Adolescent loneliness, stress and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: The protective role of friends.

The current study examines if perceived negative changes due to COVID-19 are related to adolescent loneliness, stress and depressive symptoms and whether friendship factors (online friend communication, friend support) serve a protective role in these associations. In total, 993 adolescents (M age = 16.09, SD = 1.24) from ethnically diverse backgrounds (49% White, 18% Asian/Asian-American, 14% Latinx, 9% Black/African-American, 10% Other) in the United States completed an online survey. Adolescents who perceived more negative changes due to COVID-19 reported more loneliness, stress and depressive symptoms. For loneliness and stress, these associations were qualified by interactions with the friendship factors. Among adolescents with low online friend communication, as perceived negative changes increased, loneliness also increased. At high levels of friend communication, there was no link between negative COVID-19 changes and loneliness. Friend communication and support may protect adolescents from well-being problems stemming from the negative changes in their life due to COVID-19.

School and Cybervictimization Across High School: Normative Developmental Trajectories and Bidirectional Links with Loneliness.

The current study examines normative developmental trajectories of school and cybervictimization across 3 years of high school and tests whether school and cybervictimization experiences predict increases in loneliness at school or whether loneliness at school increases the risk of victimization. Gender differences are also explored. Data were drawn from a longitudinal sample of 4,339 ethnically diverse U.S. adolescents (Mage  = 15.02) who completed surveys in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Whereas school victimization decreased, cybervictimization increased across high school. School-based victimization and loneliness were bidirectionally related across time (controlling for cybervictimization), but cybervictimization and loneliness were not related (controlling for school victimization). The findings provide a nuanced account of the associations between school and cybervictimization with feelings of isolation at school.

Parent Discrimination Predicts Mexican-American Adolescent Psychological Adjustment 1 Year Later.

This study examined whether Mexican-American parents' experiences with discrimination are related to adolescent psychological adjustment over time. The extent to which associations between parent discrimination and adolescent adjustment vary as a function of parents' ethnic socialization of their children was also examined. Participants included 344 high school students from Mexican or Mexican-American backgrounds (primarily second generation; ages 14-16 at Wave 1) and their primary caregivers who completed surveys in a 2-year longitudinal study. Results revealed that parent discrimination predicted internalizing symptoms and self-esteem among adolescents 1 year later. Additionally, adolescents were more likely to report low self-esteem in relation to parents' increased experiences of discrimination when parents conveyed ethnic socialization messages to them.

Daily Cybervictimization Among Latino Adolescents: Links with Emotional, Physical and School Adjustment.

The current study examines how Latino adolescents' daily cybervictimization experiences are associated with their emotional and physical well-being and school adjustment. Latino high school students (N = 118) completed daily checklists across five consecutive school days. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that daily cybervictimization experiences were associated with greater feelings of distress, anger, shame and physical symptoms. Moderation analyses showed gender differences such that the daily level associations with distress and anger were significant for Latinas but not Latino adolescents. Daily cybervictimization experiences were also related to increased school attendance problems such as arriving late to class or skipping a class. Mediation models indicated that daily feelings of distress accounted for the association between single episodes of cybervictimization and attendance problems. The results address several voids in the cybervictimization literature and demonstrate that a discrete encounter of victimization online is associated with compromised well-being and school adjustment among Latino adolescents.

Friend affiliations and school adjustment among Mexican-American adolescents: the moderating role of peer and parent support.

Studies examining friendships among Mexican-American adolescents have largely focused on their potentially negative influence. The current study examined the extent to which deviant and achievement-oriented friend affiliations are associated with Mexican-American adolescents' school adjustment and also tested whether support from friends and parents moderates these associations. High school students (N = 412; 49 % male) completed questionnaires and daily diaries; primary caregivers also completed a questionnaire. Although results revealed few direct associations between friend affiliations and school adjustment, several moderations emerged. In general, the influence of friends' affiliation was strongest when support from friends was high and parental support was low. The findings suggest that only examining links between friend affiliations and school outcomes does not fully capture how friends promote or hinder school adjustment.

Physical aggression, spreading of rumors, and social prominence in early adolescence: reciprocal effects supporting gender similarities?

There is a robust association between aggression and social prominence by early adolescence, yet findings regarding the direction of influence remain inconclusive in light of gender differences across various forms of aggressive behaviors. The current study examined whether physical aggression and spreading of rumors, as two gender-typed aggressive behaviors that differ in overt displays of power, promote and/or maintain socially prominent status for girls and boys during non-transitional grades in middle school. Peer nominations were used to assess physical aggression, spreading of rumors, and "cool" reputation (social prominence) during three time points between the spring of seventh grade and spring of eighth grade. Participants included 1,895 (54 % female) ethnically diverse youth: 47 % Latino, 22 % African-American, 11 % Asian, 10 % White and 10 % Other/Mixed ethnic background. Cross-lagged path analyses were conducted to test the directionality of the effects, and gender moderation was assessed by relying on multi-group analyses. The analyses revealed mainly reciprocal associations for each form of aggression, suggesting that boys, as well as girls, can both gain and maintain their status by spreading rumors about their peers, just as they do by physically fighting and pushing others in urban middle schools. The implications of the findings for interventions are discussed.

Daily school peer victimization experiences among Mexican-American adolescents: associations with psychosocial, physical and school adjustment.

School bullying incidents, particularly experiences with victimization, are a significant social and health concern among adolescents. The current study extended past research by examining the daily peer victimization experiences of Mexican-American adolescents and examining how chronic (mean-level) and episodic (daily-level) victimization incidents at school are associated with psychosocial, physical and school adjustment. Across a two-week span, 428 ninth and tenth grade Mexican-American students (51 % female) completed brief checklists every night before going to bed. Hierarchical linear model analyses revealed that, at the individual level, Mexican-American adolescents' who reported more chronic peer victimization incidents across the two-weeks also reported heightened distress and academic problems. After accounting for adolescent's mean levels of peer victimization, daily victimization incidents were associated with more school adjustment problems (i.e., academic problems, perceived role fulfillment as a good student). Additionally, support was found for the mediation model in which distress accounts for the mean-level association between peer victimization and academic problems. The results from the current study revealed that everyday peer victimization experiences among Mexican-American high school students have negative implications for adolescents' adjustment, across multiple domains.

Personal and Witnessed Cyber Victimization Experiences Among Adolescents at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Personal experiences with cyber victimization among adolescents have been consistently associated with well-being problems. Few studies have examined the impact of witnessing cyber victimization on adolescent well-being. The current study examines adolescents' personal and witnessed experiences with cyber victimization during the beginning stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The main aim of the study is to test whether witnessing cyber victimization incidents among peers strengthens or weakens the association between personal cyber victimization incidents and adolescents' feelings of anxiety. Adolescents from the United States were recruited via social media site advertisements. An online survey was completed by 992 adolescents (M age = 16.09, SD = 1.24) from ethnically diverse backgrounds (49% White, 18% Asian/Asian-American, 14% Latinx, 9% Black/African-American, and 10% Other). The key results revealed a significant moderating role of witnessed cyber victimization incidents. Among adolescents who witnessed low levels of cyberbullying, the more they were personally cyber victimized, the higher their levels of anxiety. However, for adolescents who witnessed higher levels of cyberbullying incidents, the association between personal cyber victimization and anxiety was not significant. The findings suggest that adolescents who personally experience cyber victimization may feel less alone in their plight and thus, less anxious if they also witness others being targeted online.

The Protective Role of Friends in the Link between Daily Cyber Victimization and Adjustment Problems among Predominately Latino Adolescents.

The current study examined whether friendship factors, including time spent with friends and perceived friendship quality, moderate daily associations between cyber victimization and adolescent adjustment (i.e., distress, anger, attendance problems, perceived school safety). The study focuses on the experiences of predominately Latino youth, as they remain an understudied group in cyber victimization research. Participants included 136 high school students (88% Latino) who completed daily checklists across five consecutive school days. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that time spent with friends moderated the associations between cyber victimization with distress, anger and attendance problems. For example, on days that adolescents did not spend time with their friends, there was a significant link between cyber victimization and feelings of anger. For adolescents who did spend time with their friends during the day, this association did not exist. Friendship quality only buffered the negative association between daily cyber victimization and feelings of distress.

Cyberbullying Experiences Among Marginalized Youth: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go Next?

Cyberbullying experiences are a social and health concern that many children and adolescents are facing in their day-to-day lives. One limitation of cyberbullying research is that studies have predominately focused on the experiences of youth from majority groups (i.e., European-American youth living in the U.S.). This limitation is addressed by focusing on cyberbullying involvement, both as victims and perpetrators, among marginalized groups. Specifically, studies examining cyberbullying among youth with disabilities and from ethnic, cultural and sexual minority backgrounds are presented. Furthermore, suggestions for future research on cyberbullying experiences among youth are outlined, namely taking into consideration the intersectionality of various identities and the identification of factors that may protect vulnerable children and adolescents from the pain of being victimized online.

Friending, IMing, and hanging out face-to-face: overlap in adolescents' online and offline social networks.

Many new and important developmental issues are encountered during adolescence, which is also a time when Internet use becomes increasingly popular. Studies have shown that adolescents are using these online spaces to address developmental issues, especially needs for intimacy and connection to others. Online communication with its potential for interacting with unknown others, may put teens at increased risk. Two hundred and fifty-one high school students completed an in-person survey, and 126 of these completed an additional online questionnaire about how and why they use the Internet, their activities on social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace) and their reasons for participation, and how they perceive these online spaces to impact their friendships. To examine the extent of overlap between online and offline friends, participants were asked to list the names of their top interaction partners offline and online (Facebook and instant messaging). Results reveal that adolescents mainly use social networking sites to connect with others, in particular with people known from offline contexts. While adolescents report little monitoring by their parents, there was no evidence that teens are putting themselves at risk by interacting with unknown others. Instead, adolescents seem to use the Internet, especially social networking sites, to connect with known others. While the study found moderate overlap between teens' closest online and offline friends, the patterns suggest that adolescents use online contexts to strengthen offline relationships.

Gender Differences in the Relations among Patriarchal Beliefs, Parenting and Teen Relationship Violence in Mexican Adolescents.

Teen relationship violence is a global phenomenon associated with adverse outcomes. As in other countries, teen relationship violence is of concern in Mexico. However, few studies have examined the risk and protective factors of teen relationship violence among Mexican adolescents. The current study examined whether patriarchal beliefs and exposure to authoritarian parenting among Mexican adolescents are associated with perpetration and victimization of physical and verbal-emotional teen relationship violence. Two hundred and four students (15 - 18 years old) from Monterrey, Mexico completed questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for age revealed that among girls, authoritarian parenting was associated with physical and verbal-emotional victimization and verbal-emotional violence perpetration. Among boys, higher endorsement of patriarchal beliefs was associated with lower reports of physical perpetration and physical victimization.

Isoorientin reverts TNF-α-induced insulin resistance in adipocytes activating the insulin signaling pathway.

Isoorientin (ISO) is a plant C-glycosylflavonoid with purported antidiabetic effects but unexplored mechanisms of action. To gain insight into its antidiabetic mechanisms, we assayed nontoxic ISO concentrations on the 2-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1, 3-diazol-4-yl) amino)-2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-NBDG) uptake by murine 3T3-F442A and human sc adipocytes. In insulin-sensitive adipocytes, ISO stimulated the 2-NBDG uptake by 210% (murine) and 67% (human), compared with insulin treatment. Notably, ISO also induced 2-NBDG uptake in murine (139%) and human (60%) adipocytes made resistant to insulin by treatment with TNF-α, compared with the incorporation induced in these cells by rosiglitazone. ISO induction of glucose uptake in adipocytes was abolished by inhibitors of the insulin signaling pathway. These inhibitors also blocked the proper phosphorylation of insulin signaling pathway components induced by ISO in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant adipocytes. Additionally, ISO stimulated the transcription of genes encoding components of insulin signaling pathway in murine insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant adipocytes. In summary, we show here that ISO exerts its antidiabetic effects by activating the insulin signaling pathway in adipocytes, reverts the insulin resistance caused in these cells by TNF-α by stimulating the proper phosphorylation of proteins in this signaling pathway, and induces the expression of genes encoding these proteins.

A new bilayer chitosan scaffolding as a dural substitute: experimental evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether bilayer chitosan scaffolding (BChS) can provide a watertight dural closure and permit regeneration by fibroblasts in an experimental in vivo model. METHODS: In the in vitro phase, BChS was elaborated and the following characteristics were evaluated: pore size, thickness, water absorption capacity, tensile strength, strain, and toughness. In the second in vivo phase, 27 durectomized New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned into three duraplasty groups with autologous dura, collagen matrix (CM), or BChS. In all groups, fluid leakage pressure was measured at 10, 21, or 180 days. Histology response to regeneration was evaluated through hematoxylin and eosin stain. RESULTS: BChS was standardized to obtain bilayer scaffoldings with a nonporous layer and a porous layer. The pore size was 10 µm, total thickness was 400 µm, strain was 57.8%, and tensile strength was 5.5 gr/mm(2). The physical characteristics of BChS allowed dural closure without cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. There were no differences in fluid leakage pressures between the BChS, dura, and CM groups. Histologic analysis showed fibroblast migration with adequate dural regeneration. CONCLUSIONS: BChS is an ideal alternative for a watertight dural closure because it can be sutured, and it induces organized regeneration with fibroblasts without evidence of fibrosis.

The pervasiveness, connectedness, and intrusiveness of social network site use among young adolescents.

Young adolescents are quickly becoming avid users of social networking sites (SNSs); however, little is known regarding how they use these sites. The goal of the present study was to examine the extent to which young adolescents use SNSs, with whom they connect via these sites, and whether SNS use disrupts daily functioning. Among 268 middle-school students surveyed, 63% reported having their own profile page on an SNS. On average, adolescents reported having 196 SNS contacts (friends), most of whom were known peers. Young adolescents with an SNS spent most of their time viewing and responding to comments written on their profile page. Among the SNS users, 39% reported getting behind on schoolwork and 37% reported losing sleep at least once because they were visiting an SNS. As SNS use becomes embedded in young teens' daily lives, it is important to better understand how such use affects their daily adaptive functioning.