Digital use and socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent well-being: Longitudinal evidence on socioemotional and educational outcomes

INTRODUCTION

Despite a growing body of research on associations between adolescent digital use and well-being, few studies have investigated these associations a) longitudinally and b) across socioeconomic status. The present study uses high-quality longitudinal data to examine how digital engagement shapes socioemotional and educational outcomes from early to late adolescence across socioeconomic status (SES).

METHODS

Participants are 7685 individuals (49.0% female) from the 1998 birth cohort of the longitudinal Growing Up In Ireland (GUI) survey. The survey was administered to Irish parents and children between 2007 and 2016 (at ages 9, 13, and 17/18). Fixed-effects regression modeling was used to establish associations between digital engagement and socioemotional and educational outcomes. Further Fixed-Effects models were analyzed separately by SES, to assess how associations between digital use and adolescent outcomes differ by socioeconomic groups.

RESULTS

Results show that digital screen time increases markedly from early to late adolescence, but to a higher extent among low-SES versus high-SES groups. Heavy levels of digital screen time (i.e., 3+ hours daily) are associated with declines in well-being, particularly for external and prosocial functioning, while engagement in learning-oriented digital activities and gaming is associated with better adolescent outcomes. Yet, low-SES adolescents are globally more harmed than high-SES adolescents by their digital engagement, and high-SES adolescents benefit more from moderate levels of digital use and from engaging in learning-oriented digital activities.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that digital engagement is associated with socioeconomic inequalities in adolescents' socioemotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, educational outcomes.

Validation of the sociopolitical control scale for youth among Brazilian juvenile offenders in rehabilitation

Empowerment theories provide the conceptual framework to understand the process of change among marginalized groups in rehabilitation. Sociopolitical control is an element of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment (PE). The current study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth (SPCS-Y) in a sample of institutionalized young male offenders (N = 190) and examines its relationships with well-being, perception of educational environment, self-efficacy, and drug consumption. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-dimensional structure of the SPCS-Y (leadership competence and policy control). Linear regression models indicated that consumption of drugs contribute positively to leadership competence, and policy control was explained by well-being, positive perception of educational environment, and enlisting social support. The results are consistent with previous studies from other countries and indicate that the SPCS-Y is a valid measure to assess sociopolitical control among adolescents in rehabilitation. Additionally, theoretical implications and directions for practice are discussed in the paper.

Warm and Harsh Parenting, Self-Kindness and Self-Judgment, and Well-Being: An Examination of Developmental Differences in a Large Sample of Adolescents

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the associations between warm and harsh parenting and adolescent well-being, and the mediating effects of self-kindness and self-judgment, in relationships. Moreover, this study investigated developmental differences across three adolescence stages (early, middle, and late). Methods: In total, 14,776 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 13.53 ± 2.08, 52.3% males), including individuals in early (10-12 years old, N = 5055), middle (13-15 years old, N = 6714), and late adolescence (16-18 years old, N = 3007) participated in this study. All the adolescents rated their levels of warm and harsh parenting, self-kindness and self-judgment, and well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to examine the mediation model. Multi-group analysis was conducted to investigate differences in the mediation model across the different developmental stages. Results: Both warm and harsh parenting were related to adolescent well-being through the mediating effects of self-kindness and self-judgment. However, warm parenting exerted a more substantial impact on adolescent well-being. Self-kindness had a more robust mediating effect than self-judgment in relationships. Moreover, harsh parenting had a weaker impact on adolescent well-being in late adolescence than in early and middle adolescence. Warm parenting had a more significant impact on adolescent well-being in early adolescence than in middle and late adolescence. Conclusions: Overall, warm parenting had a more substantial effect than harsh parenting on adolescent well-being. The findings also highlighted the crucial mediating effect of self-kindness in the relationships between parenting and well-being. Moreover, this study also indicated the importance of warm parenting in early adolescence. Intervention programs should focus on enhancing the level of warm parenting to promote self-kindness in adolescents, in order to improve their well-being.

What Decides the Well-Being of the Relationship between Parents and Adolescents

The literature indicates a variety of factors that contribute to adolescent well-being: among these, the parent-adolescent relationship has a key role. The present article offered an overview of studies on parent-adolescent relationships across diverse family forms, not limited to the traditional family but also including "non-traditional" and "modern" families. To do so, this article described the evolution of the concept of family over the last fifty years and traced the significant family variables that guarantee adolescent well-being. Additionally, this article discussed the changes that occurred in family research, shifting from studies that considered only the family structure to more recent studies that investigated family processes and contextual factors. Overall, the reviewed studies indicated that the quality of parent-adolescent relationship, the interparental conflict and the consequent spillover effect on the child subsystem, and the changes in the economic situation following parental separation/divorce override the effect of the family structure. Finally, this article pointed out the need to examine, in the future research, adolescent well-being across diverse families by adopting more fine-grained methodologies, collecting data from the entire family system, and using a multi-method assessment to obtain a more ecological view of family complexity.

Party, Academic, or Prepped for College? School Norm Profiles and Adolescent Well-being using National Data

The current study examined how schoolwide norms came together into distinct profiles and how norm profile membership was linked to adolescent well-being. Using school-level (N = 786) and student-level data (N = 174,587 12th grade students; 52% female; 64% White, 13% Latino, 12% Black, 12% other) from Monitoring the Future (MTF), we identified four distinct school profiles-average, academic, prepped-for-college, party-that had unique patterns of shared norms. Compared with average schools, academic schools (high academics and low substance use and social integration norms) were most advantageous for students, prepped-for-college schools (high academics, substance use, and social integration norms) had both benefits and drawbacks, and party schools (low academics and high substance use and social integration norms) were most detrimental.

Do extracurricular activities contribute to better adolescent outcomes? A fixed-effects panel data approach

INTRODUCTION

Extracurricular activity participation is associated with positive academic, health, and behavioral outcomes for adolescents, but these findings may reflect unobserved confounding rather than participation effects.

METHOD

Data were drawn from 3885 adolescents aged 12-15 in a nationally representative cohort of Australian adolescents. Effects of participation in three kinds of extracurricular activity (team sport, individual sport, and arts) on an array of outcomes were modeled using fixed-effects regression to account for potential unobserved confounding.

RESULTS

Strong bivariate relationships between all forms of activity participation and positive adolescent outcomes were found. These associations were much smaller in the fixed-effects analysis, but beneficial effects of sports for mental health and arts for peer group characteristics remained statistically significant. Minimal effects of extracurricular activity participation for academic achievement were found.

CONCLUSION

Extracurricular activity participation has beneficial effects on adolescents' mental health and exposure to peers' delinquent behavior.

Physical Activity in High School Classrooms: A Promising Avenue for Future Research

Adolescence represents a sensitive period whereby lifestyle factors such as physical activity can have profound, long-lasting effects on development and later life habits. However, adolescence constitutes a period of frequent sedentary behaviour. Among children, integrating physical activity into elementary school classrooms has been shown to reduce sedentary behaviour and improve academic achievement and overall physical and mental health. However, this promising area of research has not extended to adolescents and high school classrooms. In this paper, we describe the benefits of conducting research on the impact of physically active high school classrooms, and highlight the challenges and potential misconceptions associated with research in this field. Specifically, we review research on the role of physical activity in adolescent development, the benefits of classroom-based physical activity for children, and discuss the factors that may have led researchers to focus on classroom-based physical activity primarily for children, despite the potentially similar benefits for adolescents.

Pre-adolescents with multiple health complaints redeem more prescriptions: A follow-up study in the Danish National Birth Cohort

Aims: This study aimed to examine the association between multiple health complaints (MHC) in pre-adolescence and prescription redemption in adolescence. Methods: This was a nationwide population-based study based on the Danish National Birth Cohort for an average of 6.9 years (2010-2018). A total of 96,382 children were invited at the age of 11. A modified version of the Health Behaviour in School Children Symptom Checklist was dichotomised into the World Health Organization's definition of MHC (⩾2 complaints, each with a frequency of at least weekly, yes/no). The number of prescriptions was retrieved from Danish registries. Negative binomial regression estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) comparing children with MHC to children without. Prescription redemption was further stratified by psychiatric/somatic medication and into subtypes of prescriptions. Results: A total of 47,365 (49.1%) children participated (M_age=11.2 years, 52% girls). MHC were reported by 10.3%. The unadjusted IRR (MHC vs. no MHC) of all types of redemptions was 1.57 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49-1.64). Results were robust to adjustment for socio-demographic variables and somatic/psychiatric morbidity at baseline (IRR=1.47; 95% CI 1.40-1.54). Associations were especially strong for psychiatric medication (adjusted IRR=3.88; 95% CI 3.43-4.40) and were modified by neither sex nor maternal education. Conclusions: MHC in pre-adolescents predict prescription redemption. This implies that changes in MHC might be indicative of changes in public health. This requires further study, as the cause of a change in reporting of symptoms might also cause a change in treatment response. The latter determines whether prescriptions are treating ill-being or needlessly medicalising subjective symptoms.

Progress in adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights globally between 1990 and 2016: what progress has been made, what contributed to this, and what are the implications for the future?

This commentary is in response to a paper published in the Lancet entitled: “Progress in adolescent health and well-being: tracking 12 headline indicators for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016” (Peter Azzopardi et al, 2019). We agree with the authors' overall conclusions that although there has been progress in some health outcomes, health risks and social determinants, the situation has worsened in other areas. Other important messages emerge from studying the data with an adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) lens. First, notable – albeit uneven – progress in all the ASRHR indicators has occurred in multi-burden countries. Second, while we cannot assign a cause-effect relationship, it is reasonable to suggest that in addition to secular trends, deliberate global and national investment and action have contributed to and/or accelerated these changes. Third, progress in ASRHR in the multi-burden countries contrasts sharply with increases in rates of tobacco use, binge drinking and overweight and obesity, in all categories of countries. Based on these observations, we submit five implications for action: the adolescent health community must recognize the progress made in ASRHR; acknowledge that increasing investment and action in ASRHR has contributed to these tangible results, which has the potential to grow; build on the gains in ASRHR through concerted action and a focus on implementation science; expand the adolescent health agenda in a progressive and strategic manner; and contribute to wider efforts to respond to adolescents' health needs within the rapidly changing context of the worlds they live in.

Neighborhood predictors of bullying perpetration and victimization trajectories among South Korean adolescents

AIMS

This study examined latent trajectories of bullying perpetration and victimization, and identified neighborhood antecedents of these trajectories among South Korean adolescents.

METHODS

Nationally representative individual-level data from waves 2 to 6 (middle school to high school) of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey were merged with neighborhood-level data drawn from the Korean Census and the Korean Ministry of Education. Latent class growth analysis (N = 2,178) and logistic regression were conducted (N = 2,021).

RESULTS

Three unique trajectories of bullying experience-low-risk (80.8%), transient (13.3%), high-risk (5.9%)-were identified. Neighborhood factors (e.g., public assistance receipt, marital status, official bullying incidents, collective efficacy) predicted these distinct developmental paths.

CONCLUSION

Joint trajectories of perpetration and victimization can inform service or policy decisions as each developmental path may represent unique experiences for youth in need of specific resources for treatment or intervention. Neighborhood indicators are important predictors of developmental trajectories of bullying experience among adolescents.

The Sooner, the Worse? Association between Earlier Age of Sexual Initiation and Worse Adolescent Health and Well-being Outcomes

This cross-sectional study assesses the association between age of sexual initiation during adolescence and a selection of well-being outcomes regarding that first relationship. High-school adolescents from El Salvador (2,686) and from Peru (3,399) replied to a paper-pencil questionnaire. Those who were sexually initiated replied to several questions regarding their age at sexual initiation, condom use, satisfaction and reasons/circumstances for that sexual relationship. Approximately 19% of participants were sexually initiated (n = 1,179). After retaining participants with valid responses and with sexual initiation ages between 13 and 17, the final sample for this paper consisted of 996 sexually initiated participants (526 Salvadorians and 470 Peruvians). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that those who initiated sex at earlier ages had worse outcomes compared to those who initiated at older ages. Specifically, they had lower odds of having used a condom, of having good memories of that experience and of having had that first relationship because they were in love. Conversely, they had higher odds of having had that first sexual relationship as a result of peer pressure (“Most of my friends already had sex”), because of partner pressure (“I was afraid to lose him/her,” “My partner told me he/she would leave me” or “I did not know how to say no to a person who insisted”), or as a consequence of different forms of impaired autonomy (“I was under the influence of alcohol or drugs” or “As a consequence of seeing sexual images”). Results show that sex at earlier ages is associated with worse adolescent health and well-being outcomes.