The effect of active and passive peer encouragement on adolescent risk-taking

Risk-Taking Behavior Among Male Adolescents: The Role of Observer Presence and Individual Self-Control

A number of studies have focused on the same-sex peer effect on and the developmental difference in adolescent risk-taking in terms of the dual systems model. Little research, however, addresses the effects of different observers, the role of different levels of individual self-control, and their interactions. To fill this gap, the present study examined the main and interactive effects of observer presence and individual self-control on male adolescents' risk-taking behavior with an experimental design. A total of 261 male adolescents (M_age = 15.79 ± 0.79, range = 14-18) completed an adapted Stoplight Task, which measures risk-taking behavior, in the presence of an observer, either peer or adult, either male or female. The results indicated that a same-sex peer's presence and low self-control were both risk factors of male adolescents' risk-taking, but did only low self-control male adolescents take serious risks when in the presence of a same-sex peer whereas those with high self-control consistently had low levels of risk-taking under any condition. An opposite-sex observer, particularly an opposite-sex adult's presence, played a similar protective role for male adolescents with low self-control. The findings suggest that a high level of self-control closely related to the cognitive control system may significantly buffer the negative effect of an adverse social stimulus which activates the social-emotional system on male adolescents' risk-taking; the findings also reveal that an opposite-sex adult's presence may contribute to a decrease in male adolescents' risk-taking by improving their cognitive control system.

Explore with Me: Peer Observation Decreases Risk-Taking but Increases Exploration Tendencies across Adolescence

It has been assumed that adolescents increase risk-taking tendencies when peers are present but findings on experimental decision-making have been inconclusive. Most studies focus on risk-taking tendencies, ignoring the effects peer presence can exert over other cognitive processes involved in decision-making, as well as any other underlying developmental and individual differences. In the present study, the trial-by-trial choice behavior was analyzed in a task in which adolescents adjust to dynamically changing risk probabilities. Using Bayesian modeling, the study aimed to infer about peer presence effects on risk-taking tendencies but also on reactions to, exploration of, and learning from positive and negative outcomes of risk-taking. 184 pre- to late adolescents (M = 14.09 years, min = 8.59, max = 18.97, SD = 2.95, 47% female) conducted the Balloon Analog Risk Task under two conditions: Once alone and once in the presence of a (non-existent) peer observing them virtually. Findings revealed that (a) peer observation reduced risk-taking but increased exploration tendencies and (b) that individual differences modulated this effect. Especially female pre-adolescents increased their openness to explore different choice outcomes when a peer observed their behavior. These results support the assumption that the occurrence and direction of peer influences on risk-taking depend on a person-environment interaction, emphasizing the dynamic role peers play in adolescent risk-taking.

Digital dermatoses: skin disorders engendered by social media in tweens and teens

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Photograph-based social media use among children and adolescents has skyrocketed over the past decade, raising concerns about the implications for self-confidence and behavior in this population. Social media 'challenges' encourage participants to complete potentially dangerous tasks while sharing their completion of the tasks on social media. Many of these challenges affect the skin and lead to recognizable findings on physical examination. This review discusses the history of prominent social media challenges and their effects on the skin. Attention is also given to the effects of social media trends on self-confidence and body image in children and adolescents.

RECENT FINDINGS

Over the past several years, there have been several notable social media trends that can harm the skin. These include the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, salt and ice challenge, deodorant challenge, eraser challenge, fire challenge, and hot water challenge. Participation in these challenges can cause morbidity in children and adolescent that should be recognized by clinicians.

SUMMARY

Social media has become an important platform for communication and self-expression among children and adolescents. Pediatricians should remain aware of social trends in this age group and look out for cutaneous findings that may signal dangerous behavior on social media.

Is the Peer Presence Effect on Heightened Adolescent Risky Decision-Making only Present in Males?

Social neurodevelopmental imbalance models posit that peer presence causes heightened adolescent risk-taking particularly during early adolescence. Evolutionary theory suggests that these effects would be most pronounced in males. However, the small but growing number of experimental studies on peer presence effects in adolescent risky decision-making showed mixed findings, and the vast majority of such studies did not test for the above-described gender and adolescent phase moderation effects. Moreover, most of those studies did not assess the criterion validity of the employed risky decision-making tasks. The current study was designed to investigate the abovementioned hypotheses among a sample of 327 ethnically-diverse Dutch early and mid-adolescents (49.80% female; M_age = 13.61). No main effect of peer presence on the employed risky-decision making task (i.e., the stoplight game) was found. However, the results showed a gender by peer presence moderation effect. Namely, whereas boys and girls engaged in equal levels of risks when they completed the stoplight game alone, boys engaged in more risk-taking than girls when they completed this task together with two same-sex peers. In contrast, adolescent phase did not moderate peer presence effects on risk-taking. Finally, the results showed that performance on the stoplight game predicted self-reported real-world risky traffic behavior, alcohol use and delinquency. Taken together, using a validated task, the present findings demonstrate that individual differences (i.e., gender) can determine whether the social environment (i.e., peer presence) affect risk-taking in early- and mid-adolescents. The finding that performance on a laboratory risky decision-making task can perhaps help identify adolescents that are vulnerable to diverse types of heightened risk behaviors is an important finding for science as well as prevention and intervention efforts.

The Association between Substance Abuse and Sexual Misconduct among Macau Youths

This study investigates how peer influence, school attachment, and substance abuse are related to sexual behavior, with particular interest in exploring the relationship between substance abuse and sexual misconduct, while using a stratified random sample of adolescents in Macau. Mediation analyses were employed. The results show that substance abuse, apart from susceptibility to peer influence and school attachment/commitment, was significantly related to sexual misconduct. Substance abuse was the best predictor of sexual misconduct, and it significantly mediated the relationship between susceptibility to peer influence, as well as school attachment and sexual misconduct. This reflects that the use of substances, including drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, can be viewed as a catalyst for triggering engagement in sexual misconduct. The implications of this study involve taking measures to reduce the rate of substance abuse as a way of decreasing sexual misconduct in adolescents. Future research directions in exploring the relationship between adolescent substance abuse and risky sexual behavior are discussed.