Associations Between Cybervictimization and Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood.

Outcomes associated with cybervictimization in adolescence have been heavily studied, although less research has examined these associations in emerging adulthood. This study was designed to examine links between cybervictimization and social and emotional well-being, and internalizing and externalizing behavior in a sample of 447 college and noncollege attending emerging adults. Results suggest that cybervictimization is problematic for social and emotional well-being, internalizing, and externalizing behavior. The discussion emphasizes the importance of creating prevention programs and antibullying campaigns for individuals in the emerging adult age group, and provides suggestions for future research.

Peer Pressure and Substance Use in Emerging Adulthood: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Introduction: Peers play an important role in influencing emerging adults' substance use behaviors, however, research on peer pressure has typically not been extended beyond adolescence to include emerging adulthood. Little research has examined the relationships between various peer pressure domains and emerging adult substance use. Methods: This study used quantitative data from 359 emerging adults (aged 18-29 years, M = 25.46 years; 60.8% female; 74.2% White) to explore the associations between different types of peer pressure (e.g. peer pressure to socialize and peer pressure to use substances) and substance use among a diverse sample of emerging adults. Latent profile analysis and path analysis were used for analysis. Results: Three unique profiles of perceived peer pressure emerged (negative peer pressure, positive peer pressure, and no perceived peer pressure). The negative peer pressure group was more likely to engage in binge drinking, lifetime alcohol use and lifetime marijuana use than the no peer pressure group. The positive peer pressure group was less likely to engage in lifetime alcohol or marijuana use compared to the no peer pressure group. Discussion: Findings suggest that peer pressure is associated with emerging adult substance use, in both negative and positive ways. Results of the current study provide the critical groundwork for more sophisticated studies seeking to understand the pathways by which positive and negative peer pressure impact emerging adult behavior.

Adolescent Women's Sexual Self-Efficacy: Associations with Personal and Perceived Partner Beliefs that Condoms Interfere with Pleasure.

Sexual self-efficacy, an individual's confidence in the domain of sexual health behaviors, was studied among an ethnically diverse sample of 128 sexually active adolescent women between the ages of 14 and 18 years. A hypothesized interaction between women's belief that condoms interfere with sexual pleasure and her perception of a partner's belief that condoms interfere with sexual pleasure was not supported. Both adolescent women's belief that condoms interfere with pleasure and their perception that their partner believed condoms interfere with pleasure were separately associated with lower self-efficacy to refuse sex without condoms and use condoms. Both a partner's and one's own sexual pleasure may be important determinants of adolescent women's confidence to engage in health protective sexual behaviors. Adolescents' self-efficacy to experience pleasure when using condoms should be enhanced.

Is Technology-Mediated Parental Monitoring Related to Adolescent Substance Use?

BACKGROUND: Prevention researchers have identified parental monitoring leading to parental knowledge to be a protective factor against adolescent substance use. In today's digital society, parental monitoring can occur using technology-mediated communication methods, such as text messaging, email, and social networking sites. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to identify patterns, or clusters, of in-person and technology-mediated monitoring behaviors, and examine differences between the patterns (clusters) in adolescent substance use. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 289 parents of adolescents using Facebook and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Cluster analyses were computed to identify patterns of in-person and technology-mediated monitoring behaviors, and chi-square analyses were computed to examine differences in substance use between the identified clusters. RESULTS: Three monitoring clusters were identified: a moderate in-person and moderate technology-mediated monitoring cluster (moderate-moderate), a high in-person and high technology-mediated monitoring cluster (high-high), and a high in-person and low technology-mediated monitoring cluster (high-low). Higher frequency of technology-mediated parental monitoring was not associated with lower levels of substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that higher levels of technology-mediated parental monitoring may not be associated with adolescent substance use.

Paternal Monitoring: The Relationship Between Online and In-Person Solicitation and Youth Outcomes.

Despite extensive literature on parental monitoring, few studies have focused on father-youth solicitation in particular and none on solicitation via communication technology. To address this gap, this study explored the relationships between fathers' online and in-person solicitation of their adolescent and emerging adult children, and the youth's internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors. A sample of US fathers (N = 158) reported on solicitation patterns, use of technology, and their child's behaviors. The results revealed differences by demographics, and an inverse trend between online and in-person solicitation in relation to internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors. Regression analyses revealed that online solicitation of information from the youth's friends was related to greater internalizing and externalizing, and less prosocial behavior. These findings support research suggesting that some forms of online solicitation may be interpreted by adolescents and emerging adults as intrusive and a violation of privacy.

Youth Motivations for Program Participation.

Through their participation in youth programs, young people have access to opportunities to learn and build important skills. A total of 214 youth between the ages of 10-19 (mean 15.5 years) completed an online survey about characteristics of youth programs they participated in, didn't participate in, and had participated in but quit. We found that youth participated in activities that provided a benefit to meet personal goals or develop skills. However, our findings suggest that youth may leave activities, or never join them, based on different sets of motivations than the reasons they stay in activities. There was variability across demographic groups: Males reported more problems with past activities, sexual minority youth were more likely to endorse social problems with past and never joined activities, and ethnic minorities reported less support for personal goals and connection to adults in current activities and more logistic barriers for activities never joined.

A Comparison of Three Online Recruitment Strategies for Engaging Parents.

Family scientists can face the challenge of effectively and efficiently recruiting normative samples of parents and families. Utilizing the Internet to recruit parents is a strategic way to find participants where they already are, enabling researchers to overcome many of the barriers to in-person recruitment. The present study was designed to compare three online recruitment strategies for recruiting parents: e-mail Listservs, Facebook, and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Analyses revealed differences in the effectiveness and efficiency of data collection. In particular, MTurk resulted in the most demographically diverse sample, in a short period of time, with little cost. Listservs reached a large number of participants and resulted in a comparatively homogeneous sample. Facebook was not successful in recruiting a general sample of parents. Findings provide information that can help family researchers and practitioners be intentional about recruitment strategies and study design.

Mothers' use of information and communication technologies for information seeking.

Previous studies have revealed that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a crucial role in parenting. Utilizing a national sample of mothers, the current study addresses mothers' information-seeking behaviors using ICTs utilizing the sense-making theoretical approach. Specifically, the study explored mothers' gap-bridging activities via online information venues including blogs, discussion boards/chatrooms, e-mailed newsletters, and online courses. Further, the associations were examined between mothers' demographic characteristics and their patterns of gap-bridging activities using online information venues. Latent class analysis revealed five latent classes: limited gap bridging, active gap bridging, problem identifiers, perspective explorers, and reassurance seekers. The "limited gap bridging" latent class was the most common class across online information venues. The other latent classes illustrate a more complex picture of mothers' gap-bridging activities depending on their needs. Mothers' demographic characteristics were associated with their patterns of gap-bridging activities. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Parental Emotion Socialization in Military Families.

Reintegration after military deployment is a significant family stressor. Guided by Eisenberg's heuristic model of socialization of emotions, the present study examined the relationships between parental emotion socialization, children's emotionality and children's internalizing symptoms using a military sample. It was also investigated whether the gender of parents and children impacted parental emotion socialization. Questionnaires were gathered from 248 families with a 4-12 year old child (M = 7.78) in which a parent had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, as part of a larger longitudinal prevention study. Parents reported their emotion socialization approaches and their children's emotionality. Children reported their internalizing symptoms. Through correlation analyses, the results suggested that there was a positive association between children's emotionality and internalizing symptoms, children's emotionality and parental emotion socialization. The findings of independent-t-tests and two-way ANOVAs indicated mothers reported more supportive reactions towards children's negative emotions than fathers. Interestingly, father report of expressive encouragement was positively associated with child report of anxiety and depression. Child gender did not influence how parents responded to negative emotions. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Predicting risk-taking with and without substance use: the effects of parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation.

Risk-taking is statistically normative during adolescence, yet is associated with adverse outcomes including substance use. The present study draws the distinction between protective factors (effective for those identified as high risk takers) and promotive factors (effective for all) against substance use, focusing on parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation. A total of 36,514 8th and 10th grade participants in the national Monitoring the Future study were included. Although parental monitoring was associated with lower alcohol and marijuana use among all adolescents (i.e., promotive effect), these effects were strongest among the highest risk takers (i.e., protective effect) and females. School bonding was associated with lower levels of both alcohol and marijuana use among all groups of adolescents, but these promotive effects were weak. Sports participation was associated with higher levels of alcohol use among all males and among 8th grade females who did not identify as high risk takers. Despite being a risk factor for alcohol use, sports participation did demonstrate a promotive effect against marijuana use among 10th grade females only, and especially so for high risk-taking females (i.e., protective effect). Overall, these findings suggest that of the three mechanisms studied, parental monitoring emerged as the most promising entry point for substance use prevention and intervention across groups, particularly for females and high risk-taking adolescents.

What's up? What young teens and parents want from youth programs.

Young teens and their parents clearly state that the "if you build it, they will come" approach, even if it is well built, is only part of the solution for engaging young people in learning opportunities. Interviews with youth and parents explore what they are doing and what they say they want in their nonschool hours. Opportunities that are flexible, less structured, and more leisure-based emerge as priorities. Although relatively content with the options currently available to them, when pressed, youth and families want more connections between people and age groups as well as more of the free-spirited, organic activities likely to emerge in neighborhoods and communities.