Adolescent socialization patterns have shifted toward less in-person socializing and more virtual socializing. Thus, it’s important to determine the association between virtual socializing and ...delinquency and whether virtual socializing represents a separate construct or a technological evolution of unstructured socializing. We explore this by using a modern virtual socializing scale on a nationally representative sample of eighth to 10th graders from the 2018 Monitoring the Future survey. Results indicate that virtual socializing is associated with delinquency, and unstructured socializing somewhat attenuates this relationship, but virtual socializing remains a significant predictor. Karlson-Holm-Breen method was used to assess the degree of attenuation produced by unstructured socializing, and demonstrates that unstructured socializing attenuates about 20% of the effect of virtual socializing on delinquency.
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).
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.
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.
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.
•Previous research links in-person socialization among adolescents with substance use.•Limited research explores the relationship between virtual socializing and substance use.•This study examines connections between virtual socializing and vaping.•Virtual socializing is linked with nicotine, marijuana, and flavor-only vaping.
Peer delinquency and unstructured socializing have been identified as important correlates of delinquency and substance use. This state-of-the-art review explicates research into these associations ...to identify important trends in the literature and directions for future research.
A search of the criminological literature and literatures of allied disciplines was executed to identify studies that have examined the potential influence of peer delinquency and unstructured socializing on delinquency and substance use.
The review highlights the theoretical underpinnings of the two constructs, issues of measurement quality, the generality of effects on delinquency and substance use, advances in the respective literatures, and important remaining gaps for future research to fill.
While considerable attention has been given to studying the potential influence of peer delinquency and unstructured socializing on delinquency and substance use, there remain a number of ways in which these literatures can be advanced to provide a more complete understanding of the relevance of these constructs for the etiology of delinquency and substance use.
•Review summarizes the literature linking peer and individual delinquency.•Review summarizes the literature linking unstructured socializing to delinquency.•Quality of measurement strategy is central to both literatures.•Associations are frequently moderated by other key theoretical variables.•Several important research questions require additional empirical scrutiny.
The relationship between unstructured socializing (peer‐oriented activity without supervision) and adolescent delinquency is widely established and recognized, but less is known about why this ...relationship exists. The present study integrates the unstructured socializing perspective with insights from social learning theory and other theoretical perspectives on peer influence and empirically investigates four possible explanatory processes. The study applies time diary data to operationalize accurately the concept of unstructured socializing and survey data to capture mediating variables and self‐reported delinquency (a general frequency measure of various offenses, as well as specified measures for violence, theft, and vandalism). Data were collected longitudinally with two waves of surveys and space–time budget interviews among 610 adolescents (11 to 20 years of age). A multilevel‐path model was estimated to analyze within‐individual changes over time. The findings indicate that three of the four proposed explanatory processes contribute to the explanation of the relationship between unstructured socializing and delinquency.
The aim of this study was to assess the current state of physical education program implementation and the socialization of physical education in high schools in Vietnam. A questionnaire was designed ...using Google Form, consisting of 15 questions. Questions 1 to 11 were related to the physical education program, while questions 12 to 15 focused on the socialization of physical education. The survey included 345 participants, including education administrators and high school teachers, and was conducted online in Hanoi city and Lai Chau province. The survey employed a rating scale divided into four levels: non-satisfied, partially satisfied, satisfied, and well satisfied. The results indicate that the actual implementation of physical education programs in high schools falls short of the targets set by the 2018 high school education program issued by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam. Furthermore, there are significant limitations in terms of socializing physical education activities, as these activities have not had a substantial positive impact on the quality of physical education teaching in high schools.
Adolescents commonly make new social connections online that sometimes result in face-to-face meetings. Despite potential benefits, risk-focused discourse dominates public debates and shapes ...information shared by sources important for adolescents—news media, preventive programs, peers, parents, and teachers. Our study examines how information about face-to-face meetings from these sources relates to adolescents’ risk perception and engagement in such meetings. Using a sample of 707 Czech adolescents (aged 11–16 years, 46% male), we analyzed these effects for male and female adolescents to reflect the gendered nature of the risk-focused discourse. Male adolescents’ risk perception was not affected by information from any source. Female adolescents’ risk perception was negatively affected by information peers with prior experience with face-to-face meetings but not by other information sources. Female adolescents also perceived face-to-face meetings as riskier in general. We discuss gender differences and the limited impact of information sources on risk perception and provide practical recommendations.
Although previous research has examined the association between the absence of guardianship and online sexual grooming victimization, no previous study has examined the impact of parental supervision ...on the progression of an online grooming event. To address this empirical gap, we designed three honeypot chat bots that simulated young female users on online chatrooms and deployed them on a list of 21 popular chatrooms commonly accessed by youth and online groomers from all around the world. The first chat bot was designed to convey an active guardianship style to a grooming suspect (treatment 1), the second chat bot was designed to convey a passive style of parental guardianship, and the third chat bot was designed to convey no guardianship (control group). The chat bots were deployed over a period of 2.5 months. Findings indicate that online unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of parental supervision increased online groomers’ likelihood to persist in an online sexual grooming event. In contrast, online groomers were less likely to continue their online grooming once believing their targets were communicating online in the presence of parental guardianship (both passive and active).
•Examination of parental supervision on OSG using honeypot chatbot.•Passive guardianship reduced the likelihood of OSG compared to no guardianship.•Active guardianship reduced the likelihood of OSG compared to no guardianship.•Active guardianship has a more significant effect on OSG than passive guardianship.•Policymaking implications are discussed.
Abstract
Objectives
Detecting subtle behavioral changes in everyday life as early signs of cognitive decline and impairment is important for effective early intervention against Alzheimer’s disease. ...This study examined whether features of daily social interactions captured by ecological momentary assessments could serve as more sensitive behavioral markers to distinguish older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from those without MCI, as compared to conventional global measures of social relationships.
Method
Participants were 311 community-dwelling older adults (aged 70–90 years) who reported their social interactions and socializing activities 5 times daily for 14 consecutive days using smartphones.
Results
Compared to those with normal cognitive function, older adults classified as MCI reported less frequent total and positive social interactions and less frequent in-person socializing activities on a daily basis. Older adults with and without MCI, however, did not show differences in most features of social relationships assessed by conventional global measures.
Discussion
These results suggest that certain features of daily social interactions (quality and quantity) could serve as sensitive and ecologically valid behavioral markers to facilitate the detection of MCI.
