Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues

AbstractA field experiment examined whether increasing opportunities for face-to-face interaction while eliminating the use of screen-based media and communication tools improved nonverbal emotion–cue recognition in preteens. Fifty-one preteens spent five days at an overnight nature camp where television, computers and mobile phones were not allowed; this group was compared with school-based matched controls (n=54) that retained usual media practices. Both groups took pre- and post-tests that required participants to infer emotional states from photographs of facial expressions and videotaped scenes with verbal cues removed. Change scores for the two groups were compared using gender, ethnicity, media use, and age as covariates. After five days interacting face-to-face without the use of any screen-based media, preteens’ recognition of nonverbal emotion cues improved significantly more than that of the control group for both facial expressions and videotaped scenes. Implications are that the short-term effects of increased opportunities for social interaction, combined with time away from screen-based media and digital communication tools, improves a preteen’s understanding of nonverbal emotional cues

Navigating Identity Uncertainty: Identity Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only recently begun to be explored. Among college students, who were faced with sudden and unprecedented changes and challenges, it is likely that COVID-19 detrimentally impacted the establishment of a sense of self, a key developmental task of the college years. However, no research has examined the relationships among COVID-19 related worries, identity distress, and psychological and academic adjustment. To address these gaps in the current study, we examined the prevalence of identity distress, the relationship between COVID-19 related worries and identity distress, and the direct and indirect associations between COVID-19 related worries and psychological and academic adjustment among a sample of 1627 college students (M-age = 20.51, SD = 2.21). Findings indicated that over a third of the sample reported high levels of identity distress and that COVID-19 related worries were negatively associated, both directly and indirectly through identity distress, with psychological and academic adjustment

Who are you?: Exploring Identity Content Among Young Adults from Diverse Backgrounds Across Contexts Using a Mixed-Methods Approach

As our society becomes ever more diverse, so too does the task of finding answers to the fundamental question of identity— “Who am I?” A general tendency of developmental psychologists working with young people from diverse backgrounds is to emphasize ethnic identity and racial identity over other domains of identities. Yet, young people today define and express their identities in diverse and complex ways, beyond ethnicity and race. Developmental psychologists, therefore, are tasked to integrate multiple approaches to study the identity development of the “whole person.” This dissertation, therefore, adopted a “whole person” approach and an ecological perspective to address two research questions: (1) How important do young adults from diverse backgrounds consider their identities across various contexts? and (2) How do young adults from diverse backgrounds express the identities they consider important across various contexts? The Multidimensional-Identities-Qualitatative-Quantitative-Questionnaire (MiQQ) was administered to a diverse sample of 220 young adults (M age = 23) to collect information about their identities and experiences across various contexts and to assess the importance of these identities. Findings indicated that young adults from diverse backgrounds may consider an array of identities meaningful and important when defining themselves across contexts. Moreover, the relative importance of these identities also varied across contexts. Findings also demonstrated that young adults from diverse backgrounds may express their identities in ways to communicate to others their growing sense of maturity/autonomy, relatedness/belongingness, efficacy, self-esteem, and social responsibility. They may also express their identities to honor and empower the self and others, as well as to conform to and resist social norms and standards. Taken together, these findings highlighted the significance of adopting a “whole person” approach and an ecological perspective to understand the unique as well as the shared identity experiences of young adults from diverse backgrounds. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Comunicación electrónica y relaciones adolescentes: Una actualización de las investigaciones existentes

Over the past decade technology has become embedded in the lives of adolescents. Youth are heavy users of newer electronic communication forms such as text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, and social networking sites. We examine adolescents’ relationships with peers as well as their online self exploration in the context of their online communication activities. We show that they use these communication tools primarily to reinforce existing relationships with peers. More and more they are integrating these tools into their o ine worlds, such as using social networking sites to get more information about new entrants into their o ine world. Adolescents also use di erent online communication applications for self presentation and identity exploration. But electronic communication is not without its challenges. Online peer communication has opened up new avenues for peer harassment and victimization and we still do not know the long term e ects of online self presentation and self disclosure on identity development..Durante la última década, la tecnología se ha introducido en la vida de los adolescentes. Los jóvenes son fuertes consumidores de las más recientes formas de comunicación electrónica, tales como la mensajería de texto, la mensajería instantánea, el correo electrónico y las redes sociales. En este artículo, examinamos las relaciones de los adolescentes con sus compañeros, así como su exploración personal en el marco de sus actividades de comunicación en línea, demostrándose que el uso de estas herramientas de comunicación se da, principalmente, para reforzar las relaciones existentes con los compañeros. Cada vez más están integrando estas herramientas en sus mundos fuera de la red. Tal caso es el del uso de las redes sociales para obtener más información acerca de nuevos participantes en sus vidas fuera de línea. Los adolescentes también utilizan diferentes aplicaciones de comunicación en línea para la presentación de ellos mismos y la exploración de su identidad. Pero la comunicación electrónica no está exenta de problemas. La comunicación entre iguales en línea ha abierto nuevas vías para el acoso y la victimización; y se desconocen aún cómo la presentación y revelación de uno mismo en línea afecta a largo plazo al desarrollo de la identidad

The effects of text, audio, video, and in-person communication on bonding between friends

Considerable research on computer-mediated communication has examined online communication between strangers, but little is known about the emotional experience of connectedness between friends in digital environments. However, adolescents and emerging adults use digital communication primarily to communicate with existing friends rather than to make new connections. We compared feelings of emotional connectedness as they occurred in person and through digital communication among pairs of close friends in emerging adulthood. Fifty-eight young women, recruited in pairs of close friends, engaged in four conversations each: in-person, video chat, audio chat, and instant messaging (IM). Bonding in each condition was measured through both self-report and affiliation cues (i.e., nonverbal behaviors associated with the emotional experience of bonding). Participants reported feeling connected in all conditions. However, bonding, as measured by both self-report and affiliation cues, differed significantly across conditions, with the greatest bonding during in-person interaction, followed by video chat, audio chat, and IM in that order. Compared with other participants, those who used video chat more frequently reported greater bonding with friends through video chat in our study. Compared with other participants, those who spoke on the phone more frequently with their participating friend reported greater bonding during audio chat. Use of textual affiliation cues like emoticons, typed laughter, and excessive letter capitalization during IM related to increased bonding experience during IM. Nonetheless, a significantly lower level of bonding was experienced in IM compared with in-person communication. Because adolescent and emerging adults’ digital communication is primarily text-based, this finding has significant real-world implications