Facilitating Adolescent Well-Being: A Review of the Challenges and Opportunities and the Beneficial Roles of Parents, Schools, Neighborhoods, and Policymakers

Adolescents face exceptional challenges and opportunities that may have a lifelong impact on their consumption and personal and societal well-being. Parents, community members (schools and neighborhoods), and policymakers play major roles in shaping adolescents and influencing their engagement in consumption behaviors that are either developmentally problematic (e.g., drug use and unhealthy eating) or developmentally constructive (e.g., academic pursuits and extracurricular activities). In this article, we discuss two main topics: (a) the challenges and opportunities that characterize adolescence, based primarily on research in epidemiology and neuroscience, and (b) the ways that parents, community members, and policymakers can facilitate positive adolescent development, based on research from many disciplines including marketing, psychology, sociology, communications, public health, and education. Our goal is to summarize the latest scientific findings that can be used by various stakeholders to help adolescents navigate this turbulent period and become well-adjusted, thriving adults

Training Effects on Recovering Parents' Self-Efficacy to Identify Problems, Solutions and Resources to Prevent Internet Addiction in Youth

This study examined the effects of a 2-hour training on the self-efficacy of parents in recovery from substance use disorder to intercede in their children's Internet technology use in order to prevent future problems with Internet addiction (IA). Using a quasi-experimental pre-post-test/post-test design, 32 parents between the ages of 19-48 in a recovery center were assigned to receive the parent training or to participate in control-comparison group. Prior to the study, a Parental Self-Assessment Inventory (PSAI) was developed and field tested as a measure of Parental Self-Efficacy (PSE) to identify problems, solutions and resources supported in research to increase resiliency of children and adolescents to manage appropriately their technology use. During the study, The PSAI demonstrated internal consistency and was shown to be an effective measure of PSE to intervene effectively in youth Internet technology use. A doubly univariate analysis was conducted to determine whether there were significant PSAI outcomes between study participants. Significant multivariate effects were not found for main effect of group. However, significant multivariate effect with a large effect size was found for the main effect of time. Moreover, a statistically significant and large effect size was also found for the multivariate the training by group interaction. The parent training produced a significant positive effect on PSE of the study participants who attended the 2-hour training. Researchers, counselor educators, and clinicians could all benefit from considering these findings when addressing parenting issues for individuals in recovery

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Online gaming and addiction: a psychosocial investigation using mixed methods

Online virtual worlds known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have gained increased popularity over the last decade. MMORPGs provide a sophisticated environment that enables complete immersion within the virtual world to the extent that it may become an alternative reality to its users. Some researchers have suggested that online gaming addiction is growing in prevalence among adolescents and adult gamers. It has been proposed that research is needed to establish the incidence and prevalence of MMORPG addiction. The aim of this body of research was to examine the impact of MMORPGs (psychologically and socially) on peoples' lives for the purpose of providing an empirical research base on which future research in the area can build. Using a mixed methods approach for data collection and analysis, an online scoping study, interview study and two questionnaire studies were conducted. The thesis provides a detailed conceptualisation of the psychological processes involved in MMORPG playing. The thesis was directed by previous research into video games, online gaming and addiction which provided a substantive picture of the psychosocial effects of online gaming. The findings showed that there were both positive and negative effects associated with online gaming; gamers used MMORPGs to alleviate negative feelings and to meet new people, learn about new cultures, and build friendships. Gamers also provided detailed descriptions of personal problems that had arisen due to playing MMORPGs. A small percentage of gamers (3.6%) were classified as addicted to MMORPGs, these gamers may find it difficult to control their game playing behaviour. However, there are still gaps in our knowledge of MMORPGs. Overall, the research has shown that the psychology of MMORPGs is an important topic that requires further in-depth investigation. The present research has revealed valuable information about the impact of MMORPGs on the lives of gamers that can be built upon by other researchers. Implications of the findings regarding excessive playing and addiction to MMORPGs, and social responsibility were discussed, and recommendations for future research studies were proposed

Pilot study for subgroup classification for autism spectrum disorder based on dysmorphology and physical measurements in Chinese children

Poster Sessions: 157 - Comorbid Medical Conditions: abstract 157.058 58BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting individuals along a continuum of severity in communication, social interaction and behaviour. The impact of ASD significantly varies amongst individuals, and the cause of ASD can originate broadly between genetic and environmental factors. Objectives: Previous ASD researches indicate that early identification combined with a targeted treatment plan involving behavioural interventions and multidisciplinary therapies can provide substantial improvement for ASD patients. Currently there is no cure for ASD, and the clinical variability and uncertainty of the disorder still remains. Hence, the search to unravel heterogeneity within ASD by subgroup classification may provide clinicians with a better understanding of ASD and to work towards a more definitive course of action. METHODS: In this study, a norm of physical measurements including height, weight, head circumference, ear length, outer and inner canthi, interpupillary distance, philtrum, hand and foot length was collected from 658 Typical Developing (TD) Chinese children aged 1 to 7 years (mean age of 4.19 years). The norm collected was compared against 80 ASD Chinese children aged 1 to 12 years (mean age of 4.36 years). We then further attempted to find subgroups within ASD based on identifying physical abnormalities; individuals were classified as (non) dysmorphic with the Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) from physical examinations of 12 body regions. RESULTS: Our results show that there were significant differences between ASD and TD children for measurements in: head circumference (p=0.009), outer (p=0.021) and inner (p=0.021) canthus, philtrum length (p=0.003), right (p=0.023) and left (p=0.20) foot length. Within the 80 ASD patients, 37(46%) were classified as dysmorphic (p=0.00). CONCLUSIONS: This study attempts to identify subgroups within ASD based on physical measurements and dysmorphology examinations. The information from this study seeks to benefit ASD community by identifying possible subtypes of ASD in Chinese population; in seek for a more definitive diagnosis, referral and treatment plan.published_or_final_versio

Violent dad in child shoes: a moment before : ViDaCS serious game in a multi-dimensional action research promoting awareness about gender-based violence perpetrators

[Italiano]:Il volume descrive obiettivi, strategie e azioni di ViDaCS (Padri nei panni di un figlio/a), il progetto (numero 810449) iscritto nel programma europeo REC (Diritti, Eguaglianza e Cittadinanza 2014-2020). Il sottotitolo, Un momento prima, pone l’attenzione su un protocollo innovativo per il controllo delle emozioni da parte di padri autori di violenza domestica. Esso risponde alla finalità di prevenire e contrastare la violenza di genere attraverso il “trattamento degli autori”, al fine di prevenire tale comportamento e la sua reiterazione. Il volume scaturisce da un'esperienza collettiva, volta a presentare il modello ecologico VidaCS insieme a interventi di formazione e di trattamento degli autori di violenza; è un'esperienza vissuta nei panni del bambino/a che assiste alla violenza del padre, proponendo scene domestiche alternative in cui il padre possa fermarsi un attimo prima di compierla. Peculiarità del volume è proporre all’autore di violenza la autoregolamentazione delle emozioni sottostanti ai suoi comportamenti attraverso un gioco immersivo con tecnologie 4.0 ./[English]: The volume describes the goals, strategies and actions of ViDaCS (Violent Dad in Child’s Shoes), a project framed in the European Programme REC (Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020), namely project grant number 810449.Its subtitle is A Moment Before to focus on developing an innovative multi- agency protocol for the self-assessment of intimate violence by perpetrators; it addresses the EU call purpose of preventing and combating gender-based violence under the main priority of “Treatment of perpetrators”, in order to prevent reoffending.ViDaCS’ book is a collective experience presenting an ecological model explaining gender-based violence, training and intervention issues on this topic; it is an experience, in the shoes of the child witnessing domestic violence, proposing alternative “domestic scenes”where the father decides and assumes “new” behaviours that avoid violent behaviour. Moreover it present and discuss a self-assessment of emotional burden and violent behaviour based on exploratory and 4.0 CTS serious game

Esa 12th Conference: Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination: Abstract Book

Esa 12th Conference: Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination: Abstract Boo