“Be Careful Who You Friend:” Early Adolescents’ Reports of Safety, Privacy, and Family Monitoring of Facebook Use

With the growing popularity of social networking sites (SNS), parents, educators, youth development workers, researchers, and policymakers are increasingly concerned with Internet safety issues. In this paper we highlight a study designed to understand how young people describe how much (or how little) social network monitoring is happening in their home life, including who is doing the monitoring, when, why, and how. Participants included 33 middle school youth (aged 11-14) who were participating in a 9-week sexual health curriculum. Teens reported that their parents were most concerned about “friending” the wrong people and swearing on Facebook postings. In contrast, teens talked more about using Facebook to keep in touch with their known social circle and were not as preoccupied with adding people they didn’t know or wanting to meet strangers online. Teens also reported that female family and community members were the most frequent monitors of their Facebook pages. Implications for youth development programs and future research directions are discussed

“Be Careful Who You Friend:” Early Adolescents’ Reports of Safety, Privacy, and Family Monitoring of Facebook Use

With the growing popularity of social networking sites (SNS), parents, educators, youth development workers, researchers, and policymakers are increasingly concerned with Internet safety issues. In this paper we highlight a study designed to understand how young people describe how much (or how little) social network monitoring is happening in their home life, including who is doing the monitoring, when, why, and how. Participants included 33 middle school youth (aged 11-14) who were participating in a 9-week sexual health curriculum. Teens reported that their parents were most concerned about “friending” the wrong people and swearing on Facebook postings. In contrast, teens talked more about using Facebook to keep in touch with their known social circle and were not as preoccupied with adding people they didn’t know or wanting to meet strangers online. Teens also reported that female family and community members were the most frequent monitors of their Facebook pages. Implications for youth development programs and future research directions are discussed

Social Media Friends From Afterschool are Associated With Positive Youth Development in Digital Settings

Positive youth development has been extensively documented in contexts such as the family, school, and afterschool. Emerging theory and research indicate that digital contexts such as social media may also be venues through which young people develop skills and attributes associated with the 5 Cs model of positive youth development and thriving. This research attempted to understand if and how middle school youth’s in-person and online networks connect, and if they do connect, do these connections relate to engaging in beliefs and behaviors associated with PYD. Results suggest that in this sample, middle school youth include peers from afterschool in their online networks, and those who have friends from afterschool and school engaged in PYD- related social media behaviors at higher rates than those who were not connected to in-person networks. No association was found between the amount of time spent in after-school contexts and any of the positive or problematic social media outcomes in this study. Implications for youth development professionals considering the influence of social media on youth, and next steps for research on after-school activities and social media use of middle school youth are discussed

Research & Action Report, Spring/Summer 2015

In this issue: Black History Month in Germany Commentary with Layli Maparyan, Ph.D. Commentary with Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D. Depression Prevention and Obstetric Fistula New Connections New Findings & Publications Prevention of Child & Adolescent Depression in Latin America Q&A with Sari Pekkala Kerr, Ph.D. Spotlight on New Funding & Projects Women’s Studies and Women in Academiahttps://repository.wellesley.edu/researchandactionreport/1026/thumbnail.jp

Urban Early Adolescent Narratives on Sexuality

In this paper, we examine the ways that early adolescents talked, interacted, and made references to events in their individual and collective lives during photography-based focus groups about sexuality and relationships. Twenty-three participants (10 boys and 13 girls) were recruited from three urban schools participating in a comprehensive sex education impact evaluation in the Northeast. We analyzed conversational narratives that were elicited in a group process while sharing photos of important people, contexts, and situations, showcasing participants\u27 exploration of sexuality and relationships. Our analysis revealed four main themes: (a) Direct and indirect family communication about sexuality, (b) Accidental and intentional Internet usage, (c) Shared and contested peer knowledge, and (d) School as a direct and indirect learning context. Implications and future directions for practice, research, and policy are explored

Young Sexual Minority Adolescent Experiences of Self-expression and Isolation on Social Media: Cross-sectional Survey Study

BackgroundEarly adolescent years are marked by pervasive self- and peer-regulation regarding gender and sexuality norms, which can affect the mental well-being of sexual minority youth. During this developmental period, social media use is also emerging as a dominant mode of communication with peers, allowing for both risk and resilient behaviors that can impact well-being. ObjectiveThis exploratory study aims to examine how sexual minorities in middle school use social media, who they are connected to and for what purposes, and the associations between these behaviors and mental well-being compared with their heterosexual peers. MethodsIn our cross-sectional survey study of 1033 early adolescents aged between 10 and 16 years (average age 12.7, SD 1.21 years) from 4 middle school sites in the Northeastern United States, we conducted an exploratory study comparing sexual minorities (212/873, 24.3% of sample with known sexual orientation) with their heterosexual peers (n=661), obtaining an 84.46% (1033/1223; total possible) response rate. ResultsSexual minorities reported having smaller networks on their favorite social media website (β=−.57; P<.001), less often responded positively when friends shared good news (β=−.35; P=.002), and less often tried to make friends feel better when they shared bad news (β=−.30; P=.01). However, sexual minorities more often reported joining a group or web-based community to make themselves feel less alone (β=.28; P=.003), unlike heterosexual youth. Sexual minorities had higher averages of loneliness and social isolation (β=.19; P<.001) than heterosexual students. Sexual minorities were also twice as likely to have tried to harm themselves in the past (β=.81; odds ratio [OR] 2.24, 95% CI 1.64-3.06; P<.001) and were more likely to have symptoms that reached the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression definition of depression (β=.15; OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.08-1.25; P<.001). About 39.1% (83/212) of sexual minorities had no one to talk to about their sexual orientation. Sexual minorities were 1.5 times more likely to have joined a social media website their parents would disapprove (β=.41; OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.14-1.97; P=.004) and more likely to report seeing videos related to self-harm (β=.33; OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.06-1.83; P=.02) on the web than heterosexual youth. ConclusionsGiven previous reports of supportive and safe web-based spaces for sexual minority youth, our findings demonstrated that sexual minority youth prefer to maintain small, close-knit web-based communities (apart from their families) to express themselves, particularly when reaching out to web-based communities to reduce loneliness. Future longitudinal studies could determine any bidirectional influences of mental well-being and social media use in sexual minorities during this difficult developmental period

Social and Behavioral Health Factors Associated with Violent and Mature Gaming in Early Adolescence

We examined how risk level of video games, measured by maturity and violence level, was associated with behavioral health, social impacts, and online social interactions. School-based surveys in two different cohorts assessed self-reported gaming behaviors, health, and social media use. For Study 1, our 700 participants were 52% female and 48% White (mean age 12.7). Middle school students who played the high-risk games reported higher depressive symptoms and problematic internet behaviors, less sleep, more time spent playing games, and higher frequency of checking social media than non-gaming students. Those who played high-risk games were less likely to play alone and to play with strangers than those who played minimal-risk games. For Study 2, our 772 participants were 50% female and 57% White (mean age 12.6). Similar to Study 1, we found that those who played the high-risk games spent significantly more time playing games, were more interactive with other players, and had poorer sleep outcomes than non-high-risk gamers. Additionally, playing high-risk games had significantly different social impacts of gaming compared to less-risky gaming, including spending more money on games, spending less time on homework and with family or skipping meals due to gaming. Mature and violent content of video games and amount of online social interaction associated with gaming play a strong role in behavioral health and social impacts within families. These results can inform guidelines to intervene when problematic behaviors emerge

Association Between Social Media Use and Substance Use Among Middle and High School-Aged Youth

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to identify whether different aspects of social media use were associated with substance use among middle- and high school-aged youth. Methods: Participants were recruited from four Northeast U.S. middle schools and invited to complete an online survey in Fall 2019 and Fall 2020. We conducted separate adjusted logistic mixed effects models the substance use outcomes: ever use of alcohol, cannabis, e-cigarettes, tobacco cigarettes, prescription drugs, and multiple substances. Our sample included N = 586 participants (52.7% female, 58% White). Results: Seeing a social media post about drugs/alcohol in the past-12-months was significantly associated with higher odds of ever using alcohol, cannabis, e-cigarettes, and multiple substance use. Total number of social media sites ever used was significantly associated with higher odds of ever using cannabis, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and multiple substances. Checking social media every hour or more was significantly associated with higher odds of ever using alcohol. Higher problematic internet use score was significantly associated with higher odds of ever using cannabis, e-cigarettes, and multiple substances. Online social support seeking score was not associated substance use. Conclusions: Our findings support the need for substance use prevention and social media literacy education and screening to begin early, ideally in elementary school before youth are using social media and substances.</p

Escaping from worries or facing reality : A survey study of adolescent attitudes about sexist and homophobic stereotypes in mainstream US media

We examined the influences of being exposed to gender and sexual orientation stereotypes in the media on US-based adolescents aged 12-18. Departing from wishful identification theory, our study allows adolescents to report how TV characters resemble them, rather than whom they emulate, coming from a place of agency. We recruited 639 participants (85% female, 82% heterosexual) to take an online survey. Our findings demonstrated that girls and sexual minorities were less likely to see their gender and sexual orientation reflected in favorite TV characters. Girls and sexual minorities felt more personally affected by stereotypes about women and girls and were more likely to believe that sexism and homophobia needed to be addressed in the media. Across all groups, those who tend to escape their worries through watching television reported feeling more upset at TV content and being more personally affected by negative stereotypes centered on women, girls, and sexual minorities.Funding provided by Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) 35th Anniversary Fund, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections Grant, Harold Benenson Memorial Fund, WCW Dissemination Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation publication support, WCW internship program, Wellesley College Sophomore Early Research Program, Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellows program