Virtual Socializing and Nonlinear Effects on Victimization.

Previous research documents relationships between unstructured socializing activities and in-person victimization in adolescents. In parallel, there is a body of research which has linked virtual socialization activities (i.e., social networking, texting, video chatting, phone usage) with both online and in-person victimization. The majority of research in this area, however, has assumed the relationship between time spent engaging in virtual socializing and victimization is linear. Yet, there are several reasons to anticipate that while virtual socializing may initially increase the risks for in-person victimization, after adolescents begin spending a significant portion of their free time socializing virtually this may function to displace time they would have otherwise spent engaging in unstructured socializing in-person. As a result, very high levels of engagement in virtual socializing may actually lower the risks for in-person victimization. This study addresses this gap in the literature by utilizing negative binomial regression and logistic regression to test for nonlinearity in the relationship between virtual socializing and three forms of in-person victimization (i.e., violent, property, and in-person bullying) using data from the 8th and 10th grade 2018 cohort of Monitoring the Future. In addition, this study tests for nonlinearity in the relationship between virtual socializing and one form of online victimization (i.e., cyberbullying). Our findings reveal that virtual socializing is associated with all four forms of victimization. In addition, tests for nonlinearity revealed that virtual socializing exhibits a nonlinear relationship with in-person property victimization and cyberbullying victimization. Additional analyses revealed differential relationships between individual virtual socializing activities and the risks for property victimization. On the other hand, three out of the four forms of virtual socializing activities were found to exhibit nonlinear relationships with the likelihood of cyberbullying victimization. Overall, these findings imply that virtual socializing activities appear to exhibit nonlinear relationships with several forms of victimization.

Does Socializing in the Virtual World Impact Victimization in the Real World?

Previous research links unstructured socializing with victimization. In addition, recent research also links digital media use with particular forms of online victimization (e.g., cyberbullying, harassment, sex solicitation, phishing, computer viruses, etc.). Very limited research, however, has explored how socialization through virtual means (e.g., using social networking sites, video chatting, and texting) is associated with in-person victimization. This is a pertinent gap in the literature as trends in adolescent socializing have been shifting from spending time in-person to spending more time socializing through virtual means. As a result, the current state of the literature cannot adequately assess the risks that may be posed by spending time engaging in virtual socializing. This article addresses this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between virtual socializing and several indicators of in-person victimization (i.e., property, violent, and in-school bullying victimization) along with one indicator of online victimization (i.e., cyberbullying) in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Specifically, our study utilizes negative binomial regression and logistic regression to test associations between time spent using social networking sites, video chatting, texting, and phone usage and in-person victimization using data drawn the 2018 eighth and tenth grade cohort of Monitoring the Future . Our findings reveal that time spent engaging in virtual socializing activities is associated with a greater likelihood of property, violent, in-school bullying, and online bullying victimization. In addition, these associations remain significant when taking into account time spent engaging in in-person unstructured socializing. The implications of these findings for future research and policy are discussed.

Low Self-Control and Perceptions of Procedural Justice Among Urban-Born Youth: The Moderating Role of Officer Intrusiveness.

The current study examines whether the link between low self-control and perceptions of procedural justice among urban-born youth is contingent on acts of officer intrusiveness. Data come from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and are restricted to youth reporting lifetime police stops at Year 15 (N = 918). Findings reveal that the association between low self-control and diminished perceptions of procedural justice is significantly moderated by officer intrusiveness. To be precise, low self-control became more relevant in diminished perceptions of procedural justice as officer intrusiveness decreased. The findings carry implications for police-citizen interactions, including the training of police officers in developmental science and how low self-control may shape youth perceptions of police encounters.

Bullying victimization and nicotine and marijuana vaping among Florida adolescents.

PURPOSE: Previous research links bullying victimization with the use of illicit substances in adolescence. In addition, recent research has linked bullying victimization with vaping. Very limited research, however, has explored how different forms of bullying may be linked with nicotine and marijuana vaping specifically. PROCEDURES: This study addresses this gap in the literature by utilizing logistic regression to examine the relationships between verbal, physical, and cyber bullying victimization and nicotine and marijuana vaping in a sample of Florida adolescents. FINDINGS: Our findings reveal that all three forms of bullying victimization are linked with recent nicotine vaping, and these associations differ somewhat by youth gender. In addition, our findings indicate that cyber bullying victimization is linked with marijuana vaping. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings suggest that bullying victimization is linked with greater odds of vaping activity in adolescents. The implications of these findings for future research and policy are discussed.

The role of virtual socializing and unstructured socializing in adolescent vaping.

PURPOSE: Emerging research suggests that adolescent patterns of socializing have shifted in recent years towards more virtual socializing and less traditional in-person socializing. At present, limited research has explored how this shift in socializing may influence outcomes traditionally linked with in-person socializing among adolescents (i.e., substance use). PROCEDURES: This paper addresses this gap in the literature by utilizing logistic regression techniques to examine the relationship between virtual socializing and an emerging form adolescent substance use (i.e., vaping) using data from the 2018 Monitoring the Future (MTF) cohort. FINDINGS: Our findings reveal that time spent socializing in the virtual sphere is significantly associated with a greater likelihood of vaping nicotine, marijuana, and flavor. In addition, our findings reveal that while the relationship between virtual socializing and vaping is attenuated by unstructured socializing (i.e., unsupervised socializing or "hanging out") in person to some degree, time spent socializing virtually is still a significant predictor of adolescent vaping activity even after taking time spent socializing in person into account. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings indicate that virtual socializing is an important predictor of adolescent vaping activity. The implications of these findings for policy are discussed.

Adverse childhood experiences and adolescent nicotine and marijuana vaping: Findings from a statewide sample of Florida youth.

A wealth of research links exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with negative outcomes including nicotine and marijuana use. In addition, an emerging line of research has documented associations between exposure to ACEs and vaping activity in American adults and international samples of adolescents. Very limited research, however, has explored whether a history of ACEs is linked with adolescent nicotine and marijuana vaping activity in an American sample. This study addresses this gap in the literature by employing multinomial logistic regression to examine whether cumulative exposure to ACEs is associated with adolescent nicotine vaping, dual mode use of nicotine, marijuana vaping, and dual mode use of marijuana in a sample of Florida high school students. Our findings reveal that greater cumulative exposure to ACEs (up to 5 ACEs) in adolescents leads to an increase in the likelihood of vaping nicotine and marijuana. In addition, greater cumulative exposure to ACEs (up to 6 ACEs) leads to an increase in the likelihood of using nicotine and marijuana through multiple delivery modes.

Adolescent Energy Drink Consumption and Academic Risk: Results From the Monitoring the Future Study, 2010-2016.

AIMS: The current study aims to examine the role of energy drink and energy shot consumption in school disengagement, low academic performance, and academic expectations, and investigates the robustness of these associations across sex, grade, race, and substance use history. METHOD: This study employs a pooled cross-sectional design and uses a nationally representative sample of 8th (ages 13-14 years) and 10th (ages 15-16 years) grade adolescents from seven recent cohorts (2010-2016) of the Monitoring the Future study. Logistic regression and negative binomial regression were employed to examine the association between energy drink and energy shot consumption and academic risk factors, controlling for sociodemographic factors and other health and social behaviors. Ancillary robustness checks across key subgroups in the data were also performed. RESULTS: The results indicate that energy drink and energy shot consumers are significantly more likely to report all academic risk outcomes. Specifically, youth who heavily use energy drinks and shots have significantly higher odds of each of the academic risk outcomes relative to both less habitual users and nonusers. These patterns hold across subgroups, despite associations being somewhat stronger among females, younger participants, Whites, and youth with no substance use history. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that energy drink consumption (particularly heavy consumption) may be an early warning sign of academic risk. It may be beneficial to limit adolescent energy drink consumption, provide early intervention for heavy adolescent consumers, and raise awareness of the dangers associated with their use.

Police Stops and Adolescent Substance Use: Findings From the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate associations between police stops and adolescent substance use among a large, representative sample of adolescents in the United Kingdom (UK). METHODS: Data from the three most recent sweeps of the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative contemporary birth cohort of children born in the UK between September 2000 and January 2002, were analyzed in 2021 (N = 10,345). Lifetime police stops are assessed at age 14 (Sweep 6, 2015) and a diverse set of adolescent substance use behaviors are assessed at age 17 (Sweep 7, 2018). Weights are used to account for sample design and multiple imputation for missing data. RESULTS: Youth experiencing police stops by the age of 14 (14.72%) reported significantly higher engagement in substance use behaviors at age 17, including frequent binge drinking (adjusted relative risk ratio [ARRR] = 3.56, confidence interval [CI] = 2.80-4.03), cigarette use (ARRR = 3.97, CI = 3.26-4.84), e-cigarette use (ARRR = 2.22, CI = 1.69-2.93), cannabis use (ARRR = 3.63, CI = 2.88-4.57), and illicit drug use (adjusted incidence rate ratio = 3.06, CI = 2.45-3.81). Ancillary analyses revealed that findings linking police stops to substance use emerge across distinct stop features (e.g., questioned vs. warned), following adjustment for substance use at age 14, and when examining substance use initiation after the age of 14. CONCLUSIONS: Police officers should be trained to effectively communicate and interact with youth to mitigate adverse sequelae of stops. Youth may also benefit from mental health and substance use screenings as well as counseling care following these events.

Examining potential risk factors for early age of nicotine vaping initiation in a sample of Florida youth.

Previous research has examined risk factors for nicotine vaping in young adults and older adolescents. Even so, significantly less research has examined risk factors for initiating nicotine vaping in early adolescence. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by examining risk factors for initiating nicotine vaping in a sample of middle- and high-school students. In order to do so, we analyze data from the 2019 cohort of the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS). We employ multinomial logistic regression and logistic regression to examine potential risk factors for early age of nicotine vaping initiation. Our findings reveal that early age of nicotine vaping initiation is associated with cigarette use, alcohol use, having substance using peers, lifetime incidence of arrest, and lifetime incidence of school suspension. In conclusion, our findings reveal that early age of nicotine vaping initiation is associated with other forms of risky behavior in adolescence (i.e., substance use, misbehavior leading to arrest and/or school suspension). We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.

Low Self-Control, Victimization, and Financial Hardship: Does Low Self-Control Moderate the Relationship Between Strain and Criminal Involvement?

General strain theory has been widely supported by empirical research. Research concerning possible individual-level moderators of the effects of strain, however, has yielded considerably mixed results. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining whether levels of self-control moderate the relationship between strain and criminal involvement in a large nationally representative sample. Our findings reveal that strain and levels of self-control have both additive and interactive effects on criminal involvement. To illustrate, respondents who were exposed to higher levels of strain reported more criminal involvement than respondents exposed to lower levels of strain. Similarly, lower levels of self-control were associated with higher levels of criminal involvement. In addition, levels of self-control were found to moderate the association between experiencing strain and two of the criminal involvement measures. Furthermore, the results suggest that the relationships among strain, self-control, and criminal involvement may vary across gender and forms of strain.

Exploring Potential Protective Factors for the Relationship between Low Self-Control in Adolescence and Negative Health Outcomes in Adulthood.

Previous research links low levels of self-control with criminal involvement and negative life outcomes. A similar line of inquiry has begun to explore whether low levels of self-control are also associated with developing health problems in adulthood. This paper extends this research by examining associations between adolescent levels of self-control and four different categories of health outcomes in adulthood. In addition, this study examines whether associations between adolescent levels of low self-control and health outcomes in adulthood are moderated by environmental protective factors. The results reveal that low levels of self-control in adolescence are consistently associated with reporting more health problems. In addition, some evidence emerged in support of the role of environmental protective factors in buffering the risk of developing health problems conferred by low levels of self-control in adolescence.

Psychopathic Personality Traits and the Risk for Personal Victimization.

Previous research links psychopathic traits with involvement in criminal behavior and numerous negative life outcomes. To date, however, a relatively limited amount of research has examined whether psychopathic traits confer an increased risk of victimization. This area of research is of interest as some scholars contend that psychopathic traits may confer several advantages for life outcomes including outcomes related to criminal conduct. As a result, psychopaths may be at a decreased risk of victimization. On the contrary, research examining the victim-offender overlap indicates that as psychopaths are likely to be involved in criminal behavior they would be more likely to be victimized. This article addresses this gap in the literature by examining whether psychopathic personality traits are associated with odds of victimization in a large nationally representative sample of Americans from adolescence to adulthood. Specifically, our study employs logistic regression and Poisson regression to test associations between psychopathic personality traits and victimization in data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Our findings reveal that psychopathic personality traits are positively associated with odds of victimization in adolescence and adulthood. In addition, our findings indicate that psychopathic personality traits interact with criminal involvement to predict odds of victimization. The findings of our study have implications for the literatures concerning successful psychopathy and the victim-offender overlap.

Adolescent nicotine and marijuana vaping activity and the use of other illicit substances.

PURPOSE: Previous research links cigarette use and marijuana use in adolescence with the use of other illicit substances. Limited research, however, has explored whether vaping nicotine and marijuana, along with using these substances through multiple modes of delivery (traditional cigarette/marijuana use and vaping) is associated with the use of other illicit substances in adolescence. PROCEDURES: This study addresses this gap in the literature by employing negative binomial regression to examine the relationships between three categories of nicotine users (traditional cigarettes only, nicotine vaping only, and dual mode nicotine use), three categories of marijuana users (traditional marijuana use only, marijuana vaping only, and dual mode marijuana use), and the use of other illicit substances in a sample of Florida middle school and high school students. FINDINGS: Our findings reveal that nicotine vaping and dual mode use of both nicotine and marijuana are associated with the use of a greater variety of illicit substances compared to non-users. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings suggest that dual mode use of nicotine and marijuana are associated with greater likelihood of using other illicit substances. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Do youth who vape exhibit risky health lifestyles? Monitoring the future, 2017.

Previous research links cigarette smoking with an array of unhealthy behaviors including poor diet, poor sleep quality, and reduced levels of physical exercise. To date, however, limited research has explored whether vaping nicotine (or marijuana) is associated with these same health risk behaviors. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by examining associations between vaping (nicotine or marijuana) and poor diet, poor sleep quality, and low levels of exercise in a sample of 7765 young adolescents (grades 8 and 10) enrolled in American schools in 2017. The data were analyzed in 2019. The results suggest that youths who vaped nicotine (or marijuana) did not exhibit significant elevations in risky health behavior outcomes relative to abstaining youths. Even so, cigarette smoking and recent use of marijuana through traditional means are significantly associated with risky health outcomes.

Nicotine and marijuana attitudes among flavor-only vaping youth: New evidence from Monitoring the Future.

BACKGROUND: Vaping has become increasingly popular among youth and young adults in the last decade. At present, very little research has examined how vaping is associated with attitudes concerning the disapproval and perceived risk of using other substances. This paper examines the association between flavor-only vaping and attitudes concerning nicotine and marijuana use in a sample of high school students with no history of nicotine or marijuana use. METHODS: We employed negative binomial regression and logistic regression techniques to examine the associations between flavor-only vaping activity and attitudes concerning the risk and disapproval of nicotine and marijuana use utilizing data from the 2017 cohort of Monitoring the Future (MTF). RESULTS: The results suggest that, net of covariates, flavor-only vaping is not significantly associated with attitudes concerning traditional forms of nicotine use. However, flavor-only vaping does appear to be positively and significantly associated with the failure to disapprove and/or perceive the risk of vaping nicotine and regular marijuana use. CONCLUSIONS: Flavor-only vaping is positively and significantly associated with the failure to disapprove and/or perceive the risk of vaping nicotine and regular marijuana use.

Psychopathic Personality Traits and the Successful Criminal.

A significant body of literature links psychopathy and psychopathic personality traits with criminal behavior and involvement with the criminal justice system. However, very little research has examined whether psychopathic personality traits are related to being a successful criminal (e.g., evading detection). This study addresses this gap in the literature by examining whether psychopathic personality traits are associated with the likelihood of being processed by the criminal justice system (i.e., arrest). Our findings reveal that psychopathic personality traits are generally not associated with criminal success. Specifically, individuals with high levels of psychopathic personality traits commit more crimes and report more arrests, but they do not seem to have an advantage when it comes to avoiding arrest for the crimes they commit. We discuss the implications of these findings for the psychopathy literature.

Examining the influence of adolescent marijuana use on adult intelligence: Further evidence in the causation versus spuriousness debate.

OBJECTIVES: There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between adolescent marijuana use and adult intelligence, with some studies suggesting adolescent marijuana use can lead to declines in intelligence. The purpose of this study is to shed additional light on the potential link between marijuana use and changes in intelligence. METHODS: We employed change scores and ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis to test for associations between marijuana use and changes in intelligence scores from adolescence (ages 12-21) to adulthood (ages 18-26) using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. RESULTS: The findings revealed that while a binary measure of marijuana use (ever/never) maintains a statistically significant association with changes in intelligence scores, the effect sizes are relatively small (ß=0.043-0.051). Additionally, our findings did not reveal a significant association between cumulative marijuana use and changes in intelligence scores. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results suggest that while the binary measure of marijuana use (ever/never) has a statistically significant association with changes in intelligence scores, the binary measure accounts for at most a 1-2 point change in intelligence scores.