Journal of Adolescent Research最新文献

A community-based qualitative study identified multilevel influences on sleep duration, quality, and timing in 10 to 12-year-old Latino pre-adolescents via 11 focus groups with 46 children and 15 interviews with parents. An iterative content analysis revealed three themes negatively and positively impacted sleep: (1) Individual-level; (2) Social-level; and (3) Environmental-level influences. At the individual level, use of technology (e.g., phones), activity levels (e.g., sitting all day), dietary intake (e.g., junk food) and emotions (e.g., stress/anxiety) were reported to impact children's sleep. Social-level influences included interactions with peers and family members as well as time hanging out and arguing/fighting. Environmental-level influences were living in home and neighborhood settings with certain sounds (e.g., soothing music), uncomfortable temperatures, and items/things (e.g., stuffed animal) in the sleeping area. Parent reports indicated that some factors at each level were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings that influences at various levels interacted to impact sleep illustrate the need to simultaneously account for multiple levels of influence to best inform intervention development. Thus, application of social ecological models of behavior change to interventions may enhance sleep duration, quality, and timing among Latino pre-adolescents, as these models account for single as well as interacting influences to explain behavior.

Using dyadic youth-adult interviews, the current study explored characteristics, benefits, and challenges of supportive youth-adult relationships for youths living in neighborhoods with high levels of community violence. Thirty-two dyads of youths between the ages 13-21 years (63% female, 88% Black) and their self-identified key adult supports in Pittsburgh, PA, completed semi-structured interviews exploring important qualities of youth-adult relationships, aspects which strengthen these relationships, relationship challenges, and intergenerational support. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and an iterative coding process to identify key themes. For youths and adults, important qualities that constituted supportive relationships included being dependable, nonjudgmental, a best friend, and providing unwavering support. Occasionally, youths and adults found it difficult to communicate and understand each other. Despite these challenges, the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and dynamic, bidirectional support were instrumental in helping youths navigate obstacles and thrive. The study highlighted the importance of youth-adult relationships across family and community contexts in empowering youths in neighborhoods impacted by community violence. Dyadic and network-based interventions should be developed that uplift the strengths of youths and their adult supports while simultaneously being attuned to challenges that minoritized youths and adults encounter in neighborhoods impacted by violence.

Minority stressors harm sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). This may be mitigated by promotive and protective factors and processes that manifest resilient coping. SGMY increasingly interact with information communication technologies (ICTs) to meet psychological needs, yet research often problematizes youths' ICT use, inhibiting understanding about ICTs' potential resilience-enhancing utilities. This study analyzes text and video responses of 609 SGMY aged 14 to 29 residing in Canada or the United States to an open-ended survey question about the benefits of using ICTs. Constructivist grounded theory integrating multimodal coding was used to analyze the data, producing a framework of digital resilience-digital processes and actions that generate positive growth-with four themes: Regulating Emotions and Curating Microsystems; Learning and Integrating; Advocating and Leading; and Cultivating Relationships and Communities of Care. Implications for clinical practice, survey innovation, and application of findings in fostering affirming digital microsystems for SGMY are discussed.

Legalization of non-medical cannabis in Canada was intended to protect youth health and safety by limiting access and raising awareness of safety and risks. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore youths' perceptions of their cannabis health literacy and future educational needs. A convenience sample of youth aged 13 to 18 residing in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada who may or may not have consumed cannabis were included. A qualitative study using virtual focus groups with semi-structured interview questions was conducted. Ethics approval was obtained. All sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Inductive thematic analysis used a social-ecological framework for adolescent health literacy. Six focus groups (n = 38) were conducted with youth of all ages and from rural and urban areas. Three main themes were identified: (i) micro influences (age, gender, and beliefs), (ii) meso influences, (family, peers, and school enforcement), (iii) macro influences (cannabis legalization and social media), and (iv) evidence-informed information (harm reduction and cannabis properties). They desired evidence-informed education using harm-reduction principles, integrated early, and interactive. The findings provide support for a cannabis health literacy framework that will inform youth cannabis education programs. Interactive approaches with real-world application should support their autonomy, share knowledge, and minimize stigma.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of people living with HIV globally. Adolescent girls and young women are twice as likely to be living with HIV compared to young men. Sexual risk-taking behaviors put adolescent girls at risk for adverse health outcomes, including HIV/AIDS. In this study, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore multi-level factors that influence decisions to engage in sexual risk-taking among 58 school-going adolescent girls in Uganda. Both protective and risk factors cut across personal, proximal, and distal contexts. At the personal level, future goals and fear of negative health outcomes were identified as the most common protective factors. Positive family relations and peers were cited most frequently as protective factors at the proximal level. At the distal level, poverty was the most common risk factor. Relatedly, families' ability to provide for adolescent girls' needs was a protective factor. Study results point to the need for multilevel combination interventions to reduce sexual risk-taking among adolescent girls in Uganda.

This paper describes forms of online youth civic engagement that center the experiences of youth with historically marginalized identities and documents ways that youth are civically engaged. Twenty U.S.-based, digitally active youth ages 16 to 21 years old were interviewed. Seven participants (35%) identified as female, nine (45%) as male, and four (20%) as gender nonbinary. Twelve (60%) identified as a first or second generation immigrant. Youth were recruited through youth-led movement accounts on Twitter and contacted via Direct Messaging. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with youth between March and September 2020, a period spanning the outbreak of COVID-19 and rise in participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. Inductive Constant Comparative Analysis was used to document forms of youth civic engagement on social media and understand how youth ascribed meaning to their civic engagement. Framed by literature on critical consciousness and psychopolitical resistance to oppression, findings highlight three forms of online youth civic engagement: Restorying, Building Community, and Taking Collective Action. These findings indicate that, for youth with identities that have historically been marginalized, social media is an important context to be civically engaged in ways that resist oppression and injustice.