. A total of 968 Italian adolescents participated in the study. Structural equation modeling showed that emotional stability, extraversion, conscientiousness and norms directly predicted Problematic Facebook Use, whereas gender, group norms and social identity predicted perceived frequency of Facebook use. In conclusion, both personal and social variables appear to explain perceived frequency of Facebook use and Problematic Facebook Use among adolescents, and should be taken into account by researchers and educational practitioners. PMID:27423098
Familism, family ethnic socialization, and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' educational adjustment.
Bravo, Diamond Y; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J; Guimond, Amy B; Updegraff, Kimberly A; Jahromi, Laudan B
The current longitudinal study examined how familism values and family ethnic socialization impacted Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' (N = 205) educational adjustment (i.e., educational expectations, educational utility), and whether these associations were moderated by adolescent mothers' ethnic centrality. Findings indicated that adolescent mothers' reports of familism values and family ethnic socialization were positively associated with their beliefs about educational utility, but not educational expectations. Ethnic centrality moderated the association between adolescent mothers' familism values and educational utility, such that adolescent mothers' endorsement of familism values during pregnancy were associated with significant increases in educational utility after their transition to parenthood, but only when adolescents reported high levels of ethnic centrality. Moreover, ethnic centrality was positively associated with adolescent mothers' educational expectations. Results highlight the importance of familism, ethnic socialization, and ethnic centrality for promoting Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' educational outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding adolescent mothers' educational adjustment in the context of family and culture. PMID:25045950
Sex-Specific Relationships among Attachment Security, Social Values, and Sensation Seeking in Early Adolescence: Implications for Adolescents' Externalizing Problem Behaviour
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sarracino, Diego; Presaghi, Fabio; Degni, Silvia; Innamorati, Marco
In early adolescence, attachment security reflects not only the quality of ongoing relationships with parents, but also how adolescents process social relationships with "others"--that is, their "social value orientation"--with possible implications for adolescents' risk-taking. In this study, a sample of Italian early adolescents were…
Spreading of healthy mood in adolescent social networks
Hill, E. M.; Griffiths, F. E.; House, T.
Depression is a major public health concern worldwide. There is evidence that social support and befriending influence mental health, and an improved understanding of the social processes that drive depression has the potential to bring significant public health benefits. We investigate transmission of mood on a social network of adolescents, allowing flexibility in our model by making no prior assumption as to whether it is low mood or healthy mood that spreads. Here, we show that while depression does not spread, healthy mood among friends is associated with significantly reduced risk of developing and increased chance of recovering from depression. We found that this spreading of healthy mood can be captured using a non-linear complex contagion model. Having sufficient friends with healthy mood can halve the probability of developing, or double the probability of recovering from, depression over a 6–12-month period on an adolescent social network. Our results suggest that promotion of friendship between adolescents can reduce both incidence and prevalence of depression. PMID:26290075
Social network profiles as information sources for adolescents' offline relations.
Courtois, Cédric; All, Anissa; Vanwynsberghe, Hadewijch
This article presents the results of a study concerning the use of online profile pages by adolescents to know more about "offline" friends and acquaintances. Previous research has indicated that social networking sites (SNSs) are used to gather information on new online contacts. However, several studies have demonstrated a substantial overlap between offline and online social networks. Hence, we question whether online connections are meaningful in gathering information on offline friends and acquaintances. First, the results indicate that a combination of passive uncertainty reduction (monitoring a target's profile) and interactive uncertainty reduction (communication through the target's profile) explains a considerable amount of variance in the level of uncertainty about both friends and acquaintances. More specifically, adolescents generally get to know much more about their acquaintances. Second, the results of online uncertainty reduction positively affect the degree of self-disclosure, which is imperative in building a solid friend relation. Further, we find that uncertainty reduction strategies positively mediate the effect of social anxiety on the level of certainty about friends. This implies that socially anxious teenagers benefit from SNSs by getting the conditions right to build a more solid relation with their friends. Hence, we conclude that SNSs play a substantial role in today's adolescents' everyday interpersonal communication. PMID:22703034
Spreading of healthy mood in adolescent social networks.
Hill, E M; Griffiths, F E; House, T
Depression is a major public health concern worldwide. There is evidence that social support and befriending influence mental health, and an improved understanding of the social processes that drive depression has the potential to bring significant public health benefits. We investigate transmission of mood on a social network of adolescents, allowing flexibility in our model by making no prior assumption as to whether it is low mood or healthy mood that spreads. Here, we show that while depression does not spread, healthy mood among friends is associated with significantly reduced risk of developing and increased chance of recovering from depression. We found that this spreading of healthy mood can be captured using a non-linear complex contagion model. Having sufficient friends with healthy mood can halve the probability of developing, or double the probability of recovering from, depression over a 6-12-month period on an adolescent social network. Our results suggest that promotion of friendship between adolescents can reduce both incidence and prevalence of depression. PMID:26290075
A Few Close Friends: The Pediatrician's Role in the Management of Social Skills Deficits in Adolescent Children.
Braddock, Barbara A; Twyman, Kimberly A; Garrity, Matthew R; Wang, Tracy; Neary, Meaghan K; Ezzelgot, Jamie; Heithaus, Jennifer L
Pediatricians must recognize and respond to adolescents with social skills deficits because they are at heightened risk for mental health disorders, peer victimization, and social isolation. The aim of this project was to describe a group of adolescent children at the time of enrollment into social skills treatment. Ninety participants with neurodevelopmental weaknesses or disorders, to include high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, participated. Results showed that adolescents referred for social skills deficits had communication weaknesses and concerns in everyday social reciprocal behavior. They rarely hosted get-togethers with same-aged peers and were not often invited by same-aged peers to get-togethers. Twenty-nine percent of participants reported that they were victims of bullying, and more than half of participants reported clinically significant ostracism experiences. Results are discussed in terms of the pediatrician's role in the prevention, identification, and treatment of social skills deficits in light of recent research showing brain neuroplasticity extending into adolescence. PMID:25676832
Social Media in Adolescent Health Literacy Education: A Pilot Study
Tse, Carrie KW; Srinivasan, Divya Parthasarathy; Cheng, Brenda SS
Background While health literacy has gained notice on a global stage, the initial focus on seeking associations with medical conditions may have overlooked its impact across generations. Adolescent health literacy, specifically in dentistry, is an underexplored area despite the significance of this formative stage on an individual's approach to healthy lifestyles and behaviors. Objective The aim is to conduct a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of three major social media outlets - Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube - in supporting adolescents' oral health literacy (OHL) education. Methods A random sample of 22 adolescents (aged 14-16 years) from an English-medium international school in Hong Kong provided informed consent. Sociodemographic information, including English language background, social media usage, and dental experience were collected via a questionnaire. A pre- and post-test of OHL (REALD-30) was administered by two trained, calibrated examiners. Following pre-test, participants were randomly assigned to one of three social media outlets: Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. Participants received alerts posted daily for 5 consecutive days requiring online accessing of modified and original OHL education materials. One-way ANOVA ( analysis of variance) was used to compare the mean difference between the pre- and the post-test results among the three social media. Results No associations were found between the social media allocated and participants' sociodemographics, including English language background, social media usage, and dental experience. Of the three social media, significant differences in literacy assessment scores were evident for participants who received oral health education messages via Facebook (P=.02) and YouTube (P=.005). Conclusions Based on the results of the pilot study, Facebook and YouTube may be more efficient media outlets for OHL promotion and education among adolescent school children when compared to Twitter. Further
Social support, family functioning and parenting competence in adolescent parents.
Angley, Meghan; Divney, Anna; Magriples, Urania; Kershaw, Trace
Depression is known to mediate the association between low social support and parenting competence in adult mothers, but this relationship is rarely assessed in adolescent mothers and fathers. The primary aim of this study was to identify the association between social support, family functioning and social capital on parenting competence, including self-efficacy and satisfaction in adolescent mothers and their partners. Secondary aims included identifying potential partner effects (e.g. whether a partner's social support influenced the respondent's parenting efficacy). Data was obtained from a subset of participants from a longitudinal study of pregnant adolescent females and their partners. Couples completed individual structured interviews via audio computer-assisted self-interview during pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. To measure the influence of support on parenting outcomes, multi-level modeling was used to assess the Actor-Partner Interdependence model, which examines responses from both members of a dyad in a single analysis. Greater social support was associated with increased parenting self-efficacy (B = 0.062, p = 0.006) and parenting satisfaction (B = 0.111, p < 0.001). Higher family functioning was also associated with greater parenting satisfaction (B = 0.05, p = 0.035). Greater partner family functioning was associated with higher parenting satisfaction (B = 0.047, p = 0.026). This study found the importance of a strong support structure during pregnancy on perceived parenting competence in the early postpartum period for young mothers and fathers. Both social support and family functioning during pregnancy were associated with a greater sense of parenting competence, and these associations were mediated by parental depression. The results of this study underscore the importance of providing social support for young expectant fathers as well as mothers. PMID:24833286
Social isolation and perceived barriers to establishing social networks among Latina immigrants.
Hurtado-de-Mendoza, Alejandra; Gonzales, Felisa A; Serrano, Adriana; Kaltman, Stacey
Research has identified numerous mechanisms through which perceived social isolation and lack of social support negatively impact health. Little research attention has been dedicated to factors that influence the development of social networks, which have the potential to decrease perceptions of social isolation and provide social support. There is mixed evidence concerning the availability of supportive social networks for Latinos in the US. This study explores trauma-exposed Latina immigrants' experiences of social isolation in the US and its perceived causes. Twenty-eight Latina immigrant women participated in an interview about traumatic experiences. Informal help seeking and the availability of friendships in the US were also queried. Frequent comparisons between experiences in their home countries and in the US shaped the emerging themes of social isolation and lack of social support. Women reported feeling lonely, isolated, closed-in, and less free in the US due to family separation and various obstacles to developing and maintaining relationships. Socioeconomic, environmental, and psychosocial barriers were offered as explanations for their limited social networks in the US. Understanding experiences of social isolation as well as barriers to forging social networks can help inform the development of social support interventions that can contribute to improved health among Latinos. PMID:24402726
Network Ecology and Adolescent Social Structure
McFarland, Daniel A.; Moody, James; Diehl, David; Smith, Jeffrey A.; Thomas, Reuben J.
Adolescent societies—whether arising from weak, short-term classroom friendships or from close, long-term friendships—exhibit various levels of network clustering, segregation, and hierarchy. Some are rank-ordered caste systems and others are flat, cliquish worlds. Explaining the source of such structural variation remains a challenge, however, because global network features are generally treated as the agglomeration of micro-level tie-formation mechanisms, namely balance, homophily, and dominance. How do the same micro-mechanisms generate significant variation in global network structures? To answer this question we propose and test a network ecological theory that specifies the ways features of organizational environments moderate the expression of tie-formation processes, thereby generating variability in global network structures across settings. We develop this argument using longitudinal friendship data on schools (Add Health study) and classrooms (Classroom Engagement study), and by extending exponential random graph models to the study of multiple societies over time. PMID:25535409
Neighborhood income inequality, social capital and emotional distress among adolescents: A population-based study.
Vilhjalmsdottir, Arndis; Gardarsdottir, Ragna B; Bernburg, Jon Gunnar; Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora
Theory holds that income inequality may harm adolescent mental health by reducing social capital within neighborhood communities. However, research on this topic has been very limited. We use multilevel data on 102 public schools and 5958 adolescents in Iceland (15 and 16 years old) to examine whether income inequality within neighborhoods is associated with emotional distress in adolescents. Moreover, we test whether indicators of social capital, including social trust and embeddedness in neighborhood social networks, mediate this contextual effect. The findings show that neighborhood income inequality positively influences emotional distress of individual adolescents, net of their personal household situations and social relations. However, although the indicators of social capital negatively influence emotional distress, they do not mediate the contextual effect of neighborhood income inequality. The study illustrates the role of economic disparities in adolescent mental health, but calls for more research on the underlying social and social-psychological mechanisms. PMID:27337213
Adolescent-specific patterns of behavior and neural activity during social reinforcement learning
Jones, Rebecca M.; Somerville, Leah H.; Li, Jian; Ruberry, Erika J.; Powers, Alisa; Mehta, Natasha; Dyke, Jonathan; Casey, BJ
Humans are sophisticated social beings. Social cues from others are exceptionally salient, particularly during adolescence. Understanding how adolescents interpret and learn from variable social signals can provide insight into the observed shift in social sensitivity during this period. The current study tested 120 participants between the ages of 8 and 25 years on a social reinforcement learning task where the probability of receiving positive social feedback was parametrically manipulated. Seventy-eight of these participants completed the task during fMRI scanning. Modeling trial-by-trial learning, children and adults showed higher positive learning rates than adolescents, suggesting that adolescents demonstrated less differentiation in their reaction times for peers who provided more positive feedback. Forming expectations about receiving positive social reinforcement correlated with neural activity within the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum across age. Adolescents, unlike children and adults, showed greater insular activity during positive prediction error learning and increased activity in the supplementary motor cortex and the putamen when receiving positive social feedback regardless of the expected outcome, suggesting that peer approval may motivate adolescents towards action. While different amounts of positive social reinforcement enhanced learning in children and adults, all positive social reinforcement equally motivated adolescents. Together, these findings indicate that sensitivity to peer approval during adolescence goes beyond simple reinforcement theory accounts and suggests possible explanations for how peers may motivate adolescent behavior. PMID:24550063
Social Determinants of Health for Native Hawaiian Children and Adolescents
Alameda, Christian K
Introduction Traditional Hawaiian thought places children in a position of prominence in the family. Yet in Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian children and adolescents face significant inequity in health outcomes. From prenatal alcohol and tobacco use, late or no prenatal care, macrosomia as well as low birth rates, to exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months, and high rates of infant mortality, Native Hawaiians face inequities in pre and early childhood indicators. During childhood and adolescence, Native Hawaiians experience high rates of obesity, and physical, mental and sexual abuse. This review examines the determinants behind the health inequities encountered by Native Hawaiian children and adolescents, and contextualizes those inequities s in a human rights-based approach to health. Methods A literature review was conducted for relevant research on Native Hawaiian and other indigenous children and adolescents. Existing data sources were also reviewed for relevant Native Hawaiian data. Results There is a significant dearth of data on the determinants of health for Native Hawaiian children and adolescents. Some prenatal data is available from the Prenatal Risk Assessment Monitoring System, while selected youth data is available from the Youth Behavioral Risk Factor system. Available data show significant inequities for Native Hawaiian children and adolescents, compared to other groups in Hawai'i. Based on comparisons with other indigenous and marginalized peoples, the etiology of these disparities may be a lack of health equity, deriving from multigenerational trauma and discrimination as well as poverty and inequities of housing, education, environment, healthcare access, and social capital. Conclusions The significant barriers facing Native Hawaiian children and adolescents achieving their full potential constitute a challenge to the fulfillment of the human right to health. Future research needs to more fully articulate the linkage between the health status of
Singaporean Adolescents' Perceptions of Online Social Communication: An Exploratory Factor Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zheng, Robert Z.; Cheok, Angeline; Khoo, Eng
The current study investigated adolescents' perceptions in online social communication. Three factors were perceived by adolescents as critical to online social communication. These included self-identity, self-confidence, and self-social factors. Results showed significant differences between the factors derived from the current study and those…
The Relationship between Social Support and Adolescent Dating Violence: A Comparison across Genders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Richards, Tara N.; Branch, Kathryn A.
Although much research has focused on the function of social support in adult intimate partner violence, little is known about the role of social support in adolescent dating violence. This study is an exploratory analysis of the independent impact of social support from friends and family on the risk of adolescent dating violence perpetration and…
Group Guidance and Group Counseling to Foster Social Acceptability and Self-Esteem in Adolescence.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shechtman, Zipora; Bar-El, Orit
Measures the degree to which group guidance and small group counseling generated positive change in the social acceptance and self-esteem of normal and socially inefficacious adolescents. Both methods enhanced the social acceptability of the adolescents, with partial gains recorded in self-esteem. Recommends a combination of both methods. (RJM)
The Role of Social Identity Complexity in Inter-Group Attitudes among Young Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Knifsend, Casey A.; Juvonen, Jaana
To supplement research on adolescent social identities, the current study examined how social identity complexity relates to ethnic inter-group attitudes in a young adolescent sample (N = 97; "age range" = 12-14 years). Social identity complexity refers to the perceived overlap of groups with which youth align themselves. Descriptive…
The Development of Social Anxiety in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bellini, Scott
The present study examined factors contributing to the development of social anxiety in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In particular, the study examined the contribution of social skill deficits and physiological hyperarousal to the development of social anxiety in individuals with ASD. Forty-one adolescents with…
Social Skills: An Investigation with Young Adolescents from Different Socioeconomic Contexts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coronel, Claudia Paola; Levin, Mariel; Mejail, Sergio
Introduction: Adolescence is a stage in the life cycle where social abilities are a crucial factor in social adjustment. Prosocial behaviour contributes to the development of self-esteem and psychological well-being. Method: The aim of this study was to analyze and compare social abilities in adolescents of low and high socioeconomic status, from…
Social cognitive factors and perceived social influences that improve adolescent eHealth literacy.
Paek, Hye-Jin; Hove, Thomas
While adolescents are increasingly using the Internet for health information, little research has been done to assess and improve their "eHealth literacy"-the abilities to find, evaluate, and apply online health information. This study examines the extent to which adolescents' levels of eHealth literacy can be improved by known determinants such as social cognitive factors and perceived social influences, either independently or jointly. Among 182 middle-schoolers, an eHealth literacy intervention was carried out. It involved qualitative and quantitative baseline research, three online training sessions, and a postintervention survey. According to hierarchical regression model results, social cognitive factors of outcome expectations and involvement, but not health motivation, significantly improved eHealth literacy, and all the perceived social influence variables significantly improved eHealth literacy. However, no joint effect of social cognitive factors and perceived social influences was found. In light of these findings, educators need to make eHealth literacy programs personally relevant to adolescents and reinforce local social norms about the importance of seeking health information online. PMID:22452551
Family correlates of adolescent self-monitoring and social competence.
Schoenrock, C J; Bell, N J; Sun, S W; Avery, A W
The purpose of this study was to investigate linkages between adolescent self-monitoring, global social competence, and parenting and family environment dimensions of support and encouragement of autonomy. The sample consisted of 233 young women and 199 young men at 2 southwestern universities. The primary measures used were the Family Environment Scale (R. H. Moos, 1981), the Parent Behavior Form (L. Worell & J. Worell, 1974), the revised Self-Monitoring Scale (M. Snyder, 1987), and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (R. Helmreich, J. Stapp, & C. Ervin, 1974). Findings indicated that family variables are more strongly associated with social competence than with self-monitoring; family support was, overall, a more important ingredient of social competence than was autonomy. Women and men had different patterns of associations among specific variables. PMID:10412219
Social Coping of Gifted and LGBTQ Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hutcheson, Virginia H.; Tieso, Carol L.
This qualitative study used critical ethnography as a theoretical framework to investigate the social coping strategies of gifted and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students in middle and high school. Twelve LGBTQ college students from a selective Southeastern university were interviewed and asked to retrospectively…
An examination of psychopathology and daily impairment in adolescents with social anxiety disorder.
Mesa, Franklin; Beidel, Deborah C; Bunnell, Brian E
Although social anxiety disorder (SAD) is most often diagnosed during adolescence, few investigations have examined the clinical presentation and daily functional impairment of this disorder exclusively in adolescents. Prior studies have demonstrated that some clinical features of SAD in adolescents are unique relative to younger children with the condition. Furthermore, quality of sleep, a robust predictor of anxiety problems and daily stress, has not been examined in socially anxious adolescents. In this investigation, social behavior and sleep were closely examined in adolescents with SAD (n = 16) and normal control adolescents (NC; n = 14). Participants completed a self-report measure and an actigraphy assessment of sleep. Social functioning was assessed via a brief speech and a social interaction task, during which heart rate and skin conductance were measured. Additionally, participants completed a daily social activity journal for 1 week. No differences were observed in objective or subjective quality of sleep. Adolescents with SAD reported greater distress during the analogue social tasks relative to NC adolescents. During the speech task, adolescents with SAD exhibited a trend toward greater speech latency and spoke significantly less than NC adolescents. Additionally, SAD participants manifested greater skin conductance during the speech task. During the social interaction, adolescents with SAD required significantly more confederate prompts to stimulate interaction. Finally, adolescents with SAD reported more frequent anxiety-provoking situations in their daily lives, including answering questions in class, assertive communication, and interacting with a group. The findings suggest that, although adolescents with SAD may not exhibit daily impaired sleep, the group does experience specific behavioral and physiological difficulties in social contexts regularly. Social skills training may be a critical component in therapeutic approaches for this group
Adolescent alcohol-related risk cognitions: the roles of social norms and social networking sites.
Litt, Dana M; Stock, Michelle L
The present study examined the impact of socially based descriptive norms on willingness to drink alcohol, drinker prototype favorability, affective alcohol attitudes, and perceived vulnerability for alcohol-related consequences within the Prototype Willingness model. Descriptive norms were manipulated by having 189 young adolescents view experimenter-created profile pages from the social networking site Facebook, which either showed older peers drinking or not. The results provided evidence that descriptive norms for alcohol use, as portrayed by Facebook profiles, significantly impact willingness to use, prototypes, attitudes toward use, and perceived vulnerability. A multiple mediation analysis indicated that prototypes, attitudes, and perceptions of use mediated the relationship between the content of the Facebook profile and willingness. These results indicate that adolescents who perceive that alcohol use is normative, as evidenced by Facebook profiles, are at higher risk for cognitions shown to predict alcohol use than adolescents who do not see alcohol use portrayed as frequently on Facebook. PMID:21644803
Adolescent Substance Use in Different Social and Peer Contexts: A Social Network Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pearson, Michael; Sweeting, Helen; West, Patrick; Young, Robert; Gordon, Jacki; Turner, Katrina
This exploratory study investigates whether associations between social network measures and substance use differ according to type of substance and social context. The analyses use data obtained from 13 and 15 year olds (N=3146) in a school-based survey and focus on three social network measures: sociometric position (e.g. group, dyad, isolate);…
Sex differences in sensitivity to the social consequences of acute ethanol and social drinking during adolescence
Varlinskaya, Elena I.; Truxell, Eric M.; Spear, Linda P.
In human adolescents, sociable males frequently drink to enhance positive emotional states, whereas anxious females often drink to avoid negative affective states. This study used a rat model of adolescence to provide information regarding possible sex differences in contributors to social drinking. The effects of ethanol (0, 0.5, and 0.75 g/kg) on play fighting and social preference were assessed on P30, P32, and P34 using a within-subject design. Then animals were tested in a social drinking paradigm (P37-P40), with this testing revealing high drinkers and low drinkers. Sex differences in sensitivity to ethanol emerged among high and low drinkers. High socially drinking males, but not females, when tested prior to drinking sessions, showed significant increases in play fighting at both doses. In low drinking males, play fighting was increased by 0.5 g/kg ethanol, whereas the higher dose of 0.75 g/kg produced significant decreases in play fighting. High drinking females initially showed low levels of social preference than high drinking males and low drinking females and were extremely sensitive to ethanol-induced enhancement of this social measure. Low social drinkers, both males and females, were more sensitive to the suppressing effects of ethanol on social preference following 0.75 g/kg ethanol. These findings indicate that during adolescence enhanced sensitivity to the facilitating effects of ethanol on play fighting is associated with heavy drinking among males, whereas low social preference together with high sensitivity to ethanol-induced enhancement of social preference is related to high social drinking in females. PMID:25557799
Sex differences in sensitivity to the social consequences of acute ethanol and social drinking during adolescence.
Varlinskaya, Elena I; Truxell, Eric M; Spear, Linda P
In human adolescents, sociable males frequently drink to enhance positive emotional states, whereas anxious females often drink to avoid negative affective states. This study used a rat model of adolescence to provide information regarding possible sex differences in contributors to social drinking. The effects of ethanol (0, 0.5, and 0.75g/kg) on play fighting and social preference were assessed on P30, P32, and P34 using a within-subject design. Then animals were tested in a social drinking paradigm (P37-P40), with this testing revealing high drinkers and low drinkers. Sex differences in sensitivity to ethanol emerged among high and low drinkers. High socially drinking males, but not females, when tested prior to drinking sessions, showed significant increases in play fighting at both doses. In low drinking males, play fighting was increased by 0.5g/kg ethanol, whereas the higher dose of 0.75g/kg produced significant decreases in play fighting. High drinking females initially showed low levels of social preference than high drinking males and low drinking females and were extremely sensitive to ethanol-induced enhancement of this social measure. Low social drinkers, both males and females, were more sensitive to the suppressing effects of ethanol on social preference following 0.75g/kg ethanol. These findings indicate that during adolescence enhanced sensitivity to the facilitating effects of ethanol on play fighting is associated with heavy drinking among males, whereas low social preference together with high sensitivity to ethanol-induced enhancement of social preference is related to high social drinking in females. PMID:25557799
Social exclusion intensifies anxiety-like behavior in adolescent rats.
Lee, Hyunchan; Noh, Jihyun
Social connection reduces the physiological reactivity to stressors, while social exclusion causes emotional distress. Stressful experiences in rats result in the facilitation of aversive memory and induction of anxiety. To determine the effect of social interaction, such as social connection, social exclusion and equality or inequality, on emotional change in adolescent distressed rats, the emotional alteration induced by restraint stress in individual rats following exposure to various social interaction circumstances was examined. Rats were assigned to one of the following groups: all freely moving rats, all rats restrained, rats restrained in the presence of freely moving rats and freely moving rats with a restrained rat. No significant difference in fear-memory and sucrose consumption between all groups was found. Change in body weight significantly increased in freely moving rats with a restrained rat, suggesting that those rats seems to share the stressful experience of the restrained rat. Interestingly, examination of the anxiety-like behavior revealed only rats restrained in the presence of freely moving rats to have a significant increase, suggesting that emotional distress intensifies in positions of social exclusion. These results demonstrate that unequally excluded social interaction circumstances could cause the amplification of distressed status and anxiety-related emotional alteration. PMID:25680679
Adolescent social competence: effectiveness in a group setting.
Englund, M M; Levy, A K; Hyson, D M; Sroufe, L A
We used a longitudinal data set to evaluate an observational assessment of adolescent competence within a group context. Participants were 40 (21 males, 19 females) ethnically diverse children who had earlier been observed in summer camp (age 10) and preschool (age 4 1/2), as well as in infancy. A revealed differences task was videotaped as part of an intensive weekend camp reunion at ages 15 to 16. Raters, blind to the adolescents' developmental histories, coded each adolescent on the following behavioral rating scales: enjoyment of the task, involvement, leadership, self-confidence in the task, and global social competence. Both concurrent validity (strong correlations with independent camp reunion counselor ratings and peer sociometric measures) and clear associations with antecedent measures of peer competence in preschool and middle childhood were demonstrated. A pattern of correlations revealed considerable discriminate validity. Neither IQ nor socioeconomic status accounted for these associations. Overall, the results confirm the power of a developmentally appropriate, taxing, behaviorally based assessment of group functioning as a measure of competence in adolescence. PMID:11016565
Friending Adolescents on Social Networking Websites: A Feasible Research Tool
Brockman, Libby N.; Christakis, Dimitri A.; Moreno, Megan A.
Objective Social networking sites (SNSs) are increasingly used for research. This paper reports on two studies examining the feasibility of friending adolescents on SNSs for research purposes. Methods Study 1 took place on www.MySpace.com where public profiles belonging to 18-year-old adolescents received a friend request from an unknown physician. Study 2 took place on www.Facebook.com where college freshmen from two US universities, enrolled in an ongoing research study, received a friend request from a known researcher's profile. Acceptance and retention rates of friend requests were calculated for both studies. Results Study 1: 127 participants received a friend request; participants were 18 years-old, 62.2% male and 51.8% Caucasian. 49.6% accepted the friend request. After 9 months, 76% maintained the online friendship, 12.7% defriended the study profile and 11% deactivated their profile. Study 2: 338 participants received a friend request; participants were 18 years-old, 56.5% female and 75.1% Caucasian. 99.7% accepted the friend request. Over 12 months, 3.3% defriended the study profile and 4.1% deactivated their profile. These actions were often temporary; the overall 12-month friendship retention rate was 96.1%. Conclusion Friending adolescents on SNSs is feasible and friending adolescents from a familiar profile may be more effective for maintaining online friendship with research participants over time. PMID:25485226
Accelerating Peer Social Interaction of a Preschool Isolate Through Play.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wishon, Phillip; And Others
Play intervention as an adjunct treatment for accelerating peer social interaction of a preschool isolate was examined. Teacher reinforcement of indoor play equipment utilization was employed as a procedure to increase an asocial four-year-old female subject's social interaction with peers. Touching peers, using peer names, verbalizations,…
Roles of Smartphone App Use in Improving Social Capital and Reducing Social Isolation.
Cho, Jaehee
This study investigated the relationships among smartphone app use, social capital, and social isolation. It focused on two different smartphone apps--communication and social networking site (SNS) apps--and their effects on bonding and bridging social capital. Generational differences in smartphone use were also considered. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that individuals' use of communication apps was helpful for increasing social capital and that this effect of using communication apps was stronger among those of the millennial generation than among older users. Moreover, bonding and bridging social capital was found to reduce individuals' social isolation significantly. These results imply the notable role of smartphone apps in reducing social isolation and improving the personal lives of individuals. PMID:26075923
A study on the social behavior and social isolation of the elderly Korea
Yi, Eun-Surk; Hwang, Hee-Joung
This study aimed at presenting what factors are to predict the social isolation of the elderly as an element to prevent the problem of why various matters related to old people are inevitably taking place by carefully examining the meaning of social isolation and the conditions of social isolation that the South Korean senior citizens go through after working on previous studies. This section discusses the results obtained through document analysis. First, the aspects of the elderly's social isolation arising from the changes of the South Korean society are changes of family relationship, the social structure, the economic structure and the culture. Second, the social isolation and social activity of the elderly are problems (suicide, criminals, dementia, depression and medical costs) of the elderly, change trend of the elderly issues related to social isolation and prediction factors that personal and regional. Lastly, as a role and challenges of the field of rehabilitation exercise aimed at resolving social isolation should be vitalized such as the development and provision of various relationship-building programs. PMID:26171377
A study on the social behavior and social isolation of the elderly Korea.
Yi, Eun-Surk; Hwang, Hee-Joung
This study aimed at presenting what factors are to predict the social isolation of the elderly as an element to prevent the problem of why various matters related to old people are inevitably taking place by carefully examining the meaning of social isolation and the conditions of social isolation that the South Korean senior citizens go through after working on previous studies. This section discusses the results obtained through document analysis. First, the aspects of the elderly's social isolation arising from the changes of the South Korean society are changes of family relationship, the social structure, the economic structure and the culture. Second, the social isolation and social activity of the elderly are problems (suicide, criminals, dementia, depression and medical costs) of the elderly, change trend of the elderly issues related to social isolation and prediction factors that personal and regional. Lastly, as a role and challenges of the field of rehabilitation exercise aimed at resolving social isolation should be vitalized such as the development and provision of various relationship-building programs. PMID:26171377
An Actor-Based Model of Social Network Influence on Adolescent Body Size, Screen Time, and Playing Sports
Shoham, David A.; Tong, Liping; Lamberson, Peter J.; Auchincloss, Amy H.; Zhang, Jun; Dugas, Lara; Kaufman, Jay S.; Cooper, Richard S.; Luke, Amy
Recent studies suggest that obesity may be "contagious" between individuals in social networks. Social contagion (influence), however, may not be identifiable using traditional statistical approaches because they cannot distinguish contagion from homophily (the propensity for individuals to select friends who are similar to themselves) or from shared environmental influences. In this paper, we apply the stochastic actor-based model (SABM) framework developed by Snijders and colleagues to data on adolescent body mass index (BMI), screen time, and playing active sports. Our primary hypothesis was that social influences on adolescent body size and related behaviors are independent of friend selection. Employing the SABM, we simultaneously modeled network dynamics (friendship selection based on homophily and structural characteristics of the network) and social influence. We focused on the 2 largest schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and held the school environment constant by examining the 2 school networks separately (N = 624 and 1151). Results show support in both schools for homophily on BMI, but also for social influence on BMI. There was no evidence of homophily on screen time in either school, while only one of the schools showed homophily on playing active sports. There was, however, evidence of social influence on screen time in one of the schools, and playing active sports in both schools. These results suggest that both homophily and social influence are important in understanding patterns of adolescent obesity. Intervention efforts should take into consideration peers' influence on one another, rather than treating "high risk" adolescents in isolation. PMID:22768124
Social Capital, Savings, and Educational Performance of Orphaned Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ssewamala, Fred M.; Karimli, Leyla; Chang-Keun, Han; Ismayilova, Leyla
We examine the impact of social capital on savings and educational performance of orphaned adolescents participating in a family-level economic strengthening program in Uganda. Findings indicate that if given the opportunity, poor families in Uganda will use financial institutions to save for the education of their adolescent youth. Moreover, although the results are mixed, overall, adolescents with higher levels of social capital and social support, including participation in youth groups, are likely to report better saving performance compared to their counterparts with lower levels of social capital and social support. The results point to: (1) the role for family-economic strengthening programs specifically focused on improving the educational outcomes of orphaned adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, and (2) the need for adolescents to be encouraged to participate in youth groups since these groups seem to offer the much needed supportive informal institutional structure for positive adolescent outcomes. PMID:20948971
Peer emotion socialization and somatic complaints in adolescents.
Parr, Naomi J; Zeman, Janice; Braunstein, Kara; Price, Natalee
Somatic symptoms tend to increase during early adolescence and although youth's social environments and emotional functioning play a role in somatic symptoms, few studies have examined mechanisms through which social interaction could influence youth's somatic wellbeing. Participants were 132 youth (61.6% girls, Mage = 12.61 years, 84.7% Caucasian) and their mothers. Reciprocated best-friend dyads participated in a video-taped problem discussion task to assess peer emotion socialization responses. Two supportive friend responses (i.e., emotion-focused, problem-focused) and two unsupportive responses (i.e., punitive, neglect) were examined. Mothers reported on their child's somatic complaints. Friends who provided emotion-focused, problem-focused, punitive, and neglect responses to their close friend's emotional disclosures had significantly fewer somatic symptoms. However, youth who received punitive responses to their emotional disclosures from their close friends had more somatic complaints. These findings provide initial evidence of a link between emotion socialization responses within close friendships and somatic complaints in early adolescence. PMID:27176784
Social marketing: an underutilized tool for promoting adolescent health.
Bryant, Carol A; Mayer, Alyssa B; McDermott, Robert J; Panzera, Anthony D; Trainor, John K
Social marketing applies some of the same principles used in commercial marketing for the analysis, planning, execution, and evaluation of programs designed to motivate voluntary behavioral change. It relies on consumer research for understanding the people they hope to change, including their values, aspirations, fears, lifestyle, and factors that motivate and deter them from adopting desired behaviors. Social marketing has been applied in public health settings since the 1980s for promoting such behaviors as safer sex, hypertension and cholesterol control, reduced occurrence of alcohol-impaired driving, improved utilization of public health prevention and screening services, and enactment of better school nutrition policies in schools. Although most evidence for social marketing's utility comes from interventions directed at adult audiences, its application with adolescents may help to address issues that have been challenging or unresponsive to health behavior change specialists. This article describes the basic tenets of social marketing as a behavior change process, identifies its previously successful applications with adolescent audience segments, and offers both lessons learned and projected future applications that employ emerging communication technologies. PMID:22423457
Early life overnutrition induced by litter size manipulation decreases social play behavior in adolescent male rats.
Carvalho, Ana Laura O; Ferri, Bárbara G; de Sousa, Francielly A Lopes; Vilela, Fabiana C; Giusti-Paiva, Alexandre
Several studies have investigated the effects of artificial litter size adjustment on offspring development. Social play behavior is important for neurobehavioral development and is impaired in several developmental psychiatric disorders. This study therefore investigated the effect of litter size on play behavior in adolescent rats. On postnatal day (PND) 2, litters were adjusted to a small litter (SL) size of 3 pups per dam or normal litter (NL) size of 12 pups per dam. Maternal behaviors scored daily during the first week of lactation (PND2-8) revealed that arched nursing and pup licking behaviors were increased in dams with SLs versus those with NLs. SL offspring exhibited accelerated weight gain and advanced development of physical landmarks and reflexes, possibly due to overnutrition. Social isolation lasting 3.5h prior to social play behavioral testing produced a higher frequency and duration of pouncing, pinning, sniffing, and grooming in both male and female offspring. However, male SL offspring exhibited a lower frequency of pouncing and pinning when compared with male NL offspring, while no litter size-dependent differences were observed in social behaviors unrelated to play (sniffing and grooming). These findings identify a possible sexually dimorphic influence of litter size in the development of social behavior. Given that social behaviors such as play behavior are vital for normal cognitive and social development, these findings have important implications for developmental and neuropsychiatric research. PMID:27469432
Social barriers faced by adolescent parents and their children.
Spivak, H; Weitzman, M
Pregnancy and childbearing are well recognized as having significant, long-term consequences for teenagers. Recent literature documents an array of negative outcomes for children born to adolescents, with a range of factors identified as contributing to the problems observed in these children. These include (1) the characteristics of those teenagers most likely to become parents, (2) the social and economic consequences of early childbearing, (3) the increased biologic vulnerability of children born to teenagers, and (4) the nature of parenting by teenagers. It has been acknowledged that adolescent parents tend to come from high-risk families, have poor academic achievement, and live in our most disadvantaged communities and therefore, biologic, economic, and behavioral factors contribute to the increased likelihood of teenagers having children who are vulnerable to physical and developmental problems. Teenaged parents face many obstacles to economic and social success, and these further influence the environment in which their children grow up. Adolescents also experience many difficulties in adjusting to parenthood and display a range of suboptimal parenting practices. Whereas some of these factors appear highly resistant to change, others have clear clinical, programmatic, and policy implications. PMID:3625950
Developmental Patterns of Social Trust between Early and Late Adolescence: Age and School Climate Effects
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Flanagan, Constance A.; Stout, Michael
Social trust (i.e., belief that people are generally fair and trustworthy) is important to the functioning of democracies, and trend studies show it has declined. We test hypotheses concerning the development of these beliefs in adolescence. Based on surveys of 1,535 adolescents collected over 2 years, we find that middle and late adolescents had…
Neighborhoods, Social Support, and African American Adolescents' Mental Health Outcomes: A Multilevel Path Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hurd, Noelle M.; Stoddard, Sarah A.; Zimmerman, Marc A.
This study explored how neighborhood characteristics may relate to African American adolescents' internalizing symptoms via adolescents' social support and perceptions of neighborhood cohesion. Participants included 571 urban, African American adolescents (52% female; "M" age = 17.8). A multilevel path analysis testing both direct and indirect…
Social Correlates of Bullying in Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Timmermanis, Victoria; Wiener, Judith
The present study examines the levels and social correlates of bullying in adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Sixty-four male and female participants (40 ADHD) and their parents and teachers complete standardized questionnaires. Compared to adolescents without ADHD, adolescents with ADHD are more likely to report…
Psychological, Behavioral, and Social Characteristics Associated with Early Forced Sexual Intercourse among Pregnant Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lanz, Jean B.
Explored patterns of substance use and sexual behavior among pregnant adolescents under age 18. Data were examined for associations between a history of early forced sexual intercourse and indicators of psychological, behavioral, and social problems during adolescence. Many pregnant adolescents were found to have experienced early forced sexual…
The Meaning of Smoking as Health and Social Risk in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tilleczek, Kate C.; Hine, Donald W.
This investigation describes what smoking means to adolescents, and attempts to better understand it as a rite of passage. Applying a social ontology to an often-individualized issue, interviews were conducted with 20 adolescent smokers between the ages of 13 and 19. Results show that adolescents possess detailed information about the risks of…
Social Support and Self-Esteem among Adolescents with Visual Impairments.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Huurre, Taina Maarit; Komulainen, Erkki Juhani; Aro, Hillevi Marita
The social support and self-esteem of 115 adolescents with visual impairments who attended mainstream Finnish schools, and a control group of 607 classmates were assessed. Self-esteem of the adolescents did not differ; relationships with friends contributed to the enhancement of the self-esteem of the adolescents with visual impairments.…
The Roles of Perceived Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Cohesion, and Social Control in Urban Thai Adolescents' Substance Use and Delinquency.
Byrnes, Hilary F; Miller, Brenda A; Chamratrithirong, Aphichat; Rhucharoenpornpanich, Orratai; Cupp, Pamela K; Atwood, Katharine A; Fongkaew, Warunee; Rosati, Michael J; Chookhare, Warunee
Substance use and delinquency in Thai adolescents are growing public health concerns. Research has linked neighborhood characteristics to these outcomes, with explanations focused on neighborhood disorganization, social cohesion, and social control. This study examines the independent associations of these neighborhood constructs with Thai adolescents' substance use and delinquency, through peer deviance, to determine which neighborhood aspects are particularly important. Families (N=420) with adolescents aged 13-14 were randomly selected from 7 districts in Bangkok, Thailand. Structural equation modeling showed that adolescents', but not parents', perceptions of greater disorganization were related to increased rates of both minor and serious delinquency. Surprisingly, greater neighborhood cohesion was related to greater minor delinquency. Peer deviance was unrelated to neighborhood variables. Findings can inform prevention strategies for Thai adolescents, as results suggest that neighborhoods are important for adolescent behaviors regardless of culture. Further work should help communities make use of social cohesion to benefit residents. PMID:24465060
Depression and the social developmental context of adolescence.
Aseltine, R H; Gore, S; Colten, M E
This article examines the interrelations of personal and social factors in fostering longitudinal patterns of depressive symptoms, using 3 waves of data from high school students in the Boston area. Previously depressed and nondepressed youths differed markedly in their emotional responsiveness to family and friend relations. Chronically depressed youths were unresponsive to family problems, but were highly reactive to peer relations. Among previously asymptomatic youths, family relations exerted greater effects on depressed mood than relations with peers. Further analyses suggest a process through which chronic family turmoil shapes long-term mental health while also intensifying the distancing from family and investment in peer relationships that typically occurs in adolescence. Findings illustrate the importance of modeling transactions between personal and environmental factors in research on adolescent mental health and development. PMID:7932062
Social Anxiety, Acute Social Stress, and Reward Parameters Interact to Predict Risky Decision-Making among Adolescents
Richards, Jessica M.; Patel, Nilam; Daniele, Teresa; MacPherson, Laura; Lejuez, C.W.; Ernst, Monique
Risk-taking behavior increases during adolescence, leading to potentially disastrous consequences. Social anxiety emerges in adolescence and may compound risk-taking propensity, particularly during stress and when reward potential is high. However, the manner in which social anxiety, stress, and reward parameters interact to impact adolescent risk-taking is unclear. To clarify this question, a community sample of 35 adolescents (15 to 18 yo), characterized as having high or low social anxiety, participated in a 2-day study, during each of which they were exposed to either a social stress or a control condition, while performing a risky decision-making task. The task manipulated, orthogonally, reward magnitude and probability across trials. Three findings emerged. First, reward magnitude had a greater impact on the rate of risky decisions in high social anxiety (HSA) than low social anxiety (LSA) adolescents. Second, reaction times (RTs) were similar during the social stress and the control conditions for the HSA group, whereas the LSA group's RTs differed between conditions. Third, HSA adolescents showed the longest RTs on the most negative trials. These findings suggest that risk-taking in adolescents is modulated by context and reward parameters differentially as a function of social anxiety. PMID:25465884
The Outcome of a Social Cognitive Training for Mainstream Adolescents with Social Communication Deficits in a Chinese Community
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Kathy Y. S.; Crooke, Pamela J.; Lui, Aster L. Y.; Kan, Peggy P. K.; Mark, Yuen-mai; van Hasselt, Charles Andrew; Tong, Michael C. F.
The use of cognitive-based strategies for improving social communication behaviours for individuals who have solid language and cognition is an important question. This study investigated the outcome of teaching Social Thinking®, a framework based in social-cognition, to Chinese adolescents with social communication deficits. Thirty-nine students…
Social orientations and adolescent health behaviours in Hungary.
Piko, Bettina F; Skultéti, Dóra; Luszczynska, Aleksandra; Gibbons, Frederick X
Adolescent health behaviours are influenced by a variety of social factors, including social orientations, such as social comparison or competitiveness. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the role that these social orientations might play in health behaviours (both health-impairing and health-promoting). Data were collected from high school students (N = 548; ages 14-20 years; 39.9% males) in two counties of the Southern Plain Region of Hungary. The self-administered questionnaires contained items on sociodemographics, such as age, sex, parental schooling, and socioeconomic status (SES) self-assessment; school achievement, health behaviours, competitiveness and social comparison. Multiple regression analyses suggest that those who scored higher on competitiveness engaged in more substance use, a pattern that was not present for health-promoting behaviours. Social comparison, however, was associated with lower levels of substance use. In addition, in relation to health-impairing behaviours, both competitiveness and social comparison interacted with sex; both social orientation variables proved to be more important for boys. Social comparison also contributed to health-promoting behaviours among boys. Findings support the idea that the role of social orientations, such as competitiveness and social comparison, can be quite different depending on sex and the nature of the health behaviour. While competitiveness may act as a risk factor for substance use among boys, social comparison may act as a protection. It appears that social orientations play less of a role in girls' health-related behaviours. More focus is needed on gender differences in influences on adolescents' health-related behaviours. Les comportements de santé des adolescents sont influencés par une variété de facteurs sociaux, incluant les orientations sociales telles que la comparaison sociale ou la compétitivité. Le but principal de la présente étude était d'examiner le r
Social surrogacy and adjustment: exploring the correlates of having a "social helper" for shy and non-shy young adolescents.
Markovic, Andrea; Bowker, Julie C
A social surrogate is an individual who offers help and comfort in social situations or makes social events more exciting. In this study of 157 young adolescents (55% female; Mage = 13.84 years, SD = 0.75 years), the authors examined whether the linear and curvilinear associations between self-reported social surrogate use and adjustment outcomes (social problems, loneliness, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms) varied as a function of shyness and gender, after accounting for the effects of positive friendship quality. Regression analyses revealed that low and high levels of social surrogate use were related to greater social problems for all adolescents. In addition, shyness emerged as a moderator for several curvilinear effects. Specifically, results indicated that (a) high levels of social surrogate use were associated with greater anxiety for adolescents high in shyness; and (b) low levels of social surrogate use were associated with greater depressive symptoms for adolescents low in shyness. Findings highlight the developmental importance of specific types of relationship experiences during early adolescence and point to different implications of social surrogate use for shy and non-shy young adolescents. PMID:25775369
Background for Community-Level Work on Social Competency in Adolescence: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hair, Elizabeth C.; Jager, Justin; Garrett, Sarah
Because social competency is an important element for adolescents' healthy development, a central question is what can be done to help adolescents achieve and maintain social competency. This report details antecedents of two key aspects of social competency: quality social relationships and good social skills. For each social relationship and…
A social psychologic model of female adolescents' compliance with contraceptives.
DuRant, R H; Jay, M S
A theoretical model is proposed to help the clinician organize the multiple interrelationships between factors that may influence a female adolescent's compliance with her birth control method. 1 variable that has been found to be predictive for compliance in adults that was not included in the model is the quality of the patient-physician relationship. This variable was excluded because the model is a social psychological model that focuses on the attitudes and behavior of the female adolescent. The female adolescent's perception of the quality of her relationship with her health care provider can be accounted for under the component of the model discussing costs of acquiring birth control. A table contains a checklist of information the clinician may want to obtain from a patient to help determine if she may be at risk for noncompliance. Factors that influence contraceptive compliance are reviewed: frequency of sexual intercourse, perceived probability of pregnancy, premarital sexual standards and experiences, intimacy of sexual relationship, physical and emotional development, cognitive assessment of pregnancy, parental and peer support, and personality development. Lindemann and DeLamater argue that frequency of intercourse is the "prime mover" in the process of acquiring and using birth control. As the frequency of coitus increases or decreases, awareness of the possibility will increase or decrease. DeLamater hypothesizes that before assessing that pregnancy may be undesirable and thus initiating contraceptive use to prevent pregnancy, a woman 1st must perceive that she is at significant risk for becoming pregnant. Russ proposes that a major reason that sexually active female adolescents fail to use effective birth control is that they do not fully accept sexual intercourse as morally acceptable for themselves and thus are unable to rationally prepare for it. Rains argues that when a female adolescent initiates sexual activity, she is in a state of moral
Adolescents' Information Behavior When Isolated from Peer Groups: Lessons from New Immigrant Adolescents' Everyday Life Information Seeking
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koo, Joung Hwa
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how isolated immigrant adolescents seek and use necessary information when they are not able to use significant information sources--their peer groups--in the period of transition before new peer groups are established. Method: To achieve the study's purpose, sixteen recently arrived (three…
Adolescent Problematic Social Networking and School Experiences: The Mediating Effects of Sleep Disruptions and Sleep Quality.
Vernon, Lynette; Barber, Bonnie L; Modecki, Kathryn L
An important developmental task for adolescents is to become increasingly responsible for their own health behaviors. Establishing healthy sleep routines and controlling media use before bedtime are important for adequate, quality sleep so adolescents are alert during the day and perform well at school. Despite the prevalence of adolescent social media use and the large percentage of computers and cell phones in adolescents' bedrooms, no studies to date have investigated the link between problematic adolescent investment in social networking, their sleep practices, and associated experiences at school. A sample of 1,886 students in Australia aged between 12 and 18 years of age completed self-report data on problematic social networking use, sleep disturbances, sleep quality, and school satisfaction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) substantiated the serial mediation hypothesis: for adolescents, problematic social networking use significantly increased sleep disturbances, which adversely affected perceptions of sleep quality that, in turn, lowered adolescents' appraisals of their school satisfaction. This significant pattern was largely driven by the indirect effect of sleep disturbances. These findings suggest that adolescents are vulnerable to negative consequences from social networking use. Specifically, problematic social networking is associated with poor school experiences, which result from poor sleep habits. Promoting better sleep routines by minimizing sleep disturbances from social media use could improve school experiences for adolescents with enhanced emotional engagement and improved subjective well-being. PMID:26167837
Physical and Social Contexts of Physical Activities Among Adolescent Girls
Kuo, JoAnn; Schmitz, Kathryn H.; Evenson, Kelly R.; McKenzie, Thomas L.; Jobe, Jared B.; Rung, Ariane L.; Gittelsohn, Joel; Pate, Russell R.
Background With limited opportunities for physical activity during school hours, it is important to understand the contexts of physical activities done outside of school time. Given the importance of physical and social aspects of environments, the purpose of this study was to describe where and with whom girls participate in physical activities outside of school. Methods Participants were 1925 sixth-grade girls in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG). At baseline, they completed a 3-day physical activity recall (3DPAR), reporting the main activity performed during 30-minute intervals and the physical and social contexts of physical activities. Results The most frequently reported physical activities done outside of school time were house chores, walking (for transportation or exercise), dance, basketball, playing with younger children, and running or jogging. The most common location for these activities was at home or in the neighborhood. With the exception of household chores, these activities were typically done with at least one other person. Conclusions Interventions that promote physical activities that can be done at or around home or developing supportive social networks for physical activity would be consistent with the current physical activity contexts of adolescent girls. PMID:19420391
Parental emotion socialization in clinically depressed adolescents: Enhancing, and dampening positive affect
Katz, Lynn Fainsilber; Shortt, Joann Wu; Allen, Nicholas B.; Davis, Betsy; Hunter, Erin; Leve, Craig; Sheeber, Lisa
This study compared parental socialization of adolescent positive affect in families of depressed and healthy adolescents. Participants were 107 adolescents (42 boys) aged 14 - 18 years and their parents. Half of the participants met criteria for major depressive disorder and the others were demographically matched adolescents without emotional or behavioral disorders. Results based on multi-source questionnaire and interview data indicated that mothers and fathers of depressed adolescents were less accepting of adolescents' positive affect and more likely to use strategies that dampen adolescents' positive affect than were parents of healthy adolescents. Additionally, fathers of depressed adolescents exhibited fewer responses likely to enhance the adolescents' positive affect than were fathers of healthy adolescents. These findings build on those of previous work in examining parental responses to adolescent emotions, focusing on positive emotions and including both mothers and fathers. PMID:23942826
Violence, Older Peers, and the Socialization of Adolescent Boys in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
Harding, David J.
Most theoretical perspectives on neighborhood effects on youth assume that neighborhood context serves as a source of socialization, but the exact sources and processes underlying adolescent socialization in disadvantaged neighborhoods are largely unspecified and unelaborated. This paper proposes that cross-cohort socialization by older neighborhood peers is one source of socialization for adolescent boys in such neighborhoods. Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey suggest that adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to spend time with older individuals. Qualitative interview data from 60 adolescent boys in three neighborhoods in Boston are analyzed to understand the causes and consequences of these interactions and relationships. I find that some of the strategies these adolescents employ to cope with violence in disadvantaged neighborhoods promote interaction with older peers, particularly those who are most disadvantaged, and that such interactions can expose adolescents to local, "unconventional," or "alternative" cultural models. PMID:20161350
Social identity and violence among immigrant adolescents.
Mesch, Gustavo S; Turjeman, Hagit; Fishman, Gideon
Whereas traditional criminological theories treat juvenile delinquency largely as a reactive and expressive behavior that only seldom leads to specialized criminal offending or a criminal career, this article proposes an alternative classification of offenses that accounts for the difference between youthful reactive conduct and specialized criminality. It examines the effect of immigration on delinquency among juvenile Russians in Israel. In contrast to previous work that has examined the criminogenic effect of immigration without differentiating specific types of delinquency, this study investigates the immigration effect on eclectic as well as specialized delinquency. Based on survey data from face-to-face interviews with 910 immigrant youths from the former Soviet Union in Israel, the study finds important results regarding the integration of juvenile immigrants in modern societies. In contrast to the assumption that assimilation in multicultural societies represents a safe way for social adaptation and to prevent specific kinds of violent behavior, the authors find empirical support for a more sophisticated approach. Furthermore, the results underline the importance in differentiating between distinct forms of violence. PMID:18855327
Assessing adolescent social competence using the Social Responsiveness Scale: should we ask both parents or will just one do?
Pearl, Amanda M; Murray, Michael J; Smith, Laura A; Arnold, Mariah
There is a paucity of instruments designed to measure social competence of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. The Social Responsiveness Scale is one of a few that can be used. This study compared differences between mother and father reports of social competence of adolescents. Data were collected from parents of 50 adolescents with and without an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis between the ages of 12 and 17 years. The Social Responsiveness Scale demonstrated high interrater reliability between parents. These results suggest that the Social Responsiveness Scale is an efficient and valuable tool for researchers and clinicians to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of an individual's social skills deficits. Additionally, given the extremely high agreement between mothers and fathers on the ratings of their children's social competence, obtaining data from either parent is sufficient to provide an accurate reflection of social competence at home. PMID:22914777
Mother-adolescent relationship quality as a moderator of associations between racial socialization and adolescent psychological adjustment.
Lambert, Sharon F; Roche, Kathleen M; Saleem, Farzana T; Henry, Jessica S
Parents' racial socialization messages, including messages focused on awareness, preparation, and strategies for managing racial discrimination, are necessary to help African American youth successfully navigate their daily lives. However, mixed findings regarding the utility of preparation for bias messages for African American youth's mental health adjustment raise questions about the conditions under which these protective racial socialization messages are most beneficial to African American youth. The current study examined the degree to which communication and trust as well as anger and alienation in the mother-adolescent relationship moderated associations between 2 types of preparation for bias messages, cultural alertness to discrimination and cultural coping with antagonism, and adolescent mental health. Participants were 106 African American adolescents (57% female; mean age = 15.41) who reported about their receipt of racial socialization messages, mother-adolescent relationship quality, and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that positive associations between cultural alertness to racial discrimination and youth depressive symptoms were weaker for boys in the context of higher mother-adolescent communication and trust; communication and trust were not similarly protective for girls. For boys, the positive associations between cultural coping with antagonism messages and depressive symptoms were stronger in the context of high anger and alienation in the mother-adolescent relationship. Findings suggest that qualities of the mother-adolescent relationship, in which preparation for bias messages are delivered, are important for understanding the mental health adjustment of African American adolescents. PMID:26460701
Selection and Socialization Effects in Early Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Propensity Score Analysis.
Scalco, Matthew D; Trucco, Elisa M; Coffman, Donna L; Colder, Craig R
The robust correlation between peer and adolescent alcohol use (AU) has been taken as evidence for both socialization and selection processes in the etiology of adolescent AU. Accumulating evidence from studies using a diverse range of methodological and statistical approaches suggests that both processes are involved. A major challenge in testing whether peer AU predicts an adolescent's drinking (socialization) or whether an adolescent's drinking predicts peer AU (selection) is the myriad of potentially confounding factors that might lead to an overestimation of socialization and selection effects. After creating AU transition groups based on peer and adolescent AU across two waves (N = 765; age = 10-15; 53% female), we test whether transitions into AU by adolescents and peers predict later peer and adolescent AU respectively, using (1) propensity score analysis to balance transition groups on 26 potential confounds, (2) a longitudinal design with three waves to establish temporal precedence, and (3) both adolescent (target) and peer self-report of peer AU to disentangle effects attributable to shared reporter bias. Both selection and socialization were supported using both peer self-report of AU and adolescent-report of peer AU. Although cross-sectional analyses suggested peer self-reported models were associated with smaller effects than perceived peer AU, longitudinal analyses suggest a similar sized effect across reporter of peer AU for both selection and socialization. The implications of these findings for the etiology and treatment of adolescent AU are discussed. PMID:25601099
Selection and Socialization Effects in Early Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Propensity Score Analysis
Scalco, Matthew D.; Trucco, Elisa M.; Coffman, Donna L.; Colder, Craig R.
The robust correlation between peer and adolescent alcohol use (AU) has been taken as evidence for both socialization and selection processes in the etiology of adolescent AU. Accumulating evidence from studies using a diverse range of methodological and statistical approaches suggests that both processes are involved. A major challenge in testing whether peer AU predicts an adolescent's drinking (socialization) or whether an adolescent's drinking predicts peer AU (selection) is the myriad of potentially confounding factors that might lead to an overestimation of socialization and selection effects. After creating AU transition groups based on peer and adolescent AU across two waves (N = 765; age = 10-15; 53% female), we test whether transitions into AU by adolescents and peers predict later peer and adolescent AU respectively, using (1) propensity score analysis to balance transition groups on 26 potential confounds, (2) a longitudinal design with three waves to establish temporal precedence, and (3) both adolescent (target) and peer self-report of peer AU to disentangle effects attributable to shared reporter bias. Both selection and socialization were supported using both peer self-report of AU and adolescent-report of peer AU. Although cross-sectional analyses suggested peer self-reported models were associated with smaller effects than perceived peer AU, longitudinal analyses suggest a similar sized effect across reporter of peer AU for both selection and socialization. The implications of these findings for the etiology and treatment of adolescent AU are discussed. PMID:25601099
Adolescents' Construction of Social Reality: The Impact of Television and Peers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peterson, Gary W.; Peters, David F.
Draws upon ideas about "television effects" and the adolescent peer group to illustrate how interconnections between these two socializing agents contribute to the adolescent's "construction of social reality." Examines how gender, sexual, consumer, and occupational roles as enacted by teenagers are a product of media and peer group influences.…
The LD Adolescent at Risk: Developmental Tasks, Social Competence, and Communication Effectiveness.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jackson, Moss A.
Key developmental tasks of adolescence and the unique problems that face the learning-disabled adolescent are outlined, focusing on the role of social competency and communication effectiveness. Components of a comprehensive social competency training program include the nature of the learning disability, the affective-defensive pattern, adaptive…
Social Information Processing as a Mediator between Cognitive Schemas and Aggressive Behavior in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Calvete, Esther; Orue, Izaskun
This longitudinal investigation assessed whether cognitive schemas of justification of violence, mistrust, and narcissism predicted social information processing (SIP), and SIP in turn predicted aggressive behavior in adolescents. A total of 650 adolescents completed measures of cognitive schemas at Time 1, SIP in ambiguous social scenarios at…
Promoting Social Competence and Peer Relationships for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carter, Erik W.; Common, Eric A.; Sreckovic, Melissa A.; Huber, Heartley B.; Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; Gustafson, Jenny Redding; Dykstra, Jessica; Hume, Kara
This article addresses some of the key considerations and complexities associated with intervening to address social competence and peer relationships of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in middle and high school settings. First, we provide a brief overview of the social context during adolescence for all students. Next, we…
Relations between Media, Perceived Social Support and Personal Well-Being in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sarriera, Jorge Castella; Abs, Daniel; Casas, Ferran; Bedin, Livia Maria
This paper's main objective is to show relations between interest in media, perceived social support and adolescents' personal well-being. For this purpose, 1,589 Brazilian adolescents answered a questionnaire containing Cummins' Personal Well-Being, Vaux's Social Support Appraisals and Casas' interest in media scales. The media in study are: The…
Peer Group and Friend Influences on the Social Acceptability of Adolescent Book Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Merga, Margaret K.
Increasing recreational reading is a priority in a climate of growing adolescent aliteracy. Raising the social appeal of books has been identified as one potential avenue for arresting this trend. An understanding of the current social acceptability of book reading amongst contemporary adolescents is important in informing an effective approach to…
Why Are Socially Anxious Adolescents Rejected by Peers? The Role of Subject-Group Similarity Characteristics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blote, Anke W.; Bokhorst, Caroline L.; Miers, Anne C.; Westenberg, P. Michiel
This study addressed the role of actual and perceived similarity in peer rejection of socially anxious adolescents. Videotapes of 20 high and 20 low socially anxious adolescents (13-17 years old) giving a speech were rated by groups of unfamiliar peers with regard to perceived similarity and desire for future interaction (lower scores indicating…
Virtual Friendships and Social Distress among Adolescents with and without Learning Disabilities: The Subtyping Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sharabi, Adi; Margalit, Malka
Many adolescents spend time online, communicating with friends, family members and strangers, and these social activities have been often related with their loneliness experience. The goals of this study were to examine the social distress expressed by adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD) and to distinguish between unique…
HIV-Affected Children and Adolescents: What School Social Workers Should Know.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gilbert, Dorie J.
Provides an overview of issues facing HIV-affected children and adolescents and aims to help school social workers become better equipped to recognize the secondary effects of the AIDS epidemic among HIV-affected children. Concludes with recommendations for addressing the needs of HIV-affected children and adolescents through school social work.…
Social Contagion, Adolescent Sexual Behavior, and Pregnancy: A Nonlinear Dynamic EMOSA Model.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rodgers, Joseph Lee; Rowe, David C.; Buster, Maury
Expands an existing nonlinear dynamic epidemic model of onset of social activities (EMOSA), motivated by social contagion theory, to quantify the likelihood of pregnancy for adolescent girls of different sexuality statuses. Compares five sexuality/pregnancy models to explain variance in national prevalence curves. Finds that adolescent girls have…
Interactive Effect of Substance Abuse and Depression on Adolescent Social Competence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Becker, Sara J.; Curry, John F.
This study explored the interactive effect of substance abuse and depression on social competence among 106 adolescent inpatients (57% female, 86% Caucasian). Substance abuse and depression were conceptualized using dimensional ratings of illness severity based on adolescent interviews, whereas social competence was conceptualized using parent…
The Effects of Assertiveness Training on Enhancing the Social Skills of Adolescents with Visual Impairments.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kim, Young-il
A study of the effects of assertiveness training to enhance the social/assertiveness skills of 36 adolescents with visual impairments found that parents, the students, teachers, and observers judged the adolescents' social skills differently. However, the training did have some specific effect on increasing assertiveness. (Contains references.)…
"Bad Things Could Happen": How Fear Impedes Social Responsibility in Privileged Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seider, Scott
In this study, I compared the shifts in attitude of affluent high school seniors participating in a course on social justice issues to a control group of similar adolescents. In this course, participating adolescents learned about social justice issues such as homelessness, poverty, world hunger, and illegal immigration. An analysis of presurvey…
Neurocognitive and Temperamental Systems of Self-Regulation and Early Adolescents' Social and Academic Outcomes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Checa, Purificacion; Rodriguez-Bailon, Rosa; Rueda, M. Rosario
The aim of the current study was to examine the role of individual differences in neurocognitive and temperamental systems of self-regulation in early adolescents' social and academic competence. Measures used in the study included the Attention Network Test, the Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire, a peer-reported Social Status…
Social Support as Predictor of Psychopathology in the Adolescent Offspring of Psychiatric Patients
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hoefnagels, Cees; Meesters, Cor; Simenon, Joke
The potential role of social support for the adolescent offspring of psychiatric patients has hitherto not been examined. We examined whether the adolescent's level of psychiatric symptoms is dependent on the content and the function of social support (whether direct or moderating), controlling for perceived stress. In a cross-sectional design, 40…
The Play Factor: Effect of Social Skills Group Play Therapy on Adolescent African-American Males
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Earls, Melissa K.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Social Skills Group Play Therapy on remedying the social skills deficits of adolescent African-American males. Additionally, the study investigated whether age and grade level impacted the outcome of the intervention. The participants were adolescent African-American males ages 10 to…
Social Skills Training for Adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome Using a Consultation Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Minihan, Aileen; Kinsella, William; Honan, Rita
A case study design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioural consultation as a method for improving the social skills of adolescents with Asperger's syndrome. Two case studies were conducted. In each study, two teachers implemented a social skills programme with two to three adolescents with Asperger's syndrome in a group setting with…
Interpersonal Identity and Social Capital: The Importance of Commitment for Low Income, Rural, African American Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kerpelman, Jennifer; White, Lloyd
Social capital may be particularly important for the well-being and future opportunities of African American adolescents living in low income families. In this study, linkages between interpersonal identity formation and adolescents' perceptions of social capital quality were examined in a cross-sectional study of 374 low income, rural, African…
Pilot Study of Community-Based Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Adolescents with Social Phobia.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baer, Susan; Garland, E. Jane
Objective: A pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral group therapy program for adolescents with social phobia, simplified both in terms of time and labor intensity from a previously studied program (Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children and Adolescents) to be more appropriate for a community outpatient psychiatric…
The social isolation of young men with quadriplegia.
Blake, K
This article describes the results of a study undertaken to identify perceptions of possible social isolation among individuals who become quadriplegic as young adults. Two focus group sessions were held with 4 male participants in each group. All the young men were between the ages of 19 years and 35 years, and all had been disabled for more than 3 years. The results showed that the participants felt challenged by the environment and their resources but did not experience the feelings associated with social isolation as defined by Goffman (1963). The participants, however, identified important socially isolating stressors based on the human needs described by Maslow (1970) as existing in a hierarchy. The results of the study suggest that people with disabilities need interpersonal techniques that enable them to feel a sense of security and control of their time; rehabilitation nurses are ideally suited to assist clients in developing such techniques. PMID:7855409
Racial Barrier Socialization and the Well-being of African American Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality.
Cooper, Shauna M; McLoyd, Vonnie C
Racial socialization has been suggested as an important factor in helping African American adolescents cope effectively with racism and discrimination. Although multiple studies have reported a positive link between racial pride socialization and psychological adjustment among African American youth, assessments of the association between adolescent adjustment and another dimension of racial socialization-racial barrier socialization-have yielded inconsistent findings. Using a sample of 190 African American adolescents, the present study focuses attention on the quality of mother-adolescent relations as an indicator of affective context, and examines its moderating influence on the association between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment. Regression analyses indicated that the link between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment is moderated by mother-adolescent relationship quality. However, these associations varied by gender. PMID:23152648
Development of neural systems for processing social exclusion from childhood to adolescence.
Bolling, Danielle Z; Pitskel, Naomi B; Deen, Ben; Crowley, Michael J; Mayes, Linda C; Pelphrey, Kevin A
Adolescence is a period of development in which peer relationships become especially important. A computer-based game (Cyberball) has been used to explore the effects of social exclusion in adolescents and adults. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study used Cyberball to extend prior work to the cross-sectional study of younger children and adolescents (7 to 17 years), identifying age-related changes in the neural correlates of social exclusion across the important transition from middle childhood into adolescence. Additionally, a control task illustrated the specificity of these age-related changes for social exclusion as distinct from expectancy violation more generally. During exclusion, activation in and functional connectivity between ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and ventral anterior cingulate cortex increased with age. These effects were specific to social exclusion and did not exist for expectancy violation. Our results illustrate developmental changes from middle childhood through adolescence in both affective and regulatory brain regions during social exclusion. PMID:22010901
Social networking technology, social network composition, and reductions in substance use among homeless adolescents.
Rice, Eric; Milburn, Norweeta G; Monro, William
Peer-based prevention programs for homeless youth are complicated by the potential for reinforcing high-risk behaviors among participants. The goal of this study is to understand how homeless youth could be linked to positive peers in prevention programming by understanding where in social and physical space positive peers for homeless youth are located, how these ties are associated with substance use, and the role of social networking technologies (e.g., internet and cell phones) in this process. Personal social network data were collected from 136 homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA. Respondents reported on composition of their social networks with respect to: home-based peers and parents (accessed via social networking technology; e.g., the internet, cell phone, texting), homeless peers and agency staff (accessed face-to-face) and whether or not network members were substance-using or non-substance-using. Associations between respondent's lifetime cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine use and recent (previous 30 days) alcohol and marijuana use were assessed by the number of non-substance-using versus substance-using ties in multivariate linear regression models. 43% of adolescents reported a non-substance-using home-based tie. More of these ties were associated with less recent alcohol use. 62% of adolescents reported a substance-using homeless tie. More of these ties were associated with more recent marijuana use as well as more lifetime heroin and methamphetamine use. For homeless youth, who are physically disconnected from positive peers, social networking technologies can be used to facilitate the sorts of positive social ties that effective peer-based prevention programs require. PMID:21194011
Adolescents' presentation of food in social media: An explorative study.
Holmberg, Christopher; E Chaplin, John; Hillman, Thomas; Berg, Christina
The study aimed to explore how adolescents communicate food images in a widely used social media image-sharing application. We examined how and in what context food was presented and the type of food items that were frequently portrayed by following a youth related hashtag on Instagram. The hashtag #14år ("14 years") was used to find adolescent users on Instagram: these users public photo streams were then searched for food items they had shared with others. Food items were identified and categorized based on type of food and how the food items were presented. Most of the adolescent users (85%) shared images containing food items. A majority of the images (67.7%) depicted foods high in calories but low in nutrients. Almost half of these images were arranged as a still life with food brand names clearly exposed. Many of these images were influenced by major food marketing campaigns. Fruits and vegetables occurred in 21.8% of all images. This food group was frequently portrayed zoomed in with focus solely on the food, with a hashtag or caption expressing palatability. These images were often presented in the style of a cook book. Food was thus presented in varied ways. Adolescents themselves produced images copying food advertisements. This has clear health promotion implications since it becomes more challenging to monitor and tackle young people's exposure to marketing of unhealthy foods in these popular online networks because images are part of a lifestyle that the young people want to promote. Shared images contain personal recommendations, which mean that they may have a more powerful effect than commercial advertising. PMID:26792765
Health inequality in adolescence. Does stratification occur by familial social background, family affluence, or personal social position?
LK, Koivusilta; AH, Rimpelä; SM, Kautiainen
Background Two new sets of stratification indicators – family's material affluence and adolescent's personal social position- were compared with traditional indicators of familial social position based on parental occupation and education for their ability to detect health inequality among adolescents. Methods Survey data were collected in the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey in 2003 from nationally representative samples of 12-, 14- and 16-year-old Finns (number of respondents 5394, response rate 71%). Indicators of the familial social position were father's socio-economic status, parents' education, parents' labour market position. Indicators of material affluence were number of cars, vacation travels, and computers in the family, own room and amount of weekly spending money. Adolescent's personal social position was measured as school performance. Measures of health were long-standing illness, overweight, use of mental health services, poor self-rated health and number of weekly health complaints. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was applied to study the associations between stratification indicators and health variables. Results All three groups of indicators of social stratification showed inequality in health, but the strongest associations were observed with the adolescent's personal social position. Health inequality was only partly identifiable by the traditional indicators of familial social position. The direction of the inequality was as expected when using the traditional indicators or personal social position: adolescents from higher social positions were healthier than those from lower positions. The indicators of family's material affluence showed mainly weak or no association with health and some of the indicators were inversely associated, although weakly. Conclusion In addition to traditional indicators describing the socio-structural influences on the distribution of health among adolescents, indicators of family's material affluence
Identity formation and social relations during late adolescence.
Craig-Bray, L; Adams, G R; Dobson, W R
Theoretical assumptions outlined by Erik Erikson on psychosocial crisis resolution hypothesizes that the positive resolution of the identity crisis is predictive of more mature intimacy formation. To test this hypothesis, college-aged late adolescents (48 subjects) completed interviews and selfreport instruments measuring identity formation and degree of intimacy along with daily records of social interactions for one week. Analyses indicated a complex association between identity and intimacy formation. Comparisons were made between the exploration and commitment process of identity and the measures of intimacy formation and social interaction measures. Numerous complex sex differences were observed with several interactions between gender, exploration, commitment, and intimacy context. Findings are discussed in terms of broadening future research direction beyond the simple study of the linkage of identity and intimacy. PMID:24277583
Social, Behavioral, and Genetic Linkages from Adolescence Into Adulthood
Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker; Hussey, Jon; Whitsel, Eric A.; Tabor, Joyce; Elder, Glen; Hewitt, John; Shanahan, Michael; Williams, Redford; Siegler, Ilene; Smolen, Andrew
The influence of genetic factors on health and behavior is conditioned by social, cultural, institutional, and physical environments in which individuals live, work, and play. We encourage studies supporting multilevel integrative approaches to understanding these contributions to health, and describe the Add Health study as an exemplar. Add Health is a large sample of US adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in 1994–1995 followed into adulthood with 4 in-home interviews and biomarker collections, including DNA. In addition to sampling multiple environments and measuring diverse social and health behavior, Add Health features a fully articulated behavioral genetic sample (3000 pairs) and ongoing genotyping of 12 000 archived samples. We illustrate approaches to understanding health through investigation of the interplay among biological, psychosocial, and physical, contextual, or cultural experiences. PMID:23927505
Social, behavioral, and genetic linkages from adolescence into adulthood.
Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker; Hussey, Jon; Whitsel, Eric A; Killeya-Jones, Ley; Tabor, Joyce; Elder, Glen; Hewitt, John; Shanahan, Michael; Williams, Redford; Siegler, Ilene; Smolen, Andrew
The influence of genetic factors on health and behavior is conditioned by social, cultural, institutional, and physical environments in which individuals live, work, and play. We encourage studies supporting multilevel integrative approaches to understanding these contributions to health, and describe the Add Health study as an exemplar. Add Health is a large sample of US adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in 1994-1995 followed into adulthood with 4 in-home interviews and biomarker collections, including DNA. In addition to sampling multiple environments and measuring diverse social and health behavior, Add Health features a fully articulated behavioral genetic sample (3000 pairs) and ongoing genotyping of 12,000 archived samples. We illustrate approaches to understanding health through investigation of the interplay among biological, psychosocial, and physical, contextual, or cultural experiences. PMID:23927505
Social isolation increases social display after priming in Betta splendens but decreases aggressive readiness.
Halperin, J R; Dunham, D W; Ye, S
We socially isolated adult, male Siamese fighting fish for 0 to 7 weeks but avoided sensory deprivation, and then measured aggressive display as the fish responded to a series of novel models. Isolates displayed much more strongly than non-isolates to the last model of the series, and display intensity became monotonically stronger with longer social isolation. By contrast, display to the first model seen after isolation was weaker the longer the social isolation. A second experiment compared responses of fish after three weeks during which controls displayed to a conspecific for two minutes every two days, while isolates saw a complex visual stimulus which did not release display. Again, isolates had depressed display readiness, but higher display rates once they were primed. This result supports the hypothesis that social isolation has two effects on aggressive display in Betta, causing decreasing readiness to display, but leading to greater display rates once fish are 'primed'. We discuss two models which predict these phenomena, and show that one of them suggests a new understanding of the function of motivational increases when aggression is 'dammed up'. Methodological issues relevant for examining the rodent behavior literature in the light of the new model are discussed. PMID:24924788
Role models and social supports related to adolescent physical activity and overweight/obesity.
Babey, Susan H; Wolstein, Joelle; Diamant, Allison L
Positive role models, social and community activities, and school support are protective social factors that promote youth health and well-being. Latino, African-American, Asian, multi-racial, and low-income adolescents are less likely to experience these protective social factors compared to other groups, which may contribute to health disparities. Adolescents who identify a role model, volunteer, participate in organizations outside of school, or experience high levels of teacher or other adult support at school engage in greater physical activity and are more likely to have a healthy weight. Strategies to increase these protective social factors among adolescents could help promote healthy weight and healthy behaviors. PMID:26248387
Adolescent's perception of peer substance use in relation to social relationship and the neighbourhood social capital.
Kowalewska, Anna; Mazur, Joanna
The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between the perception of selected peer behaviours, social relationships and the neighbourhood social capital among 15-year-old adolescents in Poland. Research was carried out in 2010 as part of a successive series of the HBSC international studies on health behaviours in school-aged children (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: AWHO Collaborative Cross-national Study). 1551 students in the third grade of junior high schools were surveyed (762 boys and 789 girls). The standard, international, anonymous HBSC questionnaire was used in the surveys. In the analyses the scales for perception of male and female risky peer behaviours, the scales for communication with peers as well as the scales of confidence in friends, social competences and the social capital were used. It was found that the perception among respondents of their male and female friends as individuals engaging in risky behaviours (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, getting drunk) was widespread. Almost 40% of respondents claimed that all or most of their friends smoked cigarettes; one in two respondents was of the opinion that they drank alcohol; and one in ten that they get drunk. In the analyses comprising linear regression it was demonstrated that as the intensity of risky peer behaviours increases, selected social relationships deteriorate; this particularly applies to the general assessment of social capital. With regard to preventive measures aimed at counteracting risky behaviours among adolescents more attention should be paid to compliance with the provisions of law on tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption by minors among private individuals as well as those professionally dealing with law enforcement. An important task is also to raise the awareness of adolescents and adults of the relationship between young people engaging in risky behaviours and declining confidence in individuals and formal and informal institutions. PMID
School Social Fragmentation, Economic Deprivation and Social Cohesion and Adolescent Physical Inactivity: A Longitudinal Study
Pabayo, Roman; Janosz, Michel; Bisset, Sherri; Kawachi, Ichiro
Objectives To examine the independent influence of school economic deprivation, social fragmentation, and social cohesion on the likelihood of participating in no physical activity among students. Methods Data are from a large-scale longitudinal study of schools based in disadvantaged communities in Quebec, Canada. Questionnaires were administered every year between 2002 and 2008 among n = 14,924 students aged 12 to 18 from a sample of 70 schools. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted. Multilevel modeling was utilized to account for the clustering of students within schools. Schools were categorized as being low, moderate or high economic deprivation, social fragmentation and social cohesion. Those who indicated that they do no participate in any physical activity during the week were identified as being physically inactive. Results In baseline multilevel cross-sectional analyses, adolescents attending schools in the highest (compared to the lowest) levels of socioeconomic deprivation and social fragmentation were more likely to be physically inactive (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.72; and OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 0.98, 1.56, respectively). Conversely, students attending schools with the highest cohesion were less likely to be physically inactive (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.61, 0.99). In longitudinal analysis, physically active students who attended schools with the highest social fragmentation were more likely to become physically inactive over two years (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.09, 2.51). Conclusion The school socioeconomic environment appears to be an important contextual influence on participation in no physical activity among adolescents. Following adolescents beyond two years is necessary to determine if these environments have a lasting effect on physical activity behavior. PMID:24932679
Skills for Social and Academic Success: A School-Based Intervention for Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fisher, Paige H.; Masia-Warner, Carrie; Klein, Rachel G.
This paper describes Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS), a cognitive-behavioral, school-based intervention for adolescents with social anxiety disorder. Clinic-based treatment studies for socially anxious youth are reviewed, and a strong rationale for transporting empirically-based interventions into schools, such as SASS, is provided.…
Becoming Who We Are: A Theoretical Explanation of Gendered Social Structures and Social Networks that Shape Adolescent Interpersonal Aggression
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Paige Hall; White, Jacquelyn W.; Moracco, Kathryn E.
A conceptualization of gendered interpersonal aggression that is grounded in the social ecological framework is presented to explicate factors in adolescents' gendered environments that give rise to aggression and victimization. The focus is on gendered social structures and social networks. Our framework for prevention suggests that violence…
The Peer Context of Adolescent Substance Use: Findings from Social Network Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ennett, Susan T.; Bauman, Karl E.; Hussong, Andrea; Faris, Robert; Foshee, Vangie A.; Cai, Li; DuRant, Robert H.
To examine the peer context of adolescent substance use, social network analysis was used to measure three domains of attributes of peer networks: social embeddedness, social status, and social proximity to substance users. The sample was a panel of 5,104 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in three public school systems surveyed every 6 months for…
Social Anxiety and Peer Relations in Early Adolescence: Behavioral and Cognitive Factors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Erath, Stephen A.; Flanagan, Kelly S.; Bierman, Karen L.
This study investigated factors associated with social anxiety during early adolescence using multiple informants, including self and peer perspectives, teacher ratings, and direct observations. Negative social performance expectations, maladaptive coping strategies, and social skill deficits were examined as correlates of social anxiety and…
Evidence-Based Social Skills Training for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The UCLA PEERS Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Laugeson, Elizabeth A.; Frankel, Fred; Gantman, Alexander; Dillon, Ashley R.; Mogil, Catherine
The present study examines the efficacy and durability of the PEERS Program, a parent-assisted social skills group intervention for high-functioning adolescents with ASD. Results indicate that teens receiving PEERS significantly improved their social skills knowledge, social responsiveness, and overall social skills in the areas of social…
Social Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents in Relation to Perceived Competence and Situational Appraisal.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smari, Jakob; Petursdottir, Guolaug; Porsteindottir, Vin
Questionnaires, as well as an inventory of cost and likelihood appraisal of negative social and non-social events, were filled in by 184 adolescents. It was expected, and supported by the results, that social anxiety would be related to low perceived social competence and threat appraisal, whereas depression would be related to more general…
Gender Minority Social Stress in Adolescence: Disparities in Adolescent Bullying and Substance Use by Gender Identity
Reisner, Sari L.; Greytak, Emily A.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.; Ybarra, Michele
Bullying and substance use represent serious public health issues facing adolescents in the U.S. Few large-sample national studies have examined differences in these indicators by gender identity. The Teen Health and Technology Study (N=5,542) sampled adolescents 13–18 years-old online. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models investigated disparities in substance use and tested a gender minority social stress hypothesis, comparing gender minority youth (i.e., who are transgender/gender nonconforming and have a gender different from their sex assigned at birth) and cisgender (i.e., whose gender identity or expression matches one's sex assigned at birth). Overall, 11.5% of youth self-identified as gender minority. Gender minority youth had increased odds of past-12 month alcohol use, marijuana use, and non-marijuana illicit drug use. Gender minority youth disproportionately experienced bullying and harassment in the past 12 months, and this victimization was associated with increased odds of all substance use indicators. Bullying mediated the elevated odds of substance use for gender minority youth compared to cisgender adolescents. Findings support the use of gender minority stress perspectives in designing early interventions aimed at addressing the negative health sequelae of bullying and harassment. PMID:24742006
Mexican-origin Early Adolescents' Ethnic Socialization, Ethnic Identity, and Psychosocial Functioning.
Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J; O'Donnell, Megan; Knight, George P; Roosa, Mark W; Berkel, Cady; Nair, Rajni
The current study examined how parental ethnic socialization informed adolescents' ethnic identity development and, in turn, youths' psychosocial functioning (i.e., mental health, social competence, academic efficacy, externalizing behaviors) among 749 Mexican-origin families. In addition, school ethnic composition was examined as a moderator of these associations. Findings indicated that mothers' and fathers' ethnic socialization were significant longitudinal predictors of adolescents' ethnic identity, although fathers' ethnic socialization interacted significantly with youths' school ethnic composition in 5(th) grade to influence ethnic identity in 7(th) grade. Furthermore, adolescents' ethnic identity was significantly associated with increased academic self-efficacy and social competence, and decreased depressive symptoms and externalizing behaviors. Findings support theoretical predictions regarding the central role parents play in Mexican-origin adolescents' normative developmental processes and adjustment and, importantly, underscore the need to consider variability that is introduced into these processes by features of the social context such as school ethnic composition. PMID:24465033
Cyber victimization by peers: Prospective associations with adolescent social anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Landoll, Ryan R; La Greca, Annette M; Lai, Betty S; Chan, Sherilynn F; Herge, Whitney M
Peer victimization that occurs via electronic media, also termed cybervictimization, is a growing area of concern for adolescents. The current study evaluated the short-term prospective relationship between cybervictimization and adolescents' symptoms of social anxiety and depression over a six-week period. Participants were 839 high-school aged adolescents (14-18 years; 58% female; 73% Hispanic White), who completed measures of traditional peer victimization, cybervictimization, depression, and social anxiety at two time points. Findings supported the distinctiveness of cybervictimization as a unique form of peer victimization. Furthermore, only cybervictimization was associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms over time, and only relational victimization was associated with increased social anxiety over time, after controlling for the comorbidity of social anxiety and depression among youth. Cybervictimization appears to be a unique form of victimization that contributes to adolescents' depressive symptoms and may be important to target in clinical and preventive interventions for adolescent depression. PMID:25938204
Neighborhood Deterioration and Social Isolation in Later Life.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Krause, Neal
Tested conceptual model relating neighborhood characteristics to social isolation in later life. Data from nationwide survey supported theoretical sequence of older adults with low levels of educational attainment being more likely to experience financial problems, of elderly people confronted by financial difficulties being more likely to reside…
Social Interaction and Isolation Among a Group of Elderly Blacks.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heisel, Marsel A.
Presented in this paper is a study undertaken to determine the level of social interaction and isolation in a randomly selected sample of 156 aged blacks in an urban area of New Jersey. The interaction patterns are analyzed in terms of availability, relations with, and reactions toward close and distant relatives and friends. The relation between…
Roles of interpersonal and media socialization agents in adolescent self-reported health literacy: a health socialization perspective.
Paek, Hye-Jin; Reber, Bryan H; Lariscy, Ruthann W
This study proposes a health socialization model and applies it to examine direct, relative and mediating roles of interpersonal and media health socialization agents in predicting adolescent self-reported health literacy. We conducted a paper-and-pencil survey among 452 seventh graders in rural and urban school districts. Our regression analysis results show that both interpersonal and media socialization agents are significantly and positively related to adolescent health literacy. Media socialization agents seem to play a strong role in health literacy orientation, not much weaker than those of interpersonal socialization agents. The proposed health socialization model could contribute to the literature on how adolescents acquire health-related information and channels through which they are most receptive. PMID:21248025
Exploring Social Service Providers' Perspectives on Barriers to Social Services for Early Adjustment of Immigrant Adolescents in South Korea.
Yi, Jaehee; Kim, Min Ah; Kim, Kihyun; Hong, Jun Sung
Recently arrived immigrant adolescents experience difficulties in adjusting to school in South Korea. However, the existing social services do not meet their psychosocial needs. This study investigates the perspectives of social service providers about challenges in providing services for immigrant adolescents early in their adjustments. We conducted qualitative, in-depth interviews with 27 South Korean social service providers. We identified barriers to social services, categorized into three themes: (1) Initial Contact Phase; (2) Service Delivery Phase; and (3) Structural Challenges. We suggest interventions concerning work-related stress for the social service providers, family-level involvement, diversity training, and integrated and collaborative immigration services. An examination of social service providers' challenges in working with immigrant adolescents is a necessary first step toward the development of programs and policies. PMID:27013328
Perceptions of Social Mobility: Development of a New Psychosocial Indicator Associated with Adolescent Risk Behaviors
Ritterman Weintraub, Miranda Lucia; Fernald, Lia C. H.; Adler, Nancy; Bertozzi, Stefano; Syme, S. Leonard
Social class gradients have been explored in adults and children, but not extensively during adolescence. The first objective of this study was to examine the association between adolescent risk behaviors and a new indicator of adolescent relative social position, adolescent "perceived social mobility." Second, it investigated potential underlying demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial determinants of this indicator. Data were taken from the 2004 urban adolescent module of Oportunidades, a cross-sectional study of Mexican adolescents living in poverty. Perceived social mobility was calculated for each subject by taking the difference between their rankings on two 10-rung ladder scales that measured (1) projected future social status and (2) current subjective social status within Mexican society. Adolescents with higher perceived social mobility were significantly less likely to report alcohol consumption, drinking with repercussions, compensated sex, police detainment, physical fighting, consumption of junk food or soda, or watching ≥4 h of television during the last viewing. They were significantly more likely to report exercising during the past week and using a condom during last sexual intercourse. These associations remained significant with the inclusion of covariates, including parental education and household expenditures. Multiple logistic regression analyses show higher perceived social mobility to be associated with staying in school longer and having higher perceived control. The present study provides evidence for the usefulness of perceived social mobility as an indicator for understanding the social gradient in health during adolescence. This research suggests the possibility of implementing policies and interventions that provide adolescents with real reasons to be hopeful about their trajectories. PMID:25932460
The Importance of Emotional and Social Isolation to Loneliness among Very Old Rural Adults.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dugan, Elizabeth; Kivett, Vira R.
Examined relative importance of emotional and social isolation to loneliness among very old rural adults (n=119). Found that emotional isolation, specifically loss of spouse, accounted for more loneliness than did social isolation. Hearing acuity and visits with siblings (social isolation variables) also were significant predictors of loneliness.…
Gaining Insight into Adolescent Vulnerability for Social Anxiety from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Caouette, Justin D.; Guyer, Amanda E.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) markedly impairs daily functioning. For adolescents, SAD can constrain typical development precisely when social experiences broaden, peers' opinions are highly salient, and social approval is actively sought. Individuals with extreme, impairing social anxiety fear evaluation from others, avoid social interactions, and interpret ambiguous social cues as threatening. Yet some degree of social anxiety can be normative and non-impairing. Furthermore, a temperament of behavioral inhibition increases risk for SAD for some, but not all adolescents with this temperament. One fruitful approach taken to understand the mechanisms of social anxiety has been to use neuroimaging to link affect and cognition with neural networks implicated in the neurodevelopmental social reorientation of adolescence. Although initial neuroimaging studies of adolescent SAD and risk for SAD underscored the role of fear-processing circuits (e.g., the amygdala and ventral prefrontal cortex), recent work has expanded these circuits to include reward-processing structures in the basal ganglia. A growing focus on reward-related neural circuitry holds promise for innovative translational research needed to differentiate impairing from normative social anxiety and for novel ways to treat adolescent SAD that focus on both social avoidance and social approach. PMID:24239049
Social support and depressed mood in isolated and confined environments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Palinkas, Lawrence A.; Johnson, Jeffrey C.; Boster, James S.
The influence of isolation and confinement on social support and depressed mood was examined in a study of 235 men and women who spent a year at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and a study of 77 men and women who spent a year at the Amundson-Scott South Pole Station. Although availability of support remained unchanged, there was a significant decrease in reported satisfaction with support obtained, as well as a significant increase in depressed mood. Satisfaction with support was inversely associated with depressed mood at the beginning and end of isolation and confinement. At the end of winter, this association varied by source of support. High levels of tension-anxiety, depression and anger preceded an increase in advice seeking, but high levels of advice seeking also preceded an increase in tension-anxiety and depression. Results suggest a significant erosion of social support under conditions of prolonged isolation and confinement, leading to an increase in depressed mood.
Social Skills Training for Adolescents With Intellectual Disabilities: A School-Based Evaluation.
O'Handley, Roderick D; Ford, W Blake; Radley, Keith C; Helbig, Kate A; Wimberly, Joy K
Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) often demonstrate impairments in social functioning, with deficits becoming more apparent during adolescence. This study evaluated the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills program, a program that combines behavioral skills training and video modeling to teach target social skills, on accurate demonstration of three target social skills in adolescents with ID. Skills taught in the present study include Expressing Wants and Needs, Conversation, and Turn Taking. Four adolescents with ID participated in a 3-week social skills intervention, with the intervention occurring twice per week. A multiple baseline across skills design was used to determine the effect of the intervention on social skill accuracy in both a training and generalization setting. All participants demonstrated substantial improvements in skill accuracy in both settings, with teacher ratings of social functioning further suggesting generalization of social skills to nontraining settings. PMID:26872955
Immediate early gene expression reveals interactions between social and nicotine rewards on brain activity in adolescent male rats.
Bastle, Ryan M; Peartree, Natalie A; Goenaga, Julianna; Hatch, Kayla N; Henricks, Angela; Scott, Samantha; Hood, Lauren E; Neisewander, Janet L
Smoking initiation predominantly occurs during adolescence, often in the presence of peers. Therefore, understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the rewarding effects of nicotine and social stimuli is vital. Using the conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure, we measured immediate early gene (IEG) expression in animals following exposure either to a reward-conditioned environment or to the unconditioned stimuli (US). Adolescent, male rats were assigned to the following CPP US conditions: (1) Saline+Isolated, (2) Nicotine+Isolated, (3) Saline+Social, or (4) Nicotine+Social. For Experiment 1, brain tissue was collected 90min following the CPP expression test and processed for Fos immunohistochemistry. We found that rats conditioned with nicotine with or without a social partner exhibited CPP; however, we found no group differences in Fos expression in any brain region analyzed, with the exception of the nucleus accumbens core that exhibited a social-induced attenuation in Fos expression. For Experiment 2, brain tissue was collected 90min following US exposure during the last conditioning session. We found social reward-induced increases in IEG expression in striatal and amydalar subregions. In contrast, nicotine reduced IEG expression in prefrontal and striatal subregions. Reward interactions were also found in the dorsolateral striatum, basolateral amygdala, and ventral tegmental area where nicotine alone attenuated IEG expression and social reward reversed this effect. These results suggest that in general social rewards enhance, whereas nicotine attenuates, activation of mesocorticolimbic regions; however, the rewards given together interact to enhance activation in some regions. The findings contribute to knowledge of how a social environment influences nicotine effects. PMID:27435419
Tipping Points in Adolescent Adjustment: Predicting Social Functioning from Adolescents' Conflict with Parents and Friends
Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Dykas, Matthew J.; Cassidy, Jude
Despite widespread interest in examining the role of conflict for adolescent development, researchers only rarely have examined adolescents' experiences of conflict across relationships. The present study examined how adolescents' experiences of conflict with parents and friends were linked to their social functioning. Adolescents (n = 189) and their mothers and fathers participated in semi-structured discussions about areas of adolescent-parent conflict in the laboratory. In addition, adolescents reported about conflict in their best friendships, and peers reported about adolescents' social acceptance and behavior in social settings. Parent-adolescent conflict was associated with peer-reported aggression and delinquency, and friendship conflict was associated with delinquency and prosocial behavior. In addition, significant Parent-Adolescent Conflict × Friend-Adolescent Conflict interactions revealed that parent-adolescent conflict was associated with poor social functioning only when conflict with best friends was also high. The findings suggest that consideration of conflict across relationships may yield insight into the specific contexts in which conflict is associated with negative outcomes for adolescents. PMID:22946461
Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development
Costeines, Jessica; Ayala, Carmen; Kaufman, Joy S.
Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers' parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (six months after birth), and its impact on infant development one year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants one year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children. PMID:24653641
Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development.
Huang, Cindy Y; Costeines, Jessica; Ayala, Carmen; Kaufman, Joy S
Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers' parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (six months after birth), and its impact on infant development one year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants one year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children. PMID:24653641
Demographic marginalization, social integration, and adolescents' educational success.
Benner, Aprile D; Wang, Yijie
Links between schools' demographic composition and students' achievement have been a major policy interest for decades. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 6,302; 54% females; 53% White, 21% African American, 15% Latino, 8% Asian American, 2% other race/ethnicity), we examined the associations between demographic marginalization, students' later social integration (loneliness at school, school attachment), and educational performance and attainment. Adolescents who were socioeconomically marginalized at school [i.e., having <15% same-socioeconomic status (SES) peers] had lower cumulative grade point averages across high school and lower educational attainment. A similar disadvantage was observed among students who were both socioeconomically and racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., having <15% same-SES peers and <15% same-racial/ethnic peers). Indirect effects were also observed, such that demographic marginalization was linked to poorer school attachment, and poorer school attachment, in turn, was related to poorer academic performance. These results highlight the educational barriers associated with demographic marginalization and suggest potential targets for future intervention efforts. PMID:25034249
[Social and psychological aspects of contraception in adolescents].
Fortier, L
Reasons for the high adolescent birthrate in the U.S., medical, psychological, and social repercussions of teenage pregnancy, and facts and myths about sex education and contraception for young people are discussed. About 30% of U.S. women under 20 become pregnant outside marriage, and many more are pregnant when they marry. The reasons for the high pregnancy rates in young people include recent early menarch, which accounts for 94% fertility in 17.5-year-olds, better health, and ignorance about contraception and basic facts about reproduction. Pregnant adolescents risk toxemia, anemia, puerperal morbidity, prematurity, neonatal mortality, and congenital defects such as mental retardation in the baby. They face family alienation, loss of educational and employment opportunities, forced marriage, and high suicide rates in addition to the trials of puberty. Many girls believe that their fertile period is during menses, that pills are dangerous, that they are not fertile. Studies have shown that sex education can lower repeat pregnancies 67%. Recent research has negated the belief that many young women desire pregnancy unconsciously. Current information shows that supplying contraception will not encourage young people to begin having intercourse. Most sex education courses in the U.S. are given after the average teenagers become active sexually. It is believed that contraception should be provided universally for young people, and that parental authorization of contraception would probably mend family ties, certainly better than would unwanted pregnancy. PMID:987631
Cognitive, personality, and social factors associated with adolescents' online personal information disclosure.
Liu, Cong; Ang, Rebecca P; Lwin, May O
The current study aims to understand the factors that influence adolescents' disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) on social networking sites (SNSs). A survey was conducted among 780 adolescent participants (between 13 and 18) who were Facebook users. Structural equation modeling was used for analyzing the data and obtaining an overarching model that include cognitive, personality, and social factors that influence adolescents' PII disclosure. Results showed privacy concern as the cognitive factor reduces adolescents' PII disclosure and it serves as a potential mediator for personality and social factors. Amongst personality factors, narcissism was found to directly increase PII disclosure, and social anxiety indirectly decreases PII disclosure by increasing privacy concern. Amongst social factors, active parental mediation decreases PII disclosure directly and indirectly by increasing privacy concern. Restrictive parental mediation decreases PII disclosure only indirectly by increasing privacy concern. Implications of the findings to parents, educators, and policy makers were discussed. PMID:23849657
The effects of religious socialization and religious identity on psychosocial functioning in Korean American adolescents from immigrant families.
Seol, Kyoung Ok; Lee, Richard M
This study examined religious identity as a mediator and moderator between religious socialization by parents, peers, and religious mentors and psychosocial functioning (i.e., social competence, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems) among 155 Korean American adolescents. Religious socialization by parents and peers were positively associated with adolescents' religious identity and social competence. Religious identity fully mediated the relationship between religious socialization by parents and social competence, and partially mediated the relationship between religious socialization by peers and social competence. A competing model with religious identity as a moderator found adolescents with low religious identity showed significantly more externalizing behavior problems when they received more religious socialization from parents. PMID:22506544
To tweet, or not to tweet: gender differences and potential positive and negative health outcomes of adolescents' social internet use.
Pujazon-Zazik, Melissa; Park, M Jane
Adolescents and young adults are avid Internet users. Online social media, such as social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace), blogs, status updating sites (e.g., Twitter) and chat rooms, have become integral parts of adolescents' and young adults' lives. Adolescents are even beginning to enter the world of online dating with several websites dedicated to "teenage online dating." This paper reviews recent peer-reviewed literature and national data on 1) adolescents use of online social media, 2) gender differences in online social media and 3) potential positive and negative health outcomes from adolescents' online social media use. We also examine parental monitoring of adolescents' online activities. Given that parental supervision is a key protective factor against adolescent risk-taking behavior, it is reasonable to hypothesize that unmonitored Internet use may place adolescents' at significant risk, such as cyberbullying, unwanted exposure to pornography, and potentially revealing personal information to sexual predators. PMID:20164062
Racial Barrier Socialization and the Well-being of African American Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality
Cooper, Shauna M.; McLoyd, Vonnie C.
Racial socialization has been suggested as an important factor in helping African American adolescents cope effectively with racism and discrimination. Although multiple studies have reported a positive link between racial pride socialization and psychological adjustment among African American youth, assessments of the association between adolescent adjustment and another dimension of racial socialization—racial barrier socialization—have yielded inconsistent findings. Using a sample of 190 African American adolescents, the present study focuses attention on the quality of mother-adolescent relations as an indicator of affective context, and examines its moderating influence on the association between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment. Regression analyses indicated that the link between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment is moderated by mother-adolescent relationship quality. However, these associations varied by gender. PMID:23152648
Social isolation among Latino workers in rural North Carolina: exposure and health implications.
Mora, Dana C; Grzywacz, Joseph G; Anderson, Andrea M; Chen, Haiying; Arcury, Thomas A; Marín, Antonio J; Quandt, Sara A
Immigrant Latinos frequently experience social isolation in their receiving communities. This paper investigates the prevalence of social isolation among immigrant workers in a new settlement area and delineates the association between social isolation and physical and mental health outcomes. Interviews were conducted in Spanish with immigrant Latino manual workers (N = 743) in western North Carolina. The CES-D and the SF-12 questionnaires assessed health outcomes. A social isolation scale was used to assess degree of social isolation. Nearly 1 in 5 workers (19.5 %) reported the highest level of social isolation. Social isolation was associated with higher depressive symptoms and poorer physical and mental health, related to quality of life. Social isolation is a common experience among immigrant Latinos that may have negative implications for physical and mental health. Community outreach efforts to minimize experiences of isolation may be useful in protecting immigrant physical and mental health. PMID:23417706
The effect of music on social attribution in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.
Bhatara, Anjali K; Quintin, Eve-Marie; Heaton, Pamela; Fombonne, Eric; Levitin, Daniel J
High-functioning adolescents with ASD and matched controls were presented with animations that depicted varying levels of social interaction and were either accompanied by music or silent. Participants described the events of the animation, and we scored responses for intentionality, appropriateness, and length of description. Adolescents with ASD were less likely to make social attributions, especially for those animations with the most complex social interactions. When stimuli were accompanied by music, both groups were equally impaired in appropriateness and intentionality. We conclude that adolescents with ASD perceive and integrate musical soundtracks with visual displays equivalent to typically developing individuals. PMID:19140055
Social network media exposure and adolescent eating pathology in Fiji
Becker, Anne E.; Fay, Kristen E.; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Khan, A. Nisha; Striegel-Moore, Ruth H.; Gilman, Stephen E.
Background Mass media exposure has been associated with an increased risk of eating pathology. It is unknown whether indirect media exposure – such as the proliferation of media exposure in an individual's social network – is also associated with eating disorders. Aims To test hypotheses that both individual (direct) and social network (indirect) mass media exposures were associated with eating pathology in Fiji. Method We assessed several kinds of mass media exposure, media influence, cultural orientation and eating pathology by self-report among adolescent female ethnic Fijians (n = 523). We fitted a series of multiple regression models of eating pathology, assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE–Q), in which mass media exposures, sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index were entered as predictors. Results Both direct and indirect mass media exposures were associated with eating pathology in unadjusted analyses, whereas in adjusted analyses only social network media exposure was associated with eating pathology. This result was similar when eating pathology was operationalised as either a continuous or a categorical dependent variable (e.g. odds ratio OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.15–2.23 relating social network media exposure to upper-quartile EDE–Q scores). Subsequent analyses pointed to individual media influence as an important explanatory variable in this association. Conclusions Social network media exposure was associated with eating pathology in this Fijian study sample, independent of direct media exposure and other cultural exposures. Findings warrant further investigation of its health impact in other populations. PMID:21200076
An Event-Related Potential Study of Social Information Processing in Adolescents.
diFilipo, Danielle; Grose-Fifer, Jillian
Increased social awareness is a hallmark of adolescence. The primary aim of this event-related potential study was to investigate whether adolescents, in comparison to adults, would show relatively enhanced early neural processing of complex pictures containing socially-relevant information. A secondary aim was to investigate whether there are also gender and age differences in the ways adolescents and adults process social and nonsocial information. We recorded EEGs from 12-17 year-olds and 25-37 year-olds (N = 59) while they viewed pleasant pictures from the International Affective Picture System. We found age-related amplitude differences in the N1 and the LPP, and gender-related differences in the N2 region for socially-relevant stimuli. Social pictures (featuring mostly young children and adults) elicited larger N1s than nonsocial stimuli in adolescents, but not adults, whereas larger LPPs to social stimuli were seen in adults, but not adolescents. Furthermore, in general, males (regardless of age) showed larger N2s to nonsocial than to social images, but females did not. Our results imply that compared to adults, adolescents show relatively greater initial orientation toward social than toward nonsocial stimuli. PMID:27192210
An Event-Related Potential Study of Social Information Processing in Adolescents
diFilipo, Danielle; Grose-Fifer, Jillian
Increased social awareness is a hallmark of adolescence. The primary aim of this event-related potential study was to investigate whether adolescents, in comparison to adults, would show relatively enhanced early neural processing of complex pictures containing socially-relevant information. A secondary aim was to investigate whether there are also gender and age differences in the ways adolescents and adults process social and nonsocial information. We recorded EEGs from 12–17 year-olds and 25–37 year-olds (N = 59) while they viewed pleasant pictures from the International Affective Picture System. We found age-related amplitude differences in the N1 and the LPP, and gender-related differences in the N2 region for socially-relevant stimuli. Social pictures (featuring mostly young children and adults) elicited larger N1s than nonsocial stimuli in adolescents, but not adults, whereas larger LPPs to social stimuli were seen in adults, but not adolescents. Furthermore, in general, males (regardless of age) showed larger N2s to nonsocial than to social images, but females did not. Our results imply that compared to adults, adolescents show relatively greater initial orientation toward social than toward nonsocial stimuli. PMID:27192210
Interventions targeting social isolation in older people: a systematic review
Background Targeting social isolation in older people is a growing public health concern. The proportion of older people in society has increased in recent decades, and it is estimated that approximately 25% of the population will be aged 60 or above within the next 20 to 40 years. Social isolation is prevalent amongst older people and evidence indicates the detrimental effect that it can have on health and wellbeing. The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of interventions designed to alleviate social isolation and loneliness in older people. Methods Relevant electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, ASSIA, IBSS, PsycINFO, PubMed, DARE, Social Care Online, the Cochrane Library and CINAHL) were systematically searched using an extensive search strategy, for randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published in English before May 2009. Additional articles were identified through citation tracking. Studies were included if they related to older people, if the intervention aimed to alleviate social isolation and loneliness, if intervention participants were compared against inactive controls and, if treatment effects were reported. Two independent reviewers extracted data using a standardised form. Narrative synthesis and vote-counting methods were used to summarise and interpret study data. Results Thirty two studies were included in the review. There was evidence of substantial heterogeneity in the interventions delivered and the overall quality of included studies indicated a medium to high risk of bias. Across the three domains of social, mental and physical health, 79% of group-based interventions and 55% of one-to-one interventions reported at least one improved participant outcome. Over 80% of participatory interventions produced beneficial effects across the same domains, compared with 44% of those categorised as non-participatory. Of interventions categorised as having a theoretical basis, 87% reported beneficial effects across
Resourcing resilience: social protection for HIV prevention amongst children and adolescents in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Toska, Elona; Gittings, Lesley; Hodes, Rebecca; Cluver, Lucie D; Govender, Kaymarlin; Chademana, K Emma; Gutiérrez, Vincent Evans
Adolescents are the only age group with growing AIDS-related morbidity and mortality in Eastern and Southern Africa, making HIV prevention research among this population an urgent priority. Structural deprivations are key drivers of adolescent HIV infection in this region. Biomedical interventions must be combined with behavioural and social interventions to alleviate the socio-structural determinants of HIV infection. There is growing evidence that social protection has the potential to reduce the risk of HIV infection among children and adolescents. This research combined expert consultations with a rigorous review of academic and policy literature on the effectiveness of social protection for HIV prevention among children and adolescents, including prevention for those already HIV-positive. The study had three goals: (i) assess the evidence on the effectiveness of social protection for HIV prevention, (ii) consider key challenges to implementing social protection programmes that promote HIV prevention, and (iii) identify critical research gaps in social protection and HIV prevention, in Eastern and Southern Africa. Causal pathways of inequality, poverty, gender and HIV risk require flexible and responsive social protection mechanisms. Results confirmed that HIV-inclusive child-and adolescent-sensitive social protection has the potential to interrupt risk pathways to HIV infection and foster resilience. In particular, empirical evidence (literature and expert feedback) detailed the effectiveness of combination social protection particularly cash/in-kind components combined with "care" and "capability" among children and adolescents. Social protection programmes should be dynamic and flexible, and consider age, gender, HIV-related stigma, and context, including cultural norms, which offer opportunities to improve programmatic coverage, reach and uptake. Effective HIV prevention also requires integrated social protection policies, developed through strong national
Associations of Social-Environmental and Individual-Level Factors with Adolescent Soft Drink Consumption: Results from the SMILE Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Kremers, Stef P. J.; de Vries, Hein; van Mechelen, Willem; Brug, Johannes
Adolescent obesity is positively associated with soft drink consumption. We investigated the association of social-environmental and individual-level factors with soft drink consumption in a Dutch adolescent sample. Data were gathered in a longitudinal Dutch adolescent sample (n = 208, 62% girls). Soft drink consumption, social cognitions from the…
Using social media to engage adolescents and young adults with their health
Wong, Charlene A.; Merchant, Raina M.; Moreno, Megan A.
We focus on the potential of social media related to the health of adolescent and young adults, who are nearly ubiquitous social media users but difficult to engage with their health and relatively low healthcare utilizers. Opportunities to better engage adolescents and young adults through social media exist in healthcare delivery, health education and health policy. However, challenges remain for harnessing social media, including making a clear value proposition and developing evidence-based frameworks for measuring the impact of social media on health. PMID:25984444
Social Anxiety and Peer Helping in Adolescent Addiction Treatment
Pagano, Maria E.; Wang, Alexandra R.; Rowles, Brieana M.; Lee, Matthew T.; Johnson, Byron R.
Background The developmental need to fit in may lead to higher alcohol and other drug use among socially anxious youths which exacerbates the drink/trouble cycle. In treatment, youths with social anxiety disorder (SAD) may avoid participating in therapeutic activities with risk of negative peer appraisal. Peer-helping is a low-intensity, social activity in the 12-step program associated with greater abstinence among treatment-seeking adults. This study examined the influence of SAD on clinical severity at intake, peer-helping during treatment, and outcomes in a large sample of adolescents court-referred to residential treatment. Methods Adolescents (N = 195; 52% female, 30% Black) aged 14 to 18 were prospectively assessed at treatment admission, treatment discharge, and 6 months after treatment discharge. Data were collected using rater-administered assessments, youth reports, clinician reports, medical charts, and electronic court records. The influence of SAD on peer-helping and outcomes was examined using hierarchical linear regression and event history methods. Results Forty-two percent of youths reported a persistent fear of being humiliated or scrutinized in social situations, and 15% met current diagnostic criteria for SAD. SAD onset preceded initial use for two-thirds of youths with SAD and substance dependency. SAD youths presented for treatment with greater clinical severity in terms of earlier age of first use (p < 0.01), greater lifetime use of heroin and polysubstance use (p < 0.05), incarceration history (p < 0.01), and lifetime trauma (p < 0.001). Twelve-step participation patterns during treatment did not differ between youths with and without SAD except for peer-helping, which was associated with reduced risk of relapse (p < 0.01) and incarceration (p < 0.05) in the 6 months posttreatment. Conclusions This study found evidence of an association between SAD and earlier age of first use, greater lifetime use of heroin, incarceration history, and
Social Relationships and Health: The Toxic Effects of Perceived Social Isolation
Cacioppo, John T.; Cacioppo, Stephanie
Research in social epidemiology suggests that the absence of positive social relationships is a significant risk factor for broad-based morbidity and mortality. The nature of these social relationships and the mechanisms underlying this association are of increasing interest as the population gets older and the health care costs associated with chronic disease escalate in industrialized countries. We review selected evidence on the nature of social relationships and focus on one particular facet of the connection continuum – the extent to which an individual feels isolated (i.e., feels lonely) in a social world. Evidence indicates that loneliness heightens sensitivity to social threats and motivates the renewal of social connections, but it can also impair executive functioning, sleep, and mental and physical well-being. Together, these effects contribute to higher rates of morbidity and mortality in lonely older adults. PMID:24839458
Differential effects of social and non-social reward on response inhibition in children and adolescents.
Kohls, Gregor; Peltzer, Judith; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Konrad, Kerstin
An important issue in the field of clinical and developmental psychopathology is whether cognitive control processes, such as response inhibition, can be specifically enhanced by motivation. To determine whether non-social (i.e. monetary) and social (i.e. positive facial expressions) rewards are able to differentially improve response inhibition accuracy in typically developing children and adolescents, an 'incentive' go/no-go task was applied with reward contingencies for successful inhibition. In addition, the impact of children's personality traits (such as reward seeking and empathy) on monetary and social reward responsiveness was assessed in 65 boys, ages 8 to 12 years. All subjects were tested twice: At baseline, inhibitory control was assessed without reward, and then subjects were pseudorandomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, including (1) social reward only, (2) monetary reward only, (3) mixed social and monetary reward, or (4) a retest condition without reward. Both social and non-social reward significantly improved task performance, although larger effects were observed for monetary reward. The higher the children scored on reward seeking scales, the larger was their improvement in response inhibition, but only if monetary reward was used. In addition, there was a tendency for an association between empathic skills and benefits from social reward. These data suggest that social incentives do not have an equally strong reinforcing value as compared to financial incentives. However, different personality traits seem to determine to what extent a child profits from different types of reward. Clinical implications regarding probable hyposensitivity to social reward in subjects with autism and dysregulated reward-seeking behaviour in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are discussed. PMID:19635087
The Contribution of Extracurricular Activities to Adolescent Friendships: New Insights through Social Network Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schaefer, David R.; Simpkins, Sandra D.; Vest, Andrea E.; Price, Chara D.
Extracurricular activities are settings that are theorized to help adolescents maintain existing friendships and develop new friendships. The overarching goal of the current investigation was to examine whether coparticipating in school-based extracurricular activities supported adolescents' school-based friendships. We used social network methods…
Parenting Practices and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Moderating Effects of Socially Demanding Kin Relations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Ronald D.; Lopez, Elizabeth I.; Budescu, Mia; McGill, Rebecca Kang
Association of socially demanding kin relations, mother's emotional support, behavioral control/monitoring, family organization and psychological control with adolescent's internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed in 200 economically disadvantaged, African American mothers and adolescents. Demanding kin relations and mother's…
Parent and Adolescent Interaction in Television Advertisements as Consumer Socialization Agents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ozmete, Emine
This study aimed at determining the interaction between parents and adolescents pertaining to television advertisements as a consumer socialization agent and the effects of advertisements on the purchasing decisions of adolescents. The effects of age and sex were also investigated. The sample included 240 high school students in grades 9, 10 and…
Treating Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder in School: An Attention Control Trial
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Warner, Carrie Masia; Fisher, Paige H.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Rathor, Snigdha; Klein, Rachel G.
Background: Anxiety disorders are often undetected and untreated in adolescents. This study evaluates the relative efficacy of a school-based, cognitive-behavioral intervention compared to an educational-supportive treatment for adolescents with social anxiety disorder. Methods: Thirty-six students (30 females), ages 14 to 16, were randomized to a…
Factor Structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Storch, Eric A.; Masia-Warner, Carrie; Heidgerken, Amanda D.; Fisher, Paige H.; Pincus, Donna B.; Liebowitz, Michael R.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA). The LSAS-CA was administered to 225 children and adolescents as a component of various clinical studies. In addition, other measures of psychopathology and impairment were administered to a subgroup of the…
The Relationship between Social Skills and Depression in Adolescent Suicide Attempters.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spirito, Anthony; And Others
Although suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States, there are little empirical data available on psychological factors which may lead an adolescent to consider or attempt suicide. To address this issue, the relationships among depression, social skills, and severity of suicidal attempt were investigated in…
Socialization and Individual Antecedents of Adolescents' and Young Adults' Moral Motivation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Malti, Tina; Buchmann, Marlis
Socialization and individual differences were examined as antecedents of moral motivation in representative samples of 15-year-old adolescents (N = 1,258; 54% female) and 21-year-old young adults (N = 584; 53% female). The adolescents' primary caregivers (N = 1,056) also participated. The strength of moral motivation was rated by participants'…
Regulatory Self-Efficacy as a Moderator of Peer Socialization Relating to Italian Adolescents' Alcohol Intoxication
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Burk, William J.; Giletta, Matteo
The present study investigated regulatory self-efficacy (RSE) as a predictor of friendship and adolescent alcohol intoxication and as a moderator of peer socialization processes related to alcohol intoxication. The longitudinal sample included 457 Italian adolescents (262 females and 195 males) ranging in age of 14 to 20 years (M = 16.1 years of…
Peer Victimization and Social Anxiety in Adolescents: Prospective and Reciprocal Relationships
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegel, Rebecca S.; La Greca, Annette M.; Harrison, Hannah M.
This study used a 2-month prospective research design to examine the bi-directional interplay between peer victimization and social anxiety among adolescents. Participants included 228 adolescents (58% female) in grades 10-12. Three types of peer victimization were examined: "overt" (physical aggression or verbal threats), "relational" (malicious…
Romantic Partner Selection and Socialization of Young Adolescents' Substance Use and Behavior Problems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Aikins, Julie Wargo; Simon, Valerie A.; Prinstein, Mitchell J.
This study examined romantic partner selection and socialization of substance use (cigarettes, alcohol) and behavior problems among a sample of 78 young adolescents (6th-8th graders) over eleven months. Adolescent and romantic partner behaviors were assessed before and after relationships were initiated via school records and self-report. Most…
Cultural Continuity amid Social Change: Adolescents' Use of Free Time in India.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Verma, Suman; Sharma, Deepali
Used the experience sampling method to examine Indian adolescents' use of free time. Found that adolescents' free time use was influenced by both tradition and modernization, and varied according to social class, urban versus rural setting, and gender. Concluded that youth activities continue to reflect the sociocultural and historical nature of…
Engaging Adolescents in Politics: The Longitudinal Effect of Political Socialization Agents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quintelier, Ellen
Starting from a political socialization perspective, this study examined the development of political participation during adolescence and early adulthood. We explore the effect of parents, peers, school media, and voluntary associations on political participation. Self-reported data were collected from 3,025 Belgian adolescents at three points in…
A Review of Online Social Networking Profiles by Adolescents: Implications for Future Research and Intervention
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Amanda L.; Merten, Michael J.
This study explored content posted and interactions taking place on adolescent online social networking profiles. Although "blogging" continues to soar in popularity, with over half of teenagers online participating in some form, little research has comprehensively explored blog communication within the context of adolescent development. Content…
Social Anxiety and the Severity and Typography of Stuttering in Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mulcahy, Kylie; Hennessey, Neville; Beilby, Janet; Byrnes, Michelle
The present study examined the relationship between anxiety, attitude toward daily communication, and stuttering symptomatology in adolescent stuttering. Adolescents who stuttered (n = 19) showed significantly higher levels of trait, state and social anxiety than fluent speaking controls (n = 18). Trait and state anxiety was significantly…
Positive Individual and Social Behavior among Gang and Nongang African American Male Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Carl S.; Lerner, Richard M.; von Eye, Alexander; Bobek, Deborah L.; Balsano, Aida B.; Dowling, Elizabeth M.; Anderson, Pamela M.
To explore potential bases of positive development among gang youth, attributes of positive individual and social behavior were assessed in individual interviews with 45 African American adolescent male members of inner-city Detroit gangs and 50 African American adolescent males from the same communities but involved in community-based…
Social Influence, Health Variables and Criminal Behaviours Associated with Substance Use among Rural Norwegian Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nordfjaern, Trond; Dahl, Hilde; Flemmen, Grete
Aims: To investigate social influence, health, criminality and substance use in a sample of 1288 Norwegian rural adolescents. Relations between these factors and substance use were examined. Methods: Data were obtained from the "UngData" study. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among adolescents (n = 740) in nine secondary…
Relational Victimization: The Association between Recalled Adolescent Social Experiences and Emotional Adjustment in Early Adulthood
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dempsey, Allison G.; Storch, Eric A.
Although the relationship between relational victimization and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence has been established, it is unknown whether it extends into early adulthood. The current retrospective study investigated the relationship between recall of adolescent relational victimization and symptoms of depression, social anxiety, and…
The Adolescent Relational Dialectic and the Peer Roots of Adult Social Functioning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Allen, Joseph P.; Chango, Joanna; Szwedo, David
The long-term import of a fundamental challenge of adolescent social development--establishing oneself as a desirable peer companion while avoiding problematic behaviors often supported within peer groups--was examined in a community sample of 184 adolescents, followed from ages 13 to 23, along with parents, peers, and romantic partners. The…
Understanding and Acting on the Growing Childhood and Adolescent Weight Crisis: A Role for Social Work
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lawrence, Shawn; Hazlett, Rebekah; Hightower, Peggy
The childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate. Numerous individual, family, community, and social factors contribute to overweight and obesity in children and are explored. If left unaddressed, the epidemic of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity may lead to amplified problems for individual…
Social Anxiety Disorder and Victimization in a Community Sample of Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gren-Landell, Malin; Aho, Nikolas; Andersson, Gerhard; Svedin, Carl Goran
Despite high prevalence rates of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and high rates of victimization in adolescents, studies on the relationship between these phenomena are missing. In the present study we report associations between SAD and multiple victimization experiences in a community sample of adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted on…
Alcohol-Specific Socialization Practices and Alcohol Use in Dutch Early Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koning, Ina M.; Engels, Rutger C. M. E.; Verdurmen, Jacqueline E. E.; Vollebergh, Wilma A. M.
The present study examined the associations of alcohol-specific socialization practices and heavy parental drinking with alcohol use in early adolescents. Cross-sectional nationwide survey data from 2599 parent-adolescent (mean age = 12.16) dyads were used to conduct logistic regression analyses. Onset of alcohol use as well as infrequent and…
Adolescents during and after Times of Social Change: The Case of the Czech Republic
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Macek, Petr; Ježek, Stanislav; Vazsonyi, Alexander T.
The paper introduces a set of four studies focused on adolescents in the Czech Republic. In the first part, authors reflect on the cultural background, the political, social, and psychological factors that have had influence on several generations of adolescents in the period of the communist totalitarian regime. They also describe the social…
Similarity in Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents' Friendship Dyads: Selection or Socialization?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Giletta, Matteo; Scholte, Ron H. J.; Burk, William J.; Engels, Rutger C. M. E.; Larsen, Junilla K.; Prinstein, Mitchell J.; Ciairano, Silvia
This study examined friendship selection and socialization as mechanisms explaining similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescent same-gender best friend dyads. The sample consisted of 1,752 adolescents (51% male) ages 12-16 years (M = 13.77, SD = 0.73) forming 487 friend dyads and 389 nonfriend dyads (the nonfriend dyads served as a comparison…
The Individuation Process from a Social-Cognitive Perspective in Kibbutz Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mazor, Aviva; And Others
The individuation process was explored from a social-cognitive perspective using 61 kibbutz adolescents and youth in grades 4, 7, and 10, and post-high school in military service. Results support the developmental sequence of the individuation construct in kibbutz adolescents and fit the model proposed by A. Mazor (1985). (SLD)
Development of Neural Systems for Processing Social Exclusion from Childhood to Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bolling, Danielle Z.; Pitskel, Naomi B.; Deen, Ben; Crowley, Michael J.; Mayes, Linda C.; Pelphrey, Kevin A.
Adolescence is a period of development in which peer relationships become especially important. A computer-based game (Cyberball) has been used to explore the effects of social exclusion in adolescents and adults. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study used Cyberball to extend prior work to the cross-sectional study of…
The Effect of Early Noncognitive Skills on Social Outcomes in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coneus, Katja; Laucht, Manfred
This paper investigates the impact of early noncognitive skills on social outcomes in adolescence. The child's attention span, approach, prevailing mood and distractibility in early childhood may be crucial predictors for school achievements, health risk behavior, delinquency and autonomy as adolescent. We investigate this issue using a…
The Role of Peer Social Network Factors and Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Voorhees, Carolyn C.; Murray, David; Welk, Greg; Birnbaum, Amanda; Ribisl, Kurt M.; Johnson, Carolyn C.; Pfeiffer, Karin Allor; Saksvig, Brit; Jobe, Jared B.
This report studies the relationship between peer-related physical activity (PA) social networks and the PA of adolescent girls. Methods: Cross-sectional, convenience sample of adolescent girls. Mixed-model linear regression analyses to identify significant correlates of self-reported PA while accounting for correlation of girls in the same…
Developing Social Skills: Issues for Adolescents with Chronic Illnesses and Disabilities. CYDLINE Reviews.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis. National Center for Youth with Disabilities.
This collection of annotated bibliographies focuses on the social skills of adolescents, and is drawn from a national database of current programs and literature regarding adolescents with chronic illnesses and other disabilities. Bibliographic materials listed include documents and articles selected from the database of the National Center for…
Relational and Social-Cognitive Correlates of Early Adolescents' Forgiveness of Parents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Christensen, Katherine J.; Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Busby, Dean M.; Hardy, Sam A.; Day, Randal D.
This study examined how mother and father-child relationship quality and marital forgiveness were related to early adolescents' forgiveness of mothers and fathers. Adolescents' social-cognitive skills (empathy and emotional regulation) and parents' forgiveness of child were examined as mediators. Mother, father, and child self-reported…
The Misperceived Social Norm of Drunkenness among Early Adolescents in Finland
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lintonen, T. P.; Konu, A. I.
Adolescents tend to overestimate peer drinking; the resulting misperception of the social norm predicts the child's own future drinking. This study examined the misperception's relatedness to a person's drinking pattern in order to facilitate the segmentation of the audience for health education interventions. Adolescent Health and Lifestyle…
Parental Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Differences in Sex, Age and Problem Status
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie; Brand, Ann E.; Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn; Usher, Barbara; Hastings, Paul D.; Kendziora, Kimberly; Garside, Rula B.
There is a paucity of research on how mothers and fathers socialize emotion in their adolescent sons and daughters. This study was based on 220 adolescents (range 11- to 16-years-old) who exhibit a range of emotional and behavioral problems and their parents. Parental responses to their children's displays of sadness, anger and fear were assessed.…
Parental Psychological Violence and Adolescent Behavioral Adjustment: The Role of Coping and Social Support
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gagne, Marie-Helene; Melancon, Claudiane
The role of coping strategies (approach and avoidance) as a mediating factor between parental psychological violence and adolescent behavior problems, both internalized and externalized, as well as the protective role of social support were examined separately for boys and girls. A group of 278 adolescents (mean age: 14.2) were recruited in three…
Associations of Neighborhood and Family Factors with Trajectories of Physical and Social Aggression during Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J.; Foshee, Vangie A.; Ennett, Susan T.; Suchindran, Chirayath
Adolescents develop within multiple contexts that synergistically influence their behavior and health. To understand the simultaneous influence of neighborhood and family contexts on adolescents, this study examined relationships of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, neighborhood social disorganization, family conflict, parent-child bonding…
Peer Selection and Socialization in Adolescent Depression: The Role of School Transitions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goodwin, Natalie P.; Mrug, Sylvie; Borch, Casey; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.
Previous studies have indicated homophily in depressive symptoms among adolescent friends, resulting from both peer selection and socialization processes. However, developmental differences and the role of school transitions in these processes have not been elucidated. A sample of 367 (51% female) adolescents was followed from 6th to 11th grade to…
Hanging out with Which Friends? Friendship-Level Predictors of Unstructured and Unsupervised Socializing in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siennick, Sonja E.; Osgood, D. Wayne
Companions are central to explanations of the risky nature of unstructured and unsupervised socializing, yet we know little about whom adolescents are with when hanging out. We examine predictors of how often friendship dyads hang out via multilevel analyses of longitudinal friendship-level data on over 5,000 middle schoolers. Adolescents hang out…
Sleep in Mexican-American Adolescents: Social Ecological and Well-Being Correlates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McHale, Susan M.; Kim, Ji Yeon; Kan, Marni; Updegraff, Kimberly A.
A burgeoning body of research documents links between sleep and adjustment in adolescence, but little is known about the role of the social ecology in promoting healthful sleeping habits. This study was aimed at identifying the socio-cultural correlates of adolescents' sleep, including average nighttime sleep duration, average daytime napping, and…
Perceived Demands of Social Change and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents from Different Educational Tracks
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pinquart, Martin; Silbereisen, Rainer K.; Grümer, Sebastian
We analyzed whether perceived demands associated with social change and coping with these demands are related to depressive symptoms in German adolescents from the highest versus middle/lowest educational track. Demands reflected an increase in uncertainty (e.g., risk for getting no job). Adolescents on the highest educational track perceived…
Moderators of Peer Contagion: A Longitudinal Examination of Depression Socialization between Adolescents and Their Best Friends
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prinstein, Mitchell J.
This longitudinal study examined peer contagion of depressive symptoms over an 18-month interval within a sample of 100 11th-grade adolescents. Three types of peer contagion moderators were examined, including characteristics of adolescents (social anxiety, global self-worth), friends (level of friends' peer-perceived popularity), and the…
Attribution Style of Adolescents with School-Reported Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maras, P. F.; Moon, A.; Gridley, N.
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between attribution style and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBDs), and to explore differences in attribution tendencies between adolescents with and without SEBDs. In total, 72 adolescents attending a school in London were recruited; 27 were receiving support for SEBDs…
Unpopularity and Disliking among Peers: Partially Distinct Dimensions of Adolescents' Social Experiences
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gorman, Andrea Hopmeyer; Schwartz, David; Nakamoto, Jonathan; Mayeux, Lara
The paper examines whether unpopularity and disliking among peers are partially distinct dimensions of adolescents' negative social experience. We recruited 418 students (187 boys, 231 girls, M = 12.12 years, SD = 4.33) from an urban junior high school. These early adolescents completed a peer nomination inventory assessing aspects of their social…
The Role of Individual- and Macro-Level Social Determinants on Young Adolescents' Psychosomatic Complaints
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ottova, Veronika; Erhart, Michael; Vollebergh, Wilma; Kokonyei, Gyongyi; Morgan, Antony; Gobina, Inese; Jericek, Helena; Cavallo, Franco; Valimaa, Raili; Gaspar de Matos, Margarida; Gaspar, Tania; Schnohr, Christina W.; Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike
This study examines the social determinants of psychosomatic complaints in young adolescents. Using data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, psychosomatic complaints are studied in 98,773 adolescents (11- and 13-year-olds; 48% 11-year-olds, 52% 13-year-olds; 52% females, 48% males) from 34 European countries.…
Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Concurrent Validity of the Perceived Social Support-Family Measure among Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Windle, Michael; Miller-Tutzauer, Carol
Confirmatory, simultaneous group factor analysis supported three-factor structure of Perceived Social Support-Family measure for adolescents (n=975). Factors of Support Received, Support Provided, and Family Intimacy were significantly correlated with adolescent ratings of maternal and paternal support and inversely correlated with primary…
Adolescent Judgments and Reasoning about the Failure to Include Peers with Social Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; Li, Zhushan
Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder often do not have access to crucial peer social activities. This study examines how typically developing adolescents evaluate decisions not to include a peer based on disability status, and the justifications they apply to these decisions. A clinical interview methodology was used to elicit judgments and…
Social Capital and Adolescent Violent Behavior: Correlates of Fighting and Weapon Use among Secondary School Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wright, Darlene R.; Fitzpatrick, Kevin M.
This study explores the relationship between social capital and adolescent violent behaviors for a national sample of secondary school students (N = 4,834). Cross-sectional data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to evaluate multivariate models examining the family school and neighborhood correlates of violent…
The Role of Materialism on Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties for British Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maras, Pam; Moon, Amy; Gupta, Taveeshi; Gridley, Nicole
The relationship between materialism and social-emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBDs) was assessed by comparing a sample of adolescents receiving in-school behavioural support with adolescents not receiving any support. All participants completed the Youth Materialism Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Binary logistic…
Dropping out of School as a Meaningful Action for Adolescents with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lund, Ingrid
This study examines and discusses dropping out of school related to adolescents with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). It is based on in-depth interviews of 10 adolescents between the ages of 16 and 20, three girls and two boys with internalised problems, and two girls and three boys with extroverted behavioural problems.…
Risk-Taking among Adolescents: Associations with Social and Affective Factors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Michael, Keren; Ben-Zur, Hasida
The research investigated the associations of social and affective factors with risk-taking in male and female adolescents. A sample of 269 Israeli adolescents completed questionnaires measuring frequency of involvement in risk-taking behaviours, relationships with parents, orientation towards peer group, depressive mood, and aggressive behaviour.…
The Association between Observed Parental Emotion Socialization and Adolescent Self-Medication
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hersh, Matthew A.; Hussong, Andrea M.
The current study examined the moderating influence of observed parental emotion socialization (PES) on self-medication in adolescents. Strengths of the study include the use of a newly developed observational coding system further extending the study of PES to adolescence, the use of an experience sampling method to assess the daily covariation…
Adolescents' Emotions and Reasoning in Contexts of Moral Conflict and Social Exclusion
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Malti, Tina; Ongley, Sophia F.; Dys, Sebastian P.; Colasante, Tyler
This article explores how adolescents feel and think about contexts of moral conflict and social exclusion. We asked twelve-year-old adolescents how they would feel about intentionally harming another peer, omitting a prosocial duty, and excluding another peer. We then asked them to explain the reasoning behind their feelings and report on levels…
Young People with Specific Language Impairment: A Review of Social and Emotional Functioning in Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Durkin, Kevin; Conti-Ramsden, Gina
This article provides a review of research into the social and emotional functioning of adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI). In particular, we focus on peer relations, peer friendships, bullying, emotional difficulties and psychiatric difficulties. As a group, adolescents with SLI tend to be more vulnerable to problems in these…
Predictors of Peer Victimization among Hispanic Adolescent Girls: Implications for School Social Work
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Powell, Anne; Jenson, Jeffrey M.
Aggressive behavior aimed at peers in school settings is a persistent problem for students, teachers, parents, and school social workers. Peer victimization is particularly troubling for adolescent girls in light of recent increases in aggression and violence among female adolescents. However, most studies of peer victimization, particularly among…
A Qualitative Study of Parental Modeling and Social Support for Physical Activity in Underserved Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wright, Marcie S.; Wilson, Dawn K.; Griffin, Sarah; Evans, Alexandra
This study obtained qualitative data to assess how parental role modeling and parental social support influence physical activity in underserved (minority, low-income) adolescents. Fifty-two adolescents (22 males, 30 females; ages 10-14 years, 85% African-American) participated in a focus group (6-10 per group, same gender). Focus groups were…
Building and Using a Social Network: Nurture for Low-Income Chinese American Adolescents' Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Li, Jin; Holloway, Susan D.; Bempechat, Janine; Loh, Elaine
Little research has examined how low-income Asian American children are supported to achieve well in school. The authors used the notion of social capital to study higher versus lower achieving Chinese adolescents from low-income backgrounds. They found that families of higher-achieving adolescents built and used more effectively three kinds of…
Social Strain, Self-Control, and Juvenile Gambling Pathology: Evidence From Chinese Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cheung, Nicole W. T.
Despite recent concerns over youthful problem gambling, few gambling studies have looked into Asian adolescent populations. This study of a stratified, random sample of high school students in Hong Kong is designed to estimate the prevalence of gambling pathology among Chinese adolescents and to examine the relationships between social strain,…
Social Participation of Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy: Trade-Offs and Choices
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stewart, Debra A.; Lawless, John J.; Shimmell, Lorie J.; Palisano, Robert J.; Freeman, Matthew; Rosenbaum, Peter L.; Russell, Dianne J.
This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study about the experiences and perceptions of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) in relation to social participation. A phenomenological approach was used to interview 10 adolescents with CP, 17 to 20 years of age, selected using purposeful sampling. An iterative process of data collection…
Opioids: from physical pain to the pain of social isolation.
Stein, Dan J; van Honk, Jack; Ipser, Jonathan; Solms, Mark; Panksepp, Jaak
The opioid systems play an important role in mediating both physical pain and negative affects (eg, the pain of social isolation). From an evolutionary perspective, it is not surprising that the neurocircuitry and neurochemistry of physical pain would overlap with that involved in complex social emotions. Exposure to trauma as well as a range of gene variants in the opioid system may be associated with alterations in opioid systems function, with changes in reward processing, and with vulnerability to substance abuse. A role for interventions with opioid agents in depression and anxiety disorders has been suggested. PMID:17805212
The Effects of Contextual and Personal Factors on Young Adolescents' Social Goals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kiefer, Sarah M.; Matthews, Yanique T.; Montesino, Mario; Arango, Liza; Preece, Krystle K.
This study investigated the proposal that (a) contextual and personal factors affect the endorsement of social goals during early adolescence and (b) contextual factors and social goals may change over time. Self-reports of classroom contextual factors (i.e., promotion of performance goals, social interaction, and mutual respect) and personal…
Self-Concept in Arab American Adolescents: Implications of Social Support and Experiences in the Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tabbah, Rhonda; Miranda, Antoinette Halsell; Wheaton, Joe E.
The purpose of this study was to investigate three domains (Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, and Global Self-Worth) of self-concept in Arab American adolescents in relation to their school experiences, including discrimination, self-perceived teacher social support, and self-perceived classmate social support. Half of the sample either…
Social Capital in Action: Alignment of Parental Support in Adolescents' Transition to Postsecondary Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kim, Doo Hwan; Schneider, Barbara L.
This article examines the effects of social capital in the transition to postsecondary education, in particular, transitions to selective colleges. Refining the theory of social capital with the concept of alignment between parents' and adolescents' goals and actions, we emphasize the complementarity of extra-group ties as social capital through…
The Role of Social Awareness in the Employment Success of Adolescents with Mild Mental Retardation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Black, Rhonda S.; Rojewski, Jay W.
The role of social awareness in the employment success of adolescents with mild mental retardation was examined in a two-phase study. In phase 1, a set of social awareness descriptors designed to measure the three components of social awareness--sensitivity, insight, and communication--was developed and validated in a five-stage process. In phase…
The Functions of Mass Media in the Political Socialization of Adolescents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Adoni, Hanna
Suggests that the mass media serve as socializing agents by providing direct linkage to media and contents which are essential for the development of political values, and by contributing to the structuring of social contexts in which adolescents may exercise such value orientations and reinforce ties with primary socializing agents. (JMF)
Associations of Parental and Peer Characteristics with Adolescents' Social Dominance Orientation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cross, Jennifer Riedl; Fletcher, Kathryn L.
Studies with adults of social dominance orientation (SDO), a preference for inequality among social groups, have found correlations with various prejudices and support for discriminatory practices. This study explores the construct among adolescents at an age when they are beginning to recognize the social groups in their environment, particularly…
Violence, Older Peers, and the Socialization of Adolescent Boys in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harding, David J.
Most theoretical perspectives on neighborhood effects on youth assume that neighborhood context serves as a source of socialization. The exact sources and processes underlying adolescent socialization in disadvantaged neighborhoods, however, are largely unspecified and unelaborated. This article proposes that cross-cohort socialization by older…
The Role of Gender in the Racial and Ethnic Socialization of African American Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, Tiffany L.; Linver, Miriam R.; Evans, Melanie
Scholars in the field of African American family studies recognize the influence of gender on socialization. However, few studies investigate how gender influences the racial and ethnic socialization of African American youth. To examine the role of gender (both caregiver and adolescent) in socialization practices, data were obtained from 218…
Striving for Social Dominance over Peers: The Implications for Academic Adjustment during Early Adolescence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kiefer, Sarah M.; Ryan, Allison M.
This study investigated the proposal that social dominance goals are an important, but overlooked, aspect of social goals for young adolescents' academic adjustment. Self-reports of social goals (dominance, intimacy, and popularity goals) early in the school year were used to predict subsequent engagement (self-reports and peer nominations of…
Relationship Reciprocation Modulates Resource Allocation in Adolescent Social Networks: Developmental Effects
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burnett Heyes, Stephanie; Jih, Yeou-Rong; Block, Per; Hiu, Chii-Fen; Holmes, Emily A.; Lau, Jennifer Y. F.
Adolescence is characterized as a period of social reorientation toward peer relationships, entailing the emergence of sophisticated social abilities. Two studies (Study 1: N = 42, ages 13-17; Study 2: N = 81, ages 13-16) investigated age group differences in the impact of relationship reciprocation within school-based social networks on an…
Social Network Characteristics of Urban Adolescents in Brief Substance Abuse Treatment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mason, Michael
In this study, the social network characteristics of 102 urban adolescents in brief substance abuse treatment are described and analyzed longitudinally to examine risk and protective mechanisms. The treatment intervention had one session devoted to social support and networks. Social networks were conceptualized and measured along two dimensions…
Young Adolescents' Gender-, Ethnicity-, and Popularity-Based Social Schemas of Aggressive Behavior
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clemans, Katherine H.; Graber, Julia A.
Social schemas can influence the perception and recollection of others' behavior and may create biases in the reporting of social events. This study investigated young adolescents' (N = 317) gender-, ethnicity-, and popularity-based social schemas of overtly and relationally aggressive behavior. Results indicated that participants associated overt…
Functioning of Social Skills from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence in Hungary
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zsolnai, Anikó; Kasik, László
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe the social skills that crucially affect children's social behaviour in the school. Our objective was to gather information about the functioning of social skills from middle childhood to early adolescence. The sample consisted of 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old Hungarian students (N = 1398). Based on…
The relationship between mother's parenting style and social adaptability of adolescent girls in Isfahan
Kazemi, Ashraf; Solokian, Soheila; Ashouri, Elaheh; Marofi, Maryam
Background: Social adaptability is an important requirement of the social life of adolescents, which can be affected by their mother's parenting style (PS). The purpose of this study is to compare the social adaptability in four parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful) through which mothers interact with their adolescent girls. Materials and Methods: This survey is a cross-sectional and analytical study on 737 adolescents that study in the all girls junior high schools in Isfahan. Data collection was done with a questionnaire. The questionnaires were completed by the adolescents. After data collection, the parenting styles were determined and the social adaptability of the four groups was compared. Findings: The mean social adaptability in adolescents who their mothers have the authoritative parenting style was 49.6 ± 6.1, in the permissive parenting style 50.1 ± 5.8, the authoritarian parenting style 44.2 ± 6.5 and in the neglectful parenting style was 42.2 ± 7.5. The social adaptability of the four groups was significantly different (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study shows that the permissive parenting style and after that authoritative parenting style were followed by higher social adaptability in adolescent girls. PMID:23833590
Examining a social reaction model in the prediction of adolescent alcohol use.
Litt, Dana M; Lewis, Melissa A
The prototype willingness model (PWM; Gerrard et al., 2008) is a modified dual-processing model designed to improve the predictive value of existing health risk behavior by suggesting that there are two pathways to health risk behaviors: a reasoned path that is mediated by behavioral intention and a social reaction path that is mediated by behavioral willingness. Although there is evidence supporting the social reaction path to risk behavior among adolescents, most of this work has focused on specific components of the pathway such as prototypes or willingness rather than looking at the entire social reaction pathway as a whole. As such, the primary goal of the present study was to determine whether the social reaction pathway has acceptable fit for a sample of adolescents using a longitudinal design. Results from 835 adolescents support the social reaction pathway of the PWM model when applied to adolescent alcohol use. Specifically, prototypes, perceived vulnerability, and norms predicted willingness to drink, which in turn predicted drinking behavior (drinks per week and peak number of drinks) over a period of 12months. As such, these findings suggest that the social reaction pathway of the PWM is applicable to adolescent drinkers, meaning that adolescent drinking behavior is based on a less planned and socially based decision process. PMID:27155242
Parent-specific reciprocity from infancy to adolescence shapes children's social competence and dialogical skills.
Feldman, Ruth; Bamberger, Esther; Kanat-Maymon, Yaniv
Reciprocity - the capacity to engage in social exchange that integrates inputs from multiple partners into a unified social event - is a cornerstone of adaptive social life that is learned within dyad-specific attachments during an early period of neuroplasticity. Yet, very little research traced the expression of children's reciprocity with their mother and father in relation to long-term outcomes. Guided by evolutionary models, we followed mothers, fathers, and their firstborn child longitudinally and observed mother-child and father-child reciprocity in infancy, preschool, and adolescence. In preschool, children's social competence, aggression, and prosocial behavior were observed at kindergarten. In adolescence, children's dialogical skills were assessed during positive and conflict interactions with same-sex best friends. Father-child and mother-child reciprocity were individually stable, inter-related at each stage, and consisted of distinct behavioral components. Structural equation modeling indicated that early maternal and paternal reciprocity were each uniquely predictive of social competence and lower aggression in preschool, which, in turn, shaped dialogical skills in adolescence. Father-adolescent reciprocity contributed to the dialogical negotiation of conflict, whereas mother-adolescent reciprocity predicted adolescents' dialogical skills during positive exchanges. Results highlight the role of parent-child reciprocity in shaping children's social collaboration and intimate relationships with non-kin members of their social world. PMID:23544455
Orientation and Behaviour of Youth in the Kibbutz: Roots in Adolescent Socialism.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Avrahami, Arza
Analyzes kibbutz adolescents' behavior at four biographical stages: voluntary community service, military service, leave of absence from the kibbutz, and higher education. Determines a distinct association between the socializing agents in the kibbutz and the development of democratic values. (MJP)
Filipino Adolescents' Parental Socialization for Academic Achievement in the United States.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Salazar, Lilia P.; Schludermann, Shirin M.; Schludermann, Eduard H.; Huynh, Cam-Loi
Explored the processes whereby parental socialization practices lead to Filipino adolescents' academic achievement. Family reputation and internal attribution were found to mediate the relation between authoritative parenting and grade-point average. (JPB)
How Do I Feel About Feelings? Emotion Socialization in Families of Depressed and Healthy Adolescents
Hunter, Erin C.; Katz, Lynn Fainsilber; Shortt, Joann Wu; Davis, Betsy; Leve, Craig; Allen, Nicholas B.
Emotional and cognitive changes that occur during adolescence set the stage for the development of adaptive or maladaptive beliefs about emotions. Although research suggests that parents' behaviors and beliefs about emotions relate to children's emotional abilities, few studies have looked at parental socialization of children's emotions, particularly in families with depressed adolescents. The present study examined associations between parent and adolescent meta-emotion philosophies (MEP), defined as thoughts, reactions, and feelings about their own emotions. Additionally, adolescent depressive status was tested as a moderator of relationships between parents' and adolescents' MEP. One hundred and 52 adolescents, aged 14–18 (65.8% female), and their parents (148 mothers, 106 fathers) participated in a study on emotion socialization in families of depressed and healthy adolescents. Depressed adolescents (n = 75) and matched healthy adolescents (n = 77) were recruited based on research criteria for mental health status. The sample was largely Caucasian (82%) and of middle socioeconomic class status. Results indicated that mothers' and fathers' MEP about their children's emotions were associated with adolescents' MEP, although parents' MEP about their own emotions was unrelated to adolescents' MEP. Fathers' MEP about children's emotions made unique contributions to adolescents' MEP across both adolescent groups. Adolescents' depressive status moderated the relationship between mothers' and adolescents' MEP such that mothers' MEP was particularly relevant for depressed adolescents. The continued influence of parents in the emotional lives of adolescents is discussed as well as differences in emotion socialization in families with depressed and healthy adolescents. PMID:20473712
Body Size and Social Self-Image among Adolescent African American Girls: The Moderating Influence of Family Racial Socialization
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Granberg, Ellen M.; Simons, Leslie Gordon; Simons, Ronald L.
Social psychologists have amassed a large body of work demonstrating that overweight African American adolescent girls have generally positive self-images, particularly when compared with overweight females from other racial and ethnic groups. Some scholars have proposed that elements of African American social experience may contribute to the…
Roles of Interpersonal and Media Socialization Agents in Adolescent Self-Reported Health Literacy: A Health Socialization Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Paek, Hye-Jin; Reber, Bryan H.; Lariscy, Ruthann W.
This study proposes a health socialization model and applies it to examine direct, relative and mediating roles of interpersonal and media health socialization agents in predicting adolescent self-reported health literacy. We conducted a paper-and-pencil survey among 452 seventh graders in rural and urban school districts. Our regression analysis…
Paranoid Thoughts in Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder.
Pisano, S; Catone, G; Pascotto, A; Iuliano, R; Tiano, C; Milone, A; Masi, G; Gritti, A
Recently, social anxiety disorder (SAD) and paranoia have been demonstrated to be closely related. However, data were primarily drawn from adult community samples or patients with schizophrenia. The present study used a cross-sectional design to evaluate a sample of adolescents with SAD (n = 30, mean age 15.3 ± 0.9 years) compared with an age- and sex-matched group of healthy controls (n = 26, mean age 15.9 ± 1.6 years). The SAD group displayed more frequent and intense paranoid thoughts than the control group (t = 4.16, p < 0.001). The level of paranoid thoughts was significantly predicted by the degree of social phobia, even after adjusting for sex and other anxiety disorders, although adjusting for depression slightly reduced the extent and significance of the prediction. A lack of awareness about the association between SAD and paranoia may lead to incorrect diagnoses (e.g. misdiagnosis of psychotic disorders), or it may negatively influence the (psycho)therapeutic process and patient outcomes. PMID:26658937
Relationship Reciprocation Modulates Resource Allocation in Adolescent Social Networks: Developmental Effects.
Burnett Heyes, Stephanie; Jih, Yeou-Rong; Block, Per; Hiu, Chii-Fen; Holmes, Emily A; Lau, Jennifer Y F
Adolescence is characterized as a period of social reorientation toward peer relationships, entailing the emergence of sophisticated social abilities. Two studies (Study 1: N = 42, ages 13-17; Study 2: N = 81, ages 13-16) investigated age group differences in the impact of relationship reciprocation within school-based social networks on an experimental measure of cooperation behavior. Results suggest development between mid- and late adolescence in the extent to which reciprocation of social ties predicted resource allocation. With increasing age group, investment decisions increasingly reflected the degree to which peers reciprocated feelings of friendship. This result may reflect social-cognitive development, which could facilitate the ability to navigate an increasingly complex social world in adolescence and promote positive and enduring relationships into adulthood. PMID:26235042
The Social Phobia Inventory: screening and cross-cultural validation in Spanish adolescents.
Garcia-Lopez, Luis Joaquín; Bermejo, Rosa Ma; Hidalgo, Ma Dolores
Availability of brief, self-report measures to be used as screening instruments is crucial to detect correctly youth with social anxiety disorder and therefore, reach those otherwise under-detected and under-treated. A previous study revealed that the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) was potentially an appropriate measure for screening social anxiety among US adolescents. However, there is a lack of information concerning its properties as a screening test in other cultures and languages. This is the main objective of this study, although further validity of the scale is provided as well. The sample consisted of 192 adolescents (a sample composed of 114 subjects with a principal diagnosis of social anxiety disorder; and a group consisting of 78 subjects with no diagnosis of social phobia). Results suggest that the Social Phobia Inventory has demonstrated good psychometric properties and indeed may be used as a screening tool in Spanish-speaking adolescents. PMID:20977044
Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence: effects on social behavior and ethanol sensitivity in adulthood
Varlinskaya, Elena I.; Truxell, Eric; Spear, Linda P.
This study assessed long-lasting consequences of repeated ethanol exposure during two different periods of adolescence on 1) baseline levels of social investigation, play fighting, and social preference and 2) sensitivity to the social consequences of acute ethanol challenge. Adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were tested 25 days after repeated exposure to ethanol (3.5 g/kg intragastrically [i.g.], every other day for a total of 11 exposures) in a modified social interaction test. Early-mid adolescent intermittent exposure (e-AIE) occurred between postnatal days (P) 25–45, whereas late adolescent intermittent exposure (l-AIE) was conducted between P45–65. Significant decreases in social investigation and social preference were evident in adult male rats, but not their female counterparts following e-AIE, whereas neither males nor females demonstrated these alterations following l-AIE. In contrast, both e-AIE and l-AIE produced alterations in sensitivity to acute ethanol challenge in males tested 25 days after adolescent exposure. Ethanol-induced facilitation of social investigation and play fighting, reminiscent of that normally seen during adolescence, was evident in adult males after e-AIE, whereas control males showed an age-typical inhibition of social behavior. Males after l-AIE were found to be insensitive to the socially suppressing effects of acute ethanol challenge, suggesting the development of chronic tolerance in these animals. In contrast, females showed little evidence for alterations in sensitivity to acute ethanol challenge following either early or late AIE. The results of the present study demonstrate a particular vulnerability of young adolescent males to long-lasting detrimental effects of repeated ethanol. Retention of adolescent-typical sensitivity to the socially facilitating effects of ethanol could potentially make ethanol especially appealing to these males, therefore promoting relatively high levels of ethanol intake later in
Repeated restraint stress alters sensitivity to the social consequences of ethanol in adolescent and adult rats
Varlinskaya, Elena I.; Doremus-Fitzwater, Tamara L.; Spear, Linda P.
Human adolescents consume alcohol largely to enhance social interactions. Adolescent, but not adult rats likewise exhibit ethanol-induced social facilitation under low-stress circumstances. Since the relationship between stress and ethanol sensitivity across ontogeny still has yet to be well explored, the present study sought to characterize possible age-associated differences in the influence of stressor exposure on ethanol-induced changes in social behavior in adolescent [postnatal days (P) 30–36] and adult (P65-71) male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were repeatedly restrained (90 min/day) for 5 days, followed by examination of ethanol-induced (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, or 1.0 g/kg) alterations in social behaviors on the last day. Results revealed typical age-related differences in sensitivity to ethanol among controls, with adolescents being uniquely sensitive to low-dose ethanol stimulation of social investigation and play fighting, but less sensitive than adults to the social suppression emerging at higher doses. At both ages, stressor exposure decreased sensitivity to social inhibitory effects of ethanol, while augmenting expression of ethanol's social facilitatory effects. Ethanol also attenuated the stress-related suppression of social motivation at both ages. These results suggest that repeated stressor exposure diminishes age-related differences in the social consequences of ethanol, with stress enhancing ethanol-induced social facilitation across age. PMID:20478326
Nonresident Father Involvement, Social Class, and Adolescent Weight
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Menning, Chadwick L.; Stewart, Susan D.
Body weight issues disproportionately affect children with nonresident fathers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors investigate the relationship between nonresident father involvement and adolescent weight, specifically adolescents' risk of being underweight, overweight, and obese. The results show…
Adolescents' Interpretations of Social Class Influences on Schooling.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brantlinger, Ellen
Interviews with low-income and high-income adolescents investigated various aspects of schooling. Low-income adolescents described aggressive behaviors, numerous school circumstances that made them angry, and humiliation and ostracism at school. High-income adolescents felt much more successful at school and entitled to disproportionate school…
Life Strain, Social Control, Social Learning, and Delinquency: The Effects of Gender, Age, and Family SES Among Chinese Adolescents.
Bao, Wan-Ning; Haas, Ain; Xie, Yunping
Very few studies have examined the pathways to delinquency and causal factors for demographic subgroups of adolescents in a different culture. This article explores the effects of gender, age, and family socioeconomic status (SES) in an integrated model of strain, social control, social learning, and delinquency among a sample of Chinese adolescents. ANOVA is used to check for significant differences between categories of demographic groups on the variables in the integrated model, and the differential effects of causal factors in the theoretical path models are examined. Further tests of interaction effects are conducted to compare path coefficients between "high-risk" youths (i.e., male, mid-teen, and low family SES adolescents) and other subgroups. The findings identified similar pathways to delinquency across subgroups and clarified the salience of causal factors for male, mid-teen, and low SES adolescents in a different cultural context. PMID:25850102
Adolescents' fear of social consequences of academic success as a function of age and sex.
Ishiyama, F I; Chabassol, D J
The Fear of Success Consequence Scale (FOSC) was used to assess adolescents' fears of potential social consequences of academic success in three dimensions, i.e., negative social reaction, positive peer reaction, and increased pressure and responsibility for continuous success. Subjects were 360 students in early adolescence (grades 7-9) and mid-adolescence (grades 10-12) in three urban British Columbia areas. Two hypotheses were supported: (1) that fear of academic success is higher among early adolescents than among mid-adolescents; (2) that girls generally have higher fear of academic success than do boys. Significant sex differences were found among early adolescents but not among mid-adolescents. While general sex differences were consistent with Horner's prediction, the findings of lower fear of success consequences among older adolescents than among younger ones, and the absence of significant sex difference among mid-adolescents, were contrary to Horner's prediction. Possible explanations for these findings are considered. Suggestions for further research are mentioned. PMID:24301042
Social Network Status and Depression among Adolescents: An Examination of Social Network Influences and Depressive Symptoms in a Chinese Sample
Okamoto, Janet; Johnson, C. Anderson; Leventhal, Adam; Milam, Joel; Pentz, Mary Ann; Schwartz, David; Valente, Thomas W.
Despite the well established influence of peer experiences on adolescent attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors, surprisingly little research has examined the importance of peer context and the increased prevalence of depressive symptoms accompanying the transition into adolescence. Examination of social networks may provide some insight into the role of peers in the vulnerability of some adolescents to depression. To address this issue, we leveraged an existing sample of 5,563 Chinese 10th graders to incorporate social network data into a multilevel regression model of depressive symptoms. We found that, in this sample, being nominated as a friend was more important than being nominated as most liked. Social network centrality was significantly associated with depression; those adolescents who were less connected were more likely to suffer from depression. The risk of depression for those who were marginal members of classroom social networks was substantial. These findings suggest that a social network perspective could help to increase the effectiveness of programs aimed at preventing adolescent depression. PMID:23226988
Effects of social conditions during adolescence on courtship and aggressive behavior are not abolished by adult social experience.
Ruploh, Tim; Henning, Miriam; Bischof, Hans-Joachim; von Engelhardt, Nikolaus
Social experience during adolescence has long-lasting consequences for adult social behavior in many species. In zebra finches, individuals reared in pairs during adolescence start to court females faster, sing more courtship motifs to females and are more aggressive compared with group-reared males. We investigated whether such differences are stable during adulthood or can be abolished by novel social experience after adolescence by giving all birds extensive experience with group life during adulthood. Courtship and aggressiveness increased in all males, but pair-reared males still had a higher motif rate and were more aggressive than group-reared males. Males no longer differed in courtship latency. In addition to the stable treatment differences, individual differences in behavior remained stable over time. Our results show that differences in behavior acquired during adolescence are preserved into adulthood, although adults still change their social behavior. Adolescence can thus be seen as a sensitive period during which social conditions have a lasting effect on adult behavior. PMID:25545997
Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents' well-being and social self-esteem.
Valkenburg, Patti M; Peter, Jochen; Schouten, Alexander P
The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of friend networking sites (e.g., Friendster, MySpace) for adolescents' self-esteem and well-being. We conducted a survey among 881 adolescents (10-19-year-olds) who had an online profile on a Dutch friend networking site. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the frequency with which adolescents used the site had an indirect effect on their social self-esteem and well-being. The use of the friend networking site stimulated the number of relationships formed on the site, the frequency with which adolescents received feedback on their profiles, and the tone (i.e., positive vs. negative) of this feedback. Positive feedback on the profiles enhanced adolescents' social self-esteem and well-being, whereas negative feedback decreased their self-esteem and well-being. PMID:17034326
Moral identity and psychological distance: the case of adolescent parental socialization.
Hardy, Sam A; Bhattacharjee, Amit; Reed Ii, Americus; Aquino, Karl
A mediation model using a sample of 1059 adolescents (56% girls; M age=16.02, SD=1.37) tested relations between parenting, adolescent moral identity, and the formation of psychological distance towards others. In short, adolescent moral identity mediated relations between parenting and the ways in which adolescents oriented others in their psychological space. Specifically, adolescent-report parenting style dimensions (responsiveness, autonomy-granting, and demandingness) were positively related to the formation of both private and public moral identity dimensions (internalization and symbolization), which were in turn associated with a tendency to construct psychological distance towards others (negatively with social dominance orientation and positively with the circle of moral regard). Therefore, one way parents may be able to influence how adolescents relate to their peers is by fostering a sense of moral identity in their children through authoritative parenting. PMID:19570572
[Influence of sociodemographic variables on coping styles, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents].
de la Paz Bermúdez, María; Teva, Inmaculada; Buela-Casal, Gualberto
The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of gender, age, and type of high school (public/private) on coping styles solve the problem coping style, reference to others coping style and non-productive coping, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking in adolescents. A total of 4.456 adolescents participated. The following measures were used: Adolescent Coping Scale, Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Social Stress subscale of the Behavior Assessment System for Children. This is a cross-sectional study that used a stratified random sampling considering Spanish regions and type of high school (public/private) to select participants. The sample is representative of the national level at a 95.5% confidence interval. Results showed that males had higher scores in sexual sensation seeking and social stress compared to females. Female adolescents scored higher in reference to others coping style and non-productive coping. Compared to adolescents of public high schools, adolescents who attended to private high schools scored higher in solve the problem coping style and reference to others coping style. Associations among sexual sensation seeking, coping styles, social stress, and health risk behaviors in adolescents are discussed. PMID:19403074
Conceptual Foundations and Components of a Contextual Intervention to Promote Student Engagement during Early Adolescence: The Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success (SEALS) Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farmer, Thomas W.; Hamm, Jill V.; Lane, Kathleen L.; Lee, David; Sutherland, Kevin S.; Hall, Cristin M.; Murray, Robert A.
Decades of research indicate that many early adolescents are at risk for developing significant school adjustment problems in the academic, behavioral, and social domains during the transition to middle school. The Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success (SEALS) model has been developed as a professional development and…
Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation
... FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, QUARANTINE, AND ISOLATION DURING AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAK What Is Social Distancing? Social distancing is ... interacting closely or frequently enough to spread an infectious disease. Schools and other gathering places such as movie ...
What Drives Apostates and Converters? The Social and Familial Antecedents of Religious Change among Adolescents
Longo, Gregory S.; Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen
While research on the psychology of religion and spirituality has examined religious conversion, little research has examined social and familial variables that might play a role in conversion in adolescence. Longitudinal work examining concurrent conversion experiences – as opposed to retrospective reports – is particularly rare. In an examination of 209 parent-adolescent dyads, findings suggested that those who became religious at Time 2 had higher social competence at Time 1 than did apostates, whereas adolescents who were religious at both times had higher social competence, parent communication, and parent trust than apostates. Additionally, those who converted to their parent's religion at Time 2 were higher than apostates in Time 1 social competence and parent communication. Results point to the importance of considering social and familial factors in religious conversion. PMID:25664141
Relationships between Social Information Processing and Aggression among Adolescent Girls with and without ADHD.
Mikami, Amori Y; Hinshaw, Stephen P; Lee, Steve S; Mullin, Benjamin C
This study investigated the relationship between social information processing and both relational and physical aggression in a longitudinally-followed sample of 228 adolescent girls (ages 11-18; 140 with ADHD and 88 comparison girls). During childhood, girls participated in naturalistic summer camps where peer rejection, overt physical aggression, and relational aggression were assessed via multiple informants and methods. Approximately 4.5 years later, these girls participated in follow-up assessments during which they completed a commonly-used vignette procedure to assess social information processing; overt and relational aggression were again assessed through multiple informants. Correlations between (a) overt and relational aggression and (b) maladaptive social information processing were modest in this female adolescent sample. However, relationships between aggression and social information processing were stronger for the comparison girls than for the girls with ADHD. The relevance of social information processing models for adolescent girls and clinical implications of findings are discussed. PMID:21399756
Relationships between Social Information Processing and Aggression among Adolescent Girls with and without ADHD
Mikami, Amori Y.; Hinshaw, Stephen P.; Lee, Steve S.; Mullin, Benjamin C.
This study investigated the relationship between social information processing and both relational and physical aggression in a longitudinally-followed sample of 228 adolescent girls (ages 11–18; 140 with ADHD and 88 comparison girls). During childhood, girls participated in naturalistic summer camps where peer rejection, overt physical aggression, and relational aggression were assessed via multiple informants and methods. Approximately 4.5 years later, these girls participated in follow-up assessments during which they completed a commonly-used vignette procedure to assess social information processing; overt and relational aggression were again assessed through multiple informants. Correlations between (a) overt and relational aggression and (b) maladaptive social information processing were modest in this female adolescent sample. However, relationships between aggression and social information processing were stronger for the comparison girls than for the girls with ADHD. The relevance of social information processing models for adolescent girls and clinical implications of findings are discussed. PMID:21399756
Utilizing social networking sites to promote adolescents' health: a pragmatic review of the literature.
Francomano, Jesse A; Harpin, Scott B
Social networking site use has exploded among youth in the last few years and is being adapted as an important tool for healthcare interventions and serving as a platform for adolescents to gain access to health information. The aim of this study was to examine the strengths, weaknesses, and best practices of utilizing Facebook in adolescent health promotion and research via pragmatic literature review. We also examine how sites can facilitate ethically sound healthcare for adolescents, particularly at-risk youth. We conducted a literature review of health and social sciences literature from the past 5 years related to adolescent health and social network site use. Publications were grouped by shared content then categorized by themes. Five themes emerged: access to healthcare information, peer support and networking, risk and benefits of social network site use in care delivery, overcoming technological barriers, and social network site interventions. More research is needed to better understand how such Web sites can be better utilized to provide access to adolescents seeking healthcare. Given the broad reach of social network sites, all health information must be closely monitored for accurate, safe distribution. Finally, consent and privacy issues are omnipresent in social network sites, which calls for standards of ethical use. PMID:25393833
Chronic Childhood Peer Rejection is Associated with Heightened Neural Responses to Social Exclusion During Adolescence.
Will, Geert-Jan; van Lier, Pol A C; Crone, Eveline A; Güroğlu, Berna
This functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study examined subjective and neural responses to social exclusion in adolescents (age 12-15) who either had a stable accepted (n = 27; 14 males) or a chronic rejected (n = 19; 12 males) status among peers from age 6 to 12. Both groups of adolescents reported similar increases in distress after being excluded in a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball), but adolescents with a history of chronic peer rejection showed higher activity in brain regions previously linked to the detection of, and the distress caused by, social exclusion. Specifically, compared with stably accepted adolescents, chronically rejected adolescents displayed: 1) higher activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) during social exclusion and 2) higher activity in the dACC and anterior prefrontal cortex when they were incidentally excluded in a social interaction in which they were overall included. These findings demonstrate that chronic childhood peer rejection is associated with heightened neural responses to social exclusion during adolescence, which has implications for understanding the processes through which peer rejection may lead to adverse effects on mental health over time. PMID:25758671
Differentiating Anxiety and Depression in Relation to the Social Functioning of Young Adolescents With ADHD.
Becker, Stephen P; Langberg, Joshua M; Evans, Steven W; Girio-Herrera, Erin; Vaughn, Aaron J
The present study examined anxiety and depressive symptoms in relation to the social functioning of young adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and builds upon prior work by incorporating youths' self-reports of internalizing symptoms and examining distinct anxiety and depression dimensions to increase specificity. Participants were 310 young adolescents (ages 10-14; 71% male, 78% Caucasian) diagnosed with ADHD. Youth provided ratings of anxiety/depression, and parents provided ratings of their own depression. Parents and youth both reported on youths' social skills and perceived social acceptance. Path analyses indicated that above and beyond child demographics, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder symptom severity, and parents' own depression, self-reported social anxiety and anhedonia were both associated with lower youth-reported social skills and both parent- and youth-reported social acceptance. Negative self-evaluation was associated with poorer parent-reported social skills. Finally, harm avoidance was positively associated with both youth- and parent-reported social skills. A path analysis using comorbid diagnoses (rather than symptom dimensions) indicated that that having a comorbid disruptive behavior disorder or depression diagnosis (but not a comorbid anxiety diagnosis) was associated with poorer parent-reported social functioning. Results demonstrate that the relation between internalizing symptoms and social functioning among young adolescents with ADHD is nuanced, with social anxiety and anhedonia symptoms associated with lower social skills and social acceptance in contrast to harm avoidance being associated with higher ratings of social skills (and unrelated to social acceptance). In terms of comorbid diagnoses, depression is more clearly related than anxiety to poorer social functioning among young adolescents with ADHD. These results point to the importance of attending to specific facets of anxiety and depression in
The importance of perceived care and connectedness with friends and parents for adolescent social anxiety.
Van Zalk, Nejra; Van Zalk, Maarten
Nonclinical social anxiety in adolescence can be highly problematic, as it likely affects current and especially new social interactions. Relationships with significant others, such as close friends, mothers, and fathers, could aid socially anxious adolescents' participation in social situations, thereby helping reduce feelings of social anxiety. We examined whether making friends as well as high friendship quality help reduce social anxiety over time, and whether friends', mothers', and fathers' care interact in reducing social anxiety. Using longitudinal data from 2,194 participants in a social network (48% girls; Mage = 13.58) followed for 3 years, we estimated friendship selection and influence processes via a continuous time-modeling approach using SIENA. We controlled for the effects of depressive symptoms, self-esteem, gender, age, and family structure. Our findings suggest that perceived care by friends mediated the effect of making friends on social anxiety. Perceptions of mother and father, as well as friend care and connectedness, respectively, did not interact in decreasing social anxiety. Nonetheless, care and connectedness with mothers, fathers, and friends jointly predicted decreases in social anxiety. Caring relationships with friends and parents each play a role in mutually protecting early adolescents against increasing in social anxiety over time. PMID:24957362
#Sleepyteens: Social media use in adolescence is associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
Woods, Heather Cleland; Scott, Holly
This study examined how social media use related to sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety and depression in 467 Scottish adolescents. We measured overall social media use, nighttime-specific social media use, emotional investment in social media, sleep quality, self-esteem and levels of anxiety and depression. Adolescents who used social media more - both overall and at night - and those who were more emotionally invested in social media experienced poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Nighttime-specific social media use predicted poorer sleep quality after controlling for anxiety, depression and self-esteem. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that social media use is related to various aspects of wellbeing in adolescents. In addition, our results indicate that nighttime-specific social media use and emotional investment in social media are two important factors that merit further investigation in relation to adolescent sleep and wellbeing. PMID:27294324
Adolescents' Views regarding Uses of Social Networking Websites and Text Messaging for Adolescent Sexual Health Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Selkie, Ellen M.; Benson, Meghan; Moreno, Megan
Background: Adolescents frequently report barriers to obtaining sexual health education. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine adolescents' views regarding how new technologies could be used for sexual health education. Methods: Focus group interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of adolescents between 14 and 19 years old.…
Influence of sexual competition and social context on homosexual behavior in adolescent female Japanese macaques.
Gunst, Noëlle; Leca, Jean-Baptiste; Vasey, Paul L
We explored the role that sexual and social partners play in the expression of female homosexual behavior among adolescent female Japanese macaques at Arashiyama, Japan. Our data fully or partially supported all the predictions related to four non-mutually exclusive hypotheses, namely the "adult male disinterest in adolescent females" hypothesis, the "numerous homosexual adult females" hypothesis, the "safer homosexual interactions" hypothesis and the "same-sex sexual interactions" hypothesis. Our results show that both sexual context (e.g., lack of adolescent female attractivity toward adult males, presence of motivated same-sex sexual partners), and social context (e.g., risk of aggression) help explain the high frequency and prevalence of homosexual behavior in adolescent females in the Arashiyama group of Japanese macaques. As with adult females, whose homosexual consortships do not reflect generalized patterns of social affiliation or kinship, we found that adolescent females' same-sex sexual partners were neither kin, nor were they non-kin individuals with whom adolescent females were closely affiliated outside of a consortship context. Our study furthers the growing database of female homosexual behavior in Japanese macaques and provides additional evidence that homosexual behavior as expressed by adolescent female Japanese macaques is, like heterosexual behavior, sexual in nature. We discuss the relevance of our findings to a broader comparative approach that may shed light upon the development and evolution of human homosexuality. PMID:25597406
Social anxiety in late adolescence: the importance of early childhood language impairment.
Voci, Sabrina C; Beitchman, Joseph H; Brownlie, E B; Wilson, Beth
Social phobia is a common, highly comorbid, poorly understood and relatively understudied condition. The origins of social phobia share familial and biological features common with those of other anxiety disorders, but seldom have precursors of the fear of social communication been examined as a possible pathway to social phobia. Here we examine the role of early childhood language impairment as an antecedent to social phobia in late adolescence. Participants in a prospective longitudinal community study identified as having language impairment at age 5 and matched controls were followed up at age 19. Compared to normal language controls, individuals with a history of early language impairment had 2.7 times the odds of having a social phobia by age 19. Results suggest that early language impairment represents a distinct pathway to late adolescent social phobia. PMID:16503112
The Embeddedness of Adolescent Friendship Nominations: The Formation of Social Capital in Emergent Network Structures
Frank, Kenneth A.; Muller, Chandra; Mueller, Anna S.
Although research on social embeddedness and social capital con-firms the value of friendship networks, little has been written about how social relations form and are structured by social institutions. Using data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement study and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors show that the odds of a new friendship nomination were 1.77 times greater within clusters of high school students taking courses together than between them. The estimated effect cannot be attributed to exposure to peers in similar grade levels, indirect friendship links, or pair-level course overlap, and the finding is robust to alternative model specifications. The authors also show how tendencies associated with status hierarchy inhering in triadic friendship nominations are neutralized within the clusters. These results have implications for the production and distribution of social capital within social systems such as schools, giving the clusters social salience as "local positions." PMID:25364011
Relationship of social support to stress responses and immune function in healthy and asthmatic adolescents.
Kang, D H; Coe, C L; Karaszewski, J; McCarthy, D O
Although most clinicians believe that social support has beneficial effects on health, the mechanisms mediating this relationship have not been clearly established. We examined the direct effect of social support on several immune measures and its role in moderating the response to academic exams in healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Three types of students--healthy, mild asthma, and severe asthma--completed social support and stress questionnaires and gave blood samples during the midsemester and final exam periods. Social support and natural killer cell (NK) function showed a significant reduction during exams in both healthy and asthmatic adolescents. Social support, however, did not have a direct effect on immune responses. Nevertheless, high social support appeared to attenuate the magnitude of exam-induced reduction in NK activity, suggesting a role for social support in protecting against immune decrements during times of stress. PMID:9535404
Social relations and PTSD symptoms: a prospective study on earthquake-impacted adolescents in Taiwan.
Wu, Chih-Hsun; Chen, Sue-Huei; Weng, Li-Jen; Wu, Yin-Chang
This prospective longitudinal study examined two competing models, a traditional social support model and a supportive and detrimental social relations model, to clarify the association of PTSD symptoms with supportive and detrimental social relations. Seven-hundred five adolescents living near the epicenter of the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake participated in the study. The models were evaluated and cross-validated using structural equation modeling. The supportive and detrimental social relations model appeared to be a better fit. After further evaluation of three nested versions of the supportive and detrimental social relations model, detrimental social relations was found to partially mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms 1 and 2 years following the earthquake. The findings suggest that helping adolescents deal with detrimental social relations can contribute to postdisaster adjustment. PMID:19760741
A friend request from dear old dad: associations between parent-child social networking and adolescent outcomes.
Coyne, Sarah M; Padilla-Walker, Laura M; Day, Randal D; Harper, James; Stockdale, Laura
This study examined the relationship between parent-child social networking, connection, and outcomes for adolescents. Participants (491 adolescents and their parents) completed a number of questionnaires on social networking use, feelings of connection, and behavioral outcomes. Social networking with parents was associated with increased connection between parents and adolescents. Feelings of connection then mediated the relationship between social networking with parents and behavioral outcomes, including higher prosocial behavior and lower relational aggression and internalizing behavior. Conversely, adolescent social networking use without parents was associated with negative outcomes, such as increased relational aggression, internalizing behaviors, delinquency, and decreased feelings of connection. These results indicate that although high levels of social networking use may be problematic for some individuals, social networking with parents may potentially strengthen parent-child relationships and then lead to positive outcomes for adolescents. PMID:23845157
Distrust, social fragmentation and adolescents' health in the outer city: Beirut and beyond
khawaja, marwan; Abdulrahim, Sawsan; Soweid, Rima AA; Karam, Dima
This study examined the association between place and components of social capital among adolescents living in three impoverished communities outside of Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. We utilized a unique data set that includes a wide range of social capital items to assess the association between place, social capital and self rated health. The analyses were based on data collected by trained interviewers during the Spring of 2003 from a stratified random sample of 1,294 adolescents aged 13-19 years, drawn from a sampling frame constructed from area maps and detailed household listing of the target population. Descriptive statistics and odds ratios from logistic regression models were used to assess the strength of associations between (1) the social capital items and community of residence and (2) social capital, community and self-rated health controlling for age, sex and income. Findings show that distrust and social fragmentation were generally prevalent among adolescents living in impoverished suburban communities. Even though social networks, especially the presence of family and relatives, were strong, instrumental social exchange was relatively scarce. Social capital items varied significantly by community, and the stock of social capital in one of the three communities surveyed – the Palestinian refugee camp – was quite distinctive. Findings from logistic regression models showed that social capital as measured by a simple index is strongly associated with self-rated health status, controlling for community, age, sex and income. Some implications of the findings were discussed. PMID:16716477
Adolescent Tobacco Use in the Netherlands: Social Background, Education, and School Organization
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Huisman, Chip; van de Werfhorst, Herman G.; Monshouwer, Karin
This article empirically examines the effect of social background, education, and school organization on adolescent tobacco use in the Netherlands. We test theories of norm enforcing and horizon expanding social networks and distinction by examining the relationship between daily smoking behavior and school organization. Using the 2007 Dutch…
Acculturation and Social Support in Relation to Psychosocial Adjustment of Adolescent Refugees Resettled in Australia
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kovacev, Lydia; Shute, Rosalyn
This study examined how different modes of acculturation and perceived social support are related to adolescent refugee psychosocial adjustment, as measured by global self-worth and peer social acceptance. The 83 participants, aged between 12 and 19 and now resident in Australia, were from the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Those who had the most…
Personal and Social Correlates of Alcohol Consumption among Mid-Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marsden, John; Boys, Annabel; Farrell, Michael; Stillwell, Garry; Hutchings, Kevin; Hillebrand, Jennifer; Griffiths, Paul
A prospective, cohort survey of 540 mid-adolescent students was conducted to identify personal, family and social correlates of alcohol use. A structured questionnaire recorded alcohol involvement, other substance use, perceived parental alcohol use and related factors, alcohol-related attitudes and beliefs, psychological well-being, social and…
A Typology of Retaliation Strategies against Social Aggression among Adolescent Girls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kozlowski, Karen Phelan; Warber, Kathleen M.
Girls respond to peer attacks of indirect social aggression in various ways. This study explores when and how victims retaliate against their aggressors. Qualitative interviews with 15 adolescent girls ages 10-16 suggest that victims of social aggression are likely to retaliate when their aggressors communicate the following: identity attacks,…
Relations among Sadness Regulation, Peer Acceptance, and Social Functioning in Early Adolescence: The Role of Gender
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Perry-Parrish, Carisa; Zeman, Janice
Using a multi-informant approach, this study examined emotion regulation within the social context of White and Black adolescent peer groups by assessing two aspects of sadness expression management (i.e., inhibition, disinhibition) and their linkages to peer acceptance and social functioning as a function of gender and ethnicity. Seventh- and…
Gender Differences in the Social Motivation and Friendship Experiences of Autistic and Non-Autistic Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sedgewick, Felicity; Hill, Vivian; Yates, Rhiannon; Pickering, Leanne; Pellicano, Elizabeth
This mixed-methods study examined gender differences in the social motivation and friendship experiences of adolescent boys and girls with autism relative to those without autism, all educated within special education settings. Autistic girls showed similar social motivation and friendship quality to non-autistic girls, while autistic boys…
Use of a Social Story Intervention To Improve Mealtime Skills of an Adolescent with Asperger Syndrome.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bledsoe, Rebecca; Myles, Brenda Smith; Simpson, Richard L.
A study assessed the utility of a social story intervention to improve the lunchtime eating behaviors of an adolescent with Asperger syndrome. The social story program resulted in a decrease in the number of food and drink skills and an increase in the frequency of appropriate mouth-wiping during school lunch. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)
Decreasing Inappropriate Behaviors for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Modified Social Stories
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Graetz, Janet E.; Mastropieri, Margo A.; Scruggs, Thomas E.
A multiple baseline design study was implemented to assess the effects of a modified social story intervention on inappropriate social behaviors of three adolescents with moderate autism. Baseline data were collected on inappropriate behaviors that included refusal to stand, use of a high-pitched voice, and placing hands/objects in mouth.…
Early Adolescent Family Experiences and Perceived Social Support in Young Adulthood
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gayman, Mathew D.; Turner, R. Jay; Cislo, Andrew M.; Eliassen, A. Henry
Although the protective role of social support is well established in the health literature, antecedents of perceived social support are not well understood. Research on family experiential factors during early adolescence, an important psychosocial developmental period in the life course, represents a promising line of inquiry. Using a sample of…
Loneliness and Social Support in Adolescent Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lasgaard, Mathias; Nielsen, Annette; Eriksen, Mette E.; Goossens, Luc
Loneliness and perceived social support were examined in 39 adolescent boys with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by means of a self-labeling loneliness measure, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (third version), and the Social Support Scale for Children. Twenty-one percent of the boys with ASD described themselves as often or always feeling lonely.…
Similarity and the Quality of Online and Offline Social Relationships among Adolescents in Israel
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mesch, Gustavo S.; Talmud, Ilan
Studies on online social relationships have focused on how Internet use is associated with sociability, but have not compared the quality of online with offline relationships. On the other hand, studies on adolescent friendship formation have used school samples disregarding the Internet as a new social context for it. We took a different…
An Observational Study of the Interactions of Socially Withdrawn/Anxious Early Adolescents and Their Friends
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schneider, Barry H.
Background: The friendships of socially withdrawn/anxious children and early adolescents have been found to lack critical rewarding qualities. Observational research may help elucidate the obstacles they face in forming and maintaining high-quality friendships with sociable peers. Method: We observed the interactions of 38 socially withdrawn early…
Anxiety and Social Stress Related to Adolescent Gambling Behavior and Substance Use
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ste-Marie, Chantal; Gupta, Rina; Derevensky, Jeffrey L.
The relationship between anxiety, social stress, substance use, and gambling behavior was examined in a sample of 1,044 high school students from grades 7-11. Adolescents completed several instruments assessing their state, trait, and generalized anxiety, social stress, substance use, and gambling behavior. Results reveal that probable…
Do Coparenting and Social Support Have a Greater Effect on Adolescent Fathers than Adult Fathers?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fagan, Jay; Lee, Yookyong
This study examined whether coparenting support and social support had a stronger effect on father engagement with 3-year-olds among adolescent fathers compared with adult fathers. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,540), we found that coparenting support and paternal social support had a significantly stronger…
Smoking Status Moderates the Contribution of Social-Cognitive and Environmental Determinants to Adolescents' Smoking Intentions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Victoir, An; Eertmans, A.; Van den Broucke, S.; Van den Bergh, O.
In this study, it was tested whether attitudes, self-efficacy, social influences and the perception of the school and home environments had different associations with intentions for adolescent non-smokers, occasional smokers and daily smokers. A regression model allowing for separate slopes of social-cognitive and environment variables accounted…
Suicidal Ideation and Distress among Immigrant Adolescents: The Role of Acculturation, Life Stress, and Social Support
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cho, Yong-Beom; Haslam, Nick
Acculturative stress and social support play important roles in suicide-related phenomena among adolescent immigrants. To examine their contributions, measures of acculturative and general life stress and a measure of multiple sources of social support were used to predict psychological distress and suicidal ideation among Korean-born high school…
Randomized Controlled Trial: Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skill Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
White, Susan W.; Ollendick, Thomas; Albano, Anne Marie; Oswald, Donald; Johnson, Cynthia; Southam-Gerow, Michael A.; Kim, Inyoung; Scahill, Lawrence
Anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and may amplify the core social disability, thus necessitating combined treatment approaches. This pilot, randomized controlled trial evaluated the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention (MASSI) program in a sample of 30…
Measuring Social Provisions for Physical Activity among Adolescent Black and White Girls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Motl, Robert W.; Dishman, Rod K.; Saunders, Ruth P.; Dowda, Marsha; Pate, Russell R.
The authors evaluate the validity of the Social Provisions Scale for physical activity among adolescent Black (n = 896) and White (n = 823) girls. The girls completed the scale and measures of subjective norms and physical activity in the eighth and ninth grades. Within the sample of White girls, the Social Provisions Scale contained 24 items that…
Comparison of Social Variables for Understanding Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Saunders, Ruth P.; Motl, Robert W.; Dowda, Marsha; Dishman, Rod K.; Pate, Russell R.
Objective : To evaluate social support and theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs in explaining physical activity in adolescent girls. Methods : One thousand seven hundred ninety-seven 8 th -grade girls completed a survey measuring social provisions, family support, TPB constructs, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and team sport…
A Social Operational Model of Urban Adolescents' Tobacco and Substance Use: A Mediational Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mason, Michael J.; Mennis, Jeremy; Schmidt, Christopher D.
This study tested a mediation model of the relationship with tobacco use, social network quality (level of risk or protection in a network), and substance use (alcohol and/or illicit drugs) with a sample of 301 urban adolescents. It was theorized that social network quality would mediate the effect of tobacco use, accounting for PTSD symptoms and…
Correlations among Social-Cognitive Skills in Adolescents Involved in Acting or Arts Classes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldstein, Thalia R.
Empathy, theory of mind, and adaptive emotion regulation are critical skills for social functioning. However, the ways in which these skills may co- or differentially develop has thus far been understudied. We explored how these social-cognitive skills converge and diverge across a year of development in early adolescence, and with different kinds…
Longitudinal Associations between Depressive Problems, Academic Performance, and Social Functioning in Adolescent Boys and Girls
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Verboom, Charlotte E.; Sijtsema, Jelle J.; Verhulst, Frank C.; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Ormel, Johan
Depressive problems and academic performance, social well-being, and social problems in adolescents are strongly associated. However, longitudinal and bidirectional relations between the two remain unclear, as well as the role of gender. Consequently, this study focuses on the relation between depressive problems and three types of functioning in…
Adolescent Depression and School Social Support: A Multilevel Analysis of a Finnish Sample
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ellonen, Noora; Kaariainen, Juha; Autio, Ville
This study invokes the ecological approach to social support by examining how school social support relates to moderate or severe adolescent depression. School is seen as not only a place for supportive individual-level relationships, but also as a source of community support created by teachers and other students. The main purpose of the study is…
Development of Social Functioning in Preschizophrenia Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tarbox, Sarah I.; Pogue-Geile, Michael F.
Schizophrenia is associated with severe deficits in social functioning. Similar deficits may be present prior to psychosis onset, in childhood and adolescence. If so, then prepsychosis social deficits could provide clues to the development of pathological processes in preschizophrenia children and could potentially improve early identification of…
Reliability of Seven Measures of Social Intelligence in a Sample of Adolescents with Mental Retardation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mathias, Jane L.; Nettelbeck, Ted
Evaluation of the reliability of 7 measures assessing social cognitive variables hypothesized to define social intelligence, with a total of 125 adolescents with mental retardation, found high to very high interrater reliability coefficients; moderate to very high internal reliabilities; and moderate to high test-retest reliabilities. (Author/DB)
Bravest Girl in the World: Exploring Social Justice through Adolescents' Lens
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McCarther, Shirley Marie; Davis, Donna M.
As professors of education in an urban community, we wanted to identify mechanisms that would allow young people in the urban core the opportunity to share their unique voices with the world and for us to better understand their views on social justice and social change. The purpose of this paper is to discuss adolescent student perspectives on…
Friendship and Alcohol Use in Early Adolescence: A Multilevel Social Network Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Knecht, Andrea B.; Burk, William J.; Weesie, Jeroen; Steglich, Christian
This study applies multilevel social network analytic techniques to examine processes of homophilic selection and social influence related to alcohol use among friends in early adolescence. Participants included 3,041 Dutch youth (M age =12 years, 49% female) from 120 classrooms in 14 schools. Three waves with 3-month intervals of friendship…
Behavioral, Social, and Cognitive Predictors of Adolescent Academic Self-Concept: A Longitudinal Investigation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arsenault, Darin J.
In a longitudinal investigation, a model was developed to assess behavioral, social, and cognitive influences on the academic self-concept of 104 adolescents (57 males, 47 females) who participated in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study between 18 months and 17 years of age. The basic model was Academic Self-Concept = Constant + Behavior + Social +…
Mental Health, School Problems, and Social Networks: Modeling Urban Adolescent Substance Use
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mason, Michael J.
This study tested a mediation model of the relationship with school problems, social network quality, and substance use with a primary care sample of 301 urban adolescents. It was theorized that social network quality (level of risk or protection in network) would mediate the effects of school problems, accounting for internalizing problems and…
Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Assessment of Children and Adolescents. Fourth Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whitcomb, Sara A.; Merrell, Kenneth W.
Generally recognized as the standard work in its field, "Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Assessment of Children and Adolescents" provides a comprehensive foundation and guide for conducting conceptually sound, culturally responsive, and ecologically oriented assessments of student social and emotional behavior. It is aimed at graduate…
Maternal and Paternal Perceptions of Social Competence in Children and Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Renk, Kimberly; Phares, Vicky
We examined maternal and paternal perceptions of social competence in children and adolescents. One hundred forty-seven parents rated scenarios depicting children who varied in age, gender, and social competence. Parents also completed questionnaires assessing the amount of time they spend with their own children, their gender identity, their…
Chinese Adolescents' Social Status Goals: Associations with Behaviors and Attributions for Relational Aggression
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wright, Michelle F.; Li, Yan; Shi, Junqi
This study examined two social status goals in relation to aggressive and prosocial behaviors as well as attributions for relational aggression among 477 (244 girls) Chinese early adolescents. Findings indicate that, after controlling for each other, the social preference goal was negatively related to self-reported overt aggression, and…
Encouraging Connections: Integrating Expressive Art and Drama into Therapeutic Social Skills Training with Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lenz, A. Stephen; Holman, Rachel L.; Dominguez, Denise L.
The effective use of social skills has been positively associated with career success, romantic involvement, academic achievement, and mood. In response, counselors often integrate social skills training into counseling interventions with adolescents to encourage authentic and effective interactions with others. We illustrate some therapeutic…
Conceptualizing the Prospective Relationship between Social Support, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Auerbach, Randy Patrick; Bigda-Peyton, Joseph S.; Eberhart, Nicole K.; Webb, Christian A.; Ho, Moon-Ho Ringo
The goal of the current study is to examine the relationship amongst social support, stress, and depressive symptoms within a transactional and diathesis-stress framework using a multi-wave, longitudinal design. At the initial assessment, adolescents (n = 258) completed self-report measures assessing social support (peer, classmate, parent, and…
Direct and Moderating Effects of Social Affordances on School Involvement and Delinquency among Young Adolescents
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yu, Jeong Jin; Gamble, Wendy C.
Using social control theory and attachment theory as guides, this study examined how qualities of young adolescents' social relationships (i.e., mother, sibling, and friend) and dynamic interactions among characteristics of those relationships are associated with school involvement and delinquency. The participants included older siblings (M age =…
Parents and Peers as Providers of Support in Adolescents' Social Network: A Developmental Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
del Valle, Jorge F.; Bravo, Amaia; Lopez, Monica
The authors carried out an assessment of social support networks with a sample of 884 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 17. The main goal was to analyze the development of the figures of parents and peers as providers of social support in the two basic dimensions of emotional and instrumental support. In peers, they distinguished between the contexts…
Relationship of perceived maternal acceptance-rejection in childhood and social support networks of pregnant adolescents.
Sherman, B R; Donovan, B R
In a sample of 53 at-risk pregnant adolescents, the relationship between their perceptions of maternal acceptance-rejection in childhood and the nature of their social supports was examined. Perception of acceptance-rejection was significantly correlated with both frequency of interaction with social network members and expectations of their future support. Implications for public health strategies are discussed. PMID:2006666
Dimensions of Adolescent Subjective Social Status within the School Community: Description and Correlates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sweeting, Helen; West, Patrick; Young, Robert; Kelly, Shona
School pupils strive to meet both school-defined and social goals, and the structure of adolescent self-concept is multidimensional, including both academic and non-academic self-perceptions. However, subjective social status within the school community has been represented as a single dimension. Scottish 15-year olds participating in a…
The Effect of Video Feedback on the Social Behavior of an Adolescent with ADHD
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sibley, Margaret H.; Pelham, William E., Jr.; Mazur, Amy; Gnagy, Elizabeth M.; Ross, J. Megan; Kuriyan, Aparajita B.
Objective: The social functioning of adolescents with ADHD is characteristically impaired, yet almost no interventions effectively address the peer relationships of these youth. This study evaluates the preliminary effects of a video-feedback intervention on the social behavior of a 16-year-old male with ADHD-combined type in the context of a…
Racial Socialization in Transracial Adoptive Families: Does It Help Adolescents Deal with Discrimination Stress?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leslie, Leigh A.; Smith, Jocelyn R.; Hrapczynski, Katie M.; Riley, Debbie
Racial socialization protects minority adolescents from stress associated with racial discrimination. The process of racial socialization, however, may be challenging in transracial adoptive families. White parents may struggle with preparing their children for discrimination and fostering the development of racial pride. Thus, transracially…
Social Comparison and Body Image in Adolescence: A Grounded Theory Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Krayer, A.; Ingledew, D. K.; Iphofen, R.
This study explored the use of social comparison appraisals in adolescents' lives with particular reference to enhancement appraisals which can be used to counter threats to the self. Social comparison theory has been increasingly used in quantitative research to understand the processes through which societal messages about appearance influence…