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The Influence of Video-Modeled Sexual Assault Disclosure and Self-Efficacy Messages on Sexual Assault Disclosure Efficacy of Adolescent Girls
Abstract
Adolescent female victims of sexual assault must often disclose their victimization to trusted adults to seek positive physical and mental health outcomes; however, adolescent girls face unique barriers to disclosure, and they are less likely to disclose compared to adult women. Media interventions could be useful in motivating adolescent girls to feel more efficacious about disclosing sexual assaults. Self-efficacious messages in media that model disclosure behavior could motivate adolescent girls to feel more confident disclosing information about an assault and seeking positive health outcomes. This study used quasi-experimental methods to test the effect of a YouTube vlog containing a self-efficacy message about sexual assault disclosure. Results indicate that exposure to the self-efficacious message leads to higher sexual assault disclosure efficacy among adolescent girls who identify with self-efficacious media characters (B = −.0867, SE = .059, 95% CI [−.2318, −.0033]), albeit indirectly through perceived discrimination of sexual assault victims and approach coping behaviors. Appropriate interventions targeting disclosure of sexual assault by adolescent girls could include a more holistic view of disclosure and use new mediums like YouTube vlogs to deliver self-efficacious messages.
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In daily academic life, students are exposed to a wide range of potentially stressful situations which could negatively affect their academic achievement and their health. Among the factors that could be weakened by academic stress, attention has been paid to expectations of self-efficacy, which are considered one of the most important determinants for student engagement, persistence, and academic success. From a proactive perspective, research on academic stress has emphasized the importance of coping strategies in preventing harmful consequences. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in discovering the extent to which individuals are able to combine different coping strategies and the adaptive consequences this flexibility entails. However, studies using this person-centered approach are still scarce in the academic context. On that basis, this current study had two objectives: (a) to examine the existence of different profiles of university students based on how they combined different approach coping strategies (positive reappraisal, support seeking, and planning) and (b) to determine the existence of differences in general expectations of self-efficacy between those coping profiles. A total of 1,072 university students participated in the study. The coping profiles were determined by latent profile analysis (LPA). The differences in the self-efficacy variable were determined using ANCOVA, with gender, university year, and degree type as covariates. Four approach coping profiles were identified: (a) low generalized use of approach coping strategies; (b) predominance of social approach coping approaches; (c) predominance of cognitive approach coping approaches; and (d) high generalized use of approach coping strategies. The profile showed that a greater combination of the three strategies was related to higher general self-efficacy expectations and vice versa. These results suggest that encouraging flexibility in coping strategies would help to improve university students’ self-efficacy.
YouTube is the preferred online platform for today’s teenagers. As such, this article explores the relationship between socialization processes in adolescent peer culture and the meanings behind the production and reception of YouTube videos by teenage audiences. Two fields of enquiry comprise the data analyzed in this article. First, through content analysis, we studied the production of videos on YouTube by teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. The discursive construction of an audience is expressed by YouTubers through intimate identity performances using specific, dialogical, and conversational modes. The second study investigated the reception of these videos by teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 through the use of focus groups and in-depth interviews. The results explained the way young people develop a sense of closeness with YouTubers. When examined collectively, our studies reveal how teenage YouTube practices, both as production and reception of content, constitute a twofold social recognition process that incorporates a capacity to recognize oneself in others—like figures with whom one can identify with—and a need to be recognized by others as beings of value. The “intimate confessional production format,” as we have termed it, reinforces this bond.
Objective:
Extensive research has implicated identification with characters in mass media in the emergence of disordered eating behavior in adolescents. We explored the possible influence of the models offered by television (TV) on adolescents’ body image, body uneasiness, eating-disordered behavior, depression, and anxiety.
Methods:
Three hundred and one adolescents (aged 14-19) from southern Italy participated. They completed a questionnaire on media exposure and body dissatisfaction, the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Body Uneasiness Test, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory – Form Y.
Results:
The main factors contributing to females’ eating-disordered behaviors were their own desires to be similar to TV characters, the amount of reality and entertainment TV they watched, and the discrepancy between their perceptions of their bodies and those of TV characters. Friends’ desire to be similar to TV characters contributed most to depression, anxiety, body uneasiness, and eating disorders for both males and females.
Conclusion:
Our data confirm that extensive watching of reality and entertainment TV correlates with eating-disordered behavior among females. Moreover, the well-known negative effects of the media on adolescents’ eating-disordered behaviors may also be indirectly transmitted by friends who share identification with TV characters.
The transactional stress paradigm conceptualizes perceived discrimination as a stress inductor that may have negative consequences for mental health and which calls for the development of coping strategies. This study examines discrimination as perceived by the Peruvian immigrant population that has settled in Santiago de Chile, both as a group and as individuals, and its relationship with coping strategies and mental health. To carry out this research we used a snowball sampling approach. Subjects were three hundred and fifty-five Peruvian immigrants ages eighteen to fitfty-eight years old living in Santiago, who answered a battery of tests focused on covering the variables of interest. Results show that the perception of discrimination is greater at the group level than at the personal level. People who perceive that they are being discriminated tend to use more cognitive avoidance strategies, which do not bear relationship with symptomatology. We can thus conclude that the use of these strategies may have a shielding role against the effects of perceived personal discrimination.
Alcohol use and sexual behavior are important risk behaviors in adolescent development, and combining the two is common. The reasoned action approach (RAA) is used to predict adolescents’ intention to combine alcohol use and sexual behavior based on exposure to alcohol and sex combinations in popular entertainment media. We conducted a content analysis of mainstream (n = 29) and Black-oriented movies (n = 34) from 2014 and 2013–2014, respectively, and 56 television shows (2014–2015 season). Content analysis ratings featuring character portrayals of both alcohol and sex within the same five-minute segment were used to create exposure measures that were linked to online survey data collected from 1,990 adolescents ages 14 to 17 years old (50.3% Black, 49.7% White; 48.1% female). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and group analysis by race were used to test whether attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control mediated the effects of media exposure on intention to combine alcohol and sex. Results suggest that for both White and Black adolescents, exposure to media portrayals of alcohol and sex combinations is positively associated with adolescents’ attitudes and norms. These relationships were stronger among White adolescents. Intention was predicted by attitude, norms, and control, but only the attitude–intention relationship was different by race group (stronger for Whites).
Background:
There is a rich literature on the nature of mental health-related stigma and the processes by which it severely affects the life chances of people with mental health problems. However, applying this knowledge to deliver and evaluate interventions to reduce discrimination and stigma in a lasting way is a complex and long-term challenge.
Methods:
We conducted a narrative synthesis of systematic reviews published since 2012, and supplemented this with papers published subsequently as examples of more recent work.
Results:
There is evidence for small to moderate positive impacts of both mass media campaigns and interventions for target groups in terms of stigma-related knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviour in terms of desire for contact. However, the limited evidence from longer follow-up times suggests that it is not clear whether short-term contact interventions have a lasting impact.
Conclusions:
The risk that short-term interventions may only have a short-term impact suggests a need to study longer term interventions and to use interim process and outcome data to improve interventions along the way. There is scope for more thorough application of intergroup contact theory whenever contact is used and of evidence-based teaching and assessment methods when skills training is used for target groups.
Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) face many psychosocial challenges, including HIV disclosure to others. Given the importance of socialization during the adolescent transition process, this study investigated the psychological and social factors influencing self-disclosure of own HIV status to peers. We examined social HIV self-disclosure to peers, and its relationship to perceived HIV-related stigma, self-efficacy to disclose, self-esteem, and social support among a sample of n = 582 ALHIV aged 13–17 years in Kampala, Uganda, and Western Kenya. Data were collected between February and April 2011. Among them, 39% were double orphans. We conducted a secondary data analysis to assess the degree of social disclosure, reactions received, and influencing factors. Interviewer-administered questionnaires assessed medical, socio-demographic, and psychological variables (Rosenberg self-esteem scale; self-efficacy to disclose to peers), HIV-related stigma (10-item stigma scale), and social support (family–life and friends). Descriptive, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed with social self-disclosure to peers with gender as covariates. Almost half of ALHIV had told nobody (except health-care providers) about their HIV status, and about 18% had disclosed to either one of their friends, schoolmates, or a boy- or girlfriend. Logistic regression models revealed that having disclosed to peers was significantly related to being older, being a paternal orphan, contributing to family income, regular visits to the HIV clinic, and greater social support through peers. Low self-efficacy to disclose was negatively associated to the outcome variable. While social self-disclosure was linked to individual factors such as self-efficacy, factors relating to the social context and adolescents’ access to psychosocial resources play an important role. ALHIV need safe environments to practice disclosure skills. Interventions should enable them to make optimal use of available psychosocial resources even under constraining conditions such as disruptive family structures.
Delayed disclosure of rape has been associated with impaired mental health; it is, therefore, important to understand which factors are associated with disclosure latency. The purpose of this study was to compare various demographics, post-rape characteristics, and psychological functioning of early and delayed disclosers (i.e., more than 1-week post-rape) among rape victims, and to determine predictors for delayed disclosure.
Data were collected using a structured interview and validated questionnaires in a sample of 323 help-seeking female adolescents and young adults (12-25 years), who were victimized by rape, but had no reported prior chronic child sexual abuse.
In 59% of the cases, disclosure occurred within 1 week. Delayed disclosers were less likely to use medical services and to report to the police than early disclosers. No significant differences were found between delayed and early disclosers in psychological functioning and time to seek professional help. The combination of age category 12-17 years [odds ratio (OR) 2.05, confidence intervals (CI) 1.13-3.73], penetration (OR 2.36, CI 1.25-4.46), and closeness to assailant (OR 2.64, CI 1.52-4.60) contributed significantly to the prediction of delayed disclosure.
The results point to the need of targeted interventions that specifically encourage rape victims to disclose early, thereby increasing options for access to health and police services.
In this study, we conducted semistructured interviews with N = 20 adolescent sexual assault victims who sought postassault help from the medical and legal system to understand young survivors' disclosure and help-seeking processes. Results revealed three distinct disclosure patterns and pathways to help-seeking. First, in the voluntary disclosure group, victims told their friends, who encouraged them to tell an adult, who then encouraged-and assisted-the survivors in seeking help. Throughout this process, the survivors' disclosures at each step were within their control and reflected their choices for how to proceed. Second, in the involuntary disclosure pattern, victims also first disclosed to friends, but then those friends told adults about the assault, against the survivors' wishes; the adults made the victims seek help, which was also against the survivors' preferences. Third, in situational disclosures, the survivors were unconscious at the time of the assault, and their friends disclosed and sought help on their behalf. We also examined how these initial disclosure patterns related to victims' continued engagement with these systems.
© The Author(s) 2015.
Social workers responsible for developing rape prevention programs on college campuses must have valid evaluation instruments. This article presents the challenges encountered by the authors when they attempted to keep rape myth measures relevant to student by updating the language to reflect the subtleties involved with rape myths. The development of a modified version of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale is described. Focus groups were conducted to gather feedback about the language used by college students related to sexual encounters and rape. The instrument was then tested with 951 undergraduate students at a large northeastern university. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to assess the factor structure of the scale. In addition, multiple-indicators multiple-causes modeling was used to assess the potential differential item functioning of the measure's items by gender, previous experience with sexual assault prevention programming, and knowing someone who was sexually assaulted. A four-factor structure was hypothesized and a five-factor supported, indicating a separate factor that looks at alcohol and accountability. for social workers are discussed, including the necessity of continuously updating rape myth measures to ensure validity.
Globally, adolescent women are at risk for gender-based violence (GBV) including sexual violence and intimate partner violence (IPV). Those in economically distressed settings are considered uniquely vulnerable.Methods
Female adolescents aged 15–19 from Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New Delhi, India; Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Shanghai, China (n = 1,112) were recruited via respondent-driven sampling to participate in a cross-sectional survey. We describe the prevalence of past-year physical and sexual IPV, and lifetime and past-year non-partner sexual violence. Logistic regression models evaluated associations of GBV with substance use, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and self-rated health.ResultsAmong ever-partnered women, past-year IPV prevalence ranged from 10.2% in Shanghai to 36.6% in Johannesburg. Lifetime non-partner sexual violence ranged from 1.2% in Shanghai to 12.6% in Johannesburg. Where sufficient cases allowed additional analyses (Baltimore and Johannesburg), both IPV and non-partner sexual violence were associated with poor health across domains of substance use, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and self-rated health; associations varied across study sites.Conclusions
Significant heterogeneity was observed in the prevalence of IPV and non-partner sexual violence among adolescent women in economically distressed urban settings, with upwards of 25% of ever-partnered women experiencing past-year IPV in Baltimore, Ibadan, and Johannesburg, and more than 10% of adolescent women in Baltimore and Johannesburg reporting non-partner sexual violence. Findings affirm the negative health influence of GBV even in disadvantaged urban settings that present a range of competing health threats. A multisectoral response is needed to prevent GBV against young women, mitigate its health impact, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Historically, many studies have examined rape victim blaming among various observers, using a vignette methodology in which victim characteristics were manipulated. However, a gap in the research concerns a clear distinction between victim and observer characteristics and its separate influence on rape victim blaming. The current paper explores this distinction by examining the victim characteristics of gender, sexuality, degree of resistance exhibited, and victim-perpetrator relationship, as well as the observer characteristics of gender, professional status, gender role attitudes, and rape myth acceptance in relation to rape victim blame. Findings indicate that these variables have significant effects on rape blame attribution. A number of theoretical standpoints including the Just World Theory, Defensive Attribution Hypothesis, and notion of Homophobia are discussed in relation to the findings with the aim of enabling interpretation of the results. The limitations associated with the vignette methodology are also identified and discussed, along with reference to the development of newer methodologies and their contribution to the field.
Amidst changing patterns of accommodation and conflict among American ethnic groups, there remains a paucity of research on the nature and impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on development in multiethnic samples of youth. The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index along with measures of caregiver racial bias preparation and self-esteem was administered to 177 adolescents drawn from 9th–12th graders self-identified as African American, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Youth from all ethnic backgrounds reported distress associated with instances of perceived racial prejudice encountered in educational contexts. Instances of institutional discrimination in stores and by police were higher for older youth and particularly for African American and Hispanic teenagers. Encounters with peer discrimination were reported most frequently by Asian youth. Reports of racial bias preparation were associated with distress in response to institutional and educational discrimination and self-esteem scores were negatively correlated with distress caused by educational and peer discrimination. The importance of research on discrimination distress to understanding adolescent development in multiethnic ecologies is discussed here.
This article reviews the peer-reviewed literature addressing the healthcare information available on YouTube. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined, and the online databases PubMed and Web of Knowledge were searched using the search phrases: (1) YouTube* AND Health* and (2) YouTube* AND Healthcare*. In all, 18 articles were reviewed, with the results suggesting that (1) YouTube is increasingly being used as a platform for disseminating health information; (2) content and frame analysis were the primary techniques employed by researchers to analyze the characteristics of this information; (3) YouTube contains misleading information, primarily anecdotal, that contradicts the reference standards and the probability of a lay user finding such content is relatively high; (4) the retrieval of relevant videos is dependent on the search term used; and (5) videos from government organizations and professional associations contained trustworthy and high-quality information. YouTube is used as a medium for promoting unscientific therapies and drugs that are yet to be approved by the appropriate agencies and has the potential to change the beliefs of patients concerning controversial topics such as vaccinations. This review recognizes the need to design interventions to enable consumers to critically assimilate the information posted on YouTube with more authoritative information sources to make effective healthcare decisions.
Objective: Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. Regarding to similar findings it is supposed that concept of self efficacy has a general role on mental health. The present study focused on examining the relationships between self-efficacy and symptoms of depression, anxiety, worry and social avoidance in a large sample of normal students (n=549).
Methods: The sample included of 266 female and 283 male high school students from schools of distinct areas 6, 8 and 9 (Tehran, Iran). The schools were chosen randomly. Participants completed the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children and Social Avoidance & Distress Scale and also the scales measuring trait anxiety, depression, worry and social avoidance. Stepwise regression analyses were used as methods of analysis.
Results: Main results distinguished that there is a significant and negative relationship between total self-efficacy, physical self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy and depression. Also significant and negative relationships were found between total self-efficacy, physical self-efficacy and emotional self-efficacy and anxiety. Emotional self-efficacy and physical self-efficacy had significantly a negative relationship to worry. On the other hand, social self-efficacy and physical self-efficacy were significantly and negatively related to social avoidance
Conclusion: According to what is discussed the various aspects of mental health is influenced by the sense of self efficacy appraisal. So low self efficacy usually increases some problems such as emotional and social problems which involves in mental health.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that adolescent dating violence is highly prevalent and is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. A number of prevention initiatives are being implemented in North American high schools. Such initiatives aim to raise awareness among potential victims and offenders, and also among peer bystanders. As teenagers mainly reach out to their peers when experiencing adversity, it is important to address adolescents’ efficacy in dealing with witnessing dating violence or with friends disclosing dating abuse, in addition to increasing their ability to deal with experienced dating violence victimization or perpetration. The aim of this study is to explore adolescents’ self-efficacy to deal with dating violence victimization and perpetration in their relationships and those of their peers. A paper-and-pencil questionnaire was completed by 259 14-18-year-olds in Quebec, Canada. The data allow building insight into adolescents’ confidence to reach out for help or to help others in a situation of dating violence victimization and perpetration. We also considered the impact of gender and dating victimization history. Results suggest that dating violence prevention can build on teens’ self-efficacy to deal with dating violence and offer them tools to do so efficiently.
Adolescents’ wishful identification with televised scientist characters was examined as related to interactions among the following variables: gender of participant, gender of scientist character, program genre, and selected character attributes. Findings indicated some gender differences in adolescents’ wishful identification with scientist characters they viewed on television. Boys showed more wishful identification with male scientist than with female scientist characters for all character attributes, and girls showed more wishful identification with female scientist than with male scientist characters portrayed dominant or as working alone. Both girls and boys showed more wishful identification with scientist characters in drama programs than for those in cartoon and educational programs across all character attributes. Both girls and boys showed more wishful identification for some character attributes depending on the program genre viewed. Implications of these findings for producers of television programs and other media are discussed related to efforts to encourage adolescent girls’ interest in science careers.
Using data from a post-test only experiment with random assignment, this article examines whether differing music genres influence socially relevant decisions made by listeners. A sample of White college students was exposed to1 of 3 music genres during an ostensible waiting period, and was then asked to allocate funding to projects for different ethnic groups. Three music conditions—radical White power rock, mainstream rock, and Top 40 pop music—were examined to determine whether differential allocations to ethnic groups would emerge following music exposure. As expected, Top 40 pop music exposure led to equal allocations to the various ethnic groups. After listening to mainstream rock, participants allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans compared to all other race groups. After listening to radical White power rock music, participants also allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans, but changes in allocations to ethnic minority groups also emerged. Namely, African Americans and Arab Americans received particularly low funding from participants exposed to radical White power rock music.
Fear appeals are frequently used in health communication to persuade people to adopt a new type of behavior (e.g., practicing safe sex) because their current behavior (e.g., having unsafe sex) is likely to result in harmful consequences. A fear appeal's persuasiveness depends on the extent to which the consequences are perceived as undesirable and realistic and on the extent to which the proposed alternative behavior is considered effective and feasible. In an experiment, the perceived threat and self-efficacy were manipulated by means of an exemplar in which a person either succeeded in performing the propagated behavior (and, consequently, did not suffer the harmful consequences) or in which the person did not succeed in performing the propagated behavior (and, consequently, did suffer the harmful consequences). A total of 149 participants read one of the versions and indicated their intention to perform the propagated behavior, their perception of its feasibility, and their inclination to minimize the message. The results showed that the version in which the person succeeded in performing the behavior yielded a more positive self-efficacy perception and stronger acceptance of the message claim. The version in which the person failed to perform the behavior yielded a more negative self-efficacy perception and more negative intention to perform the behavior propagated. Further statistical analysis showed that the effects on intention were mediated by the message minimization.
African American adolescents’ perceptions of racism and career self-efficacy relationships are examined. Participants in a southwestern urban high school completed the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, Racism and Life Experiences Scale-Personal and -Group, and career decision and career task self-efficacy scales. Results indicate that participants who perceived a higher degree of racism against their group reported significantly higher self-efficacy for career decision making but not for career task self-efficacy. An achieved ethnic identity, higher parental socioeconomic status, and being female were related to higher levels of career self-efficacy. The study’s research design supports the need for research with ethnic identity, gender, and the use of multidimensional measurements to achieve a better understanding of racism and career self-efficacy with African American adolescents. Theoretical, research, and programmatic implications are discussed.
The processes involved in well-being maintenance among African Americans who differed in their attributions to prejudice were examined. A rejection–identification model was proposed where stable attributions to prejudice represent rejection by the dominant group. This results in a direct and negative effect on well-being. The model also predicts a positive effect on well-being that is mediated by minority group identification. In other words, the generally negative consequences of perceiving oneself as a victim of racial prejudice can be somewhat alleviated by identification with the minority group. Structural equation analyses provided support for the model and ruled out alternative theoretical possibilities. Perceiving prejudice as pervasive produces effects on well-being that are fundamentally different from those that may arise from an unstable attribution to prejudice for a single negative outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
With hierarchical linear modeling, student reports of the avoidance of help seeking were related to student and classroom characteristics. Avoidance of help seeking was related negatively to students' academic efficacy. However, avoidance of help seeking was related less strongly to students' academic efficacy in classrooms in which teachers believed they should attend to their students' social and emotional needs. Average levels of avoidance of help seeking were related to students' perceptions of the classroom goal structure: A perceived emphasis on self-improvement was related to lower levels of help avoidance, whereas a perceived emphasis on relative ability was associated with higher levels. Teacher reports of their approaches to instruction (emphasizing self-improvement or emphasizing relative ability) were unrelated to students' avoidance of help seeking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Researchers have suggested that general self-efficacy (GSE) can substantially contribute to organizational theory, research, and practice. Unfortunately, the limited construct validity work conducted on commonly used GSE measures has highlighted such potential problems as low content validity and multidimensionality. The authors developed a new GSE (NGSE) scale and compared its psychometric properties and validity to that of the Sherer et al. General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSE). Studies in two countries found that the NGSE scale has higher construct validity than the SGSE scale. Although shorter than the SGSE scale, the NGSE scale demonstrated high reliability, predicted specific self-efficacy (SSE) for a variety of tasks in various contexts, and moderated the influence of previous performance on subsequent SSE formation. Implications, limitations, and directions for future organizational research are discussed.
Self-efficacy theory maintains that self-efficacy expectancy, a belief about one's ability to successfully perform a behavior, is independent of outcome expectancy, a belief about the likelihood of the behavior leading to a specific outcome. This experiment tested the hypothesis that self-efficacy and outcome expectancy are independent and have independent effects on behavior change. Subjects read communications that differed in descriptions of the difficulty of learning and performing a behavior (self-efficacy expectancy) and the effectiveness of the behavior in producing a desired outcome (outcome expectancy). Results disclosed that increments in outcome expectancy increased intentions to perform the behavior. Increments in self-efficacy expectancy yielded nonsignificant increases in intentions. Also, the outcome expectancy manipulation influenced expectations of self-efficacy. When the behavior was presented as relatively difficult to perform, subjects who believed that the behavior was more likely to result in a favorable outcome expressed greater confidence in their ability to perform the behavior than those who perceived a relatively weak relationship between the behavior and its outcome. It was suggested that the degree of risk involved in attempting yet failing to perform correctly a behavior may determine the extent to which self-efficacy expectancy affects decisions about behavior.
The emphasis of this paper is on the role of media in the socialization of adolescents. First, a typology of adolescent media uses is presented, including entertainment, identity formation, high sensation, coping, and youth culture identification. Then, these five uses are discussed in relation to adolescent socialization. The central point of this discussion is that media differ from socializing agents such as family, school, community, and the legal system in that adolescents have greater control over their media choices than they do over their socialization from these other sources. The result is a substantial degree of self-socialization, in the sense that adolescents may choose from a diverse range of media materials the ones that best suit their individual preferences and personalities. Another result is that there is often a lack of integration in the socialization of adolescents, in the sense that they may receive different socialization messages from media (and peers) than they do from the adult socializes in their immediate environment.
Previous research on media exposure and body image focuses on TV and magazines, rather than the under researched types of
media heavily consumed by adolescents, such as music videos. The present research, involving 199 adolescent girls (aged 14–16)
from South-East England, examines girls’ media consumption (types and genres) and identification with media models, then uses
an exposure experiment to investigate whether the different media formats in which ‘body perfect’ ideals are presented affects
their impact on body image. “Study 1” showed that neither type nor amount of media use was related to body dissatisfaction, however media model identification
was. “Study 2” demonstrated that regardless of media type, experimental exposure to the body perfect led to significantly higher body and
appearance dissatisfaction, compared to control images, but primarily amongst those girls who strongly identified with media
models. Theoretical and intervention implications are discussed.
KeywordsAdolescent girls–Media consumption–Thin ideal–Body dissatisfaction–Body image
Coping styles and self-efficacy have been recognized as important determinants of dysphoric mood. The objectives of this study
were to determine the influence of these two factors on depression and anxiety in Japanese students. A set of questionnaires,
including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Self-efficacy
Scale (SES) was distributed to 146 nursing students. Structural equation modelling was conducted to specify the relationships
between measured variables. The HAD depression and anxiety scores were predicted by emotion-oriented coping. The HAD depression
alone was predicted by avoidance-oriented coping. Self-efficacy scores predicted the emotion-oriented coping and HAD depression
scores. Students’ dysphoric moods were influenced by emotional-oriented coping that mediated the effects of low self-efficacy,
and self-efficacy also had a direct effect on depression.
The aim of this article is to briefly review the literature on stigmatization and more generally identity threats, to focus more specifically of the way people appraise and cope with those threatening situations. Based on the transactional model of stress and coping of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), we propose a model of coping with identity threats that takes into accounts the principle characteristic of stigma, its devaluing aspect. We present a model with specific antecedents, a refined appraisal phase and a new classification of coping strategies based on the motives that may be elicited by the threatening situation, those of protecting and/or enhancing the personal and/or social identity.
Adolescents with a diagnosable mental health disorder must often first disclose their mental health problems to a parent in order to obtain professional mental health treatment. The decision to disclose private, personal health information is the result of successful progression through disclosure decision-making processes fraught with barriers that can discourage disclosure; therefore, the current study explored adolescents' perceptions of factors that facilitate or discourage disclosure of mental health information to parents. Thematic analysis of a series of focus groups with adolescents with and without a mental health disorder discovered several themes that describe factors adolescents consider in the disclosure decision-making process. Several identified themes are consistent with past research related to health-related disclosure decisions, but some themes suggest that the mental health disclosure decision-making processes of adolescents may be different than the decision-making processes of adults in other health contexts. Results of the study have implications for interventions associated with adolescents' and parents' mental health literacy, mental health stigma and communication about mental health issues.
Alcohol use and risky single occasion drinking are common among adolescents and are associated with a higher risk of various negative social, physical, academic, or sexual consequences. Studies have shown that among college students, willingness to experience negative consequences is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing these consequences in the future. However, it remains unclear how experiencing negative consequences influences adolescents’ willingness to experience them again. Based on a representative sample of 1,333 alcohol-using 14- to 15-year-olds (47.9% female), a path model was used to examine the associations between risky drinking, negative social and physical consequences, and willingness to experience the specific consequence in the future. As hypothesized, more frequent risky drinking was positively associated with experiencing negative consequences (i.e., saying or doing embarrassing things, regretted sexual experiences, impairment of schoolwork, problems with parents/friends, accident or injury, hangover, vomiting, memory lapses). Contrary to our second hypothesis, adolescents who experienced a negative consequence were also consistently willing to experience it in the future. Findings suggest that adolescents may see the experience of negative consequences as a necessary evil to attain the positive consequences. Prevention efforts may benefit from focusing on ways of attaining positive consequences by promoting alternatives to engaging in risky drinking practices, as well as reducing negative consequences (e.g., by promoting protective behavioral strategies).
Sexual abuse has the potential to generate serious emotional consequences for its victims, but there is high variability in the symptoms reported by different victims. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the factors associated with the symptoms presented by sexual abuse victims. The aim of the study was to use a single model to evaluate the relationship between sexual abuse characteristics (frequency, violence, relation with the aggressor and physical commitment), cognitive and behavioral factors (self-efficacy, active coping and perceived family support) and internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress) in a group of sexually abused adolescents. The participants included 106 female adolescent victims of sexual abuse (M=14.25years, SD=1.74). The results of a path analysis indicated that sexual abuse characteristics were unrelated to symptomatology. Only a negative relationship was observed between the victim's relationship with the aggressor and PTSD symptomatology. The violence of the sexual abuse was negatively related to self-efficacy, and self-efficacy was positively related to active coping and negatively related to symptomatology. Finally, the perception of family support was positively related to self-efficacy and negatively related to symptomatology. These results suggest the need to consider the studied factors in the process of psychotherapy with victims of sexual abuse.
Individuals commonly seek help for problem health behaviors, such as excessive drinking, smoking, and weight gain. Yet there is a high rate of recidivism in these behaviors because outcome expectancies are either too high, negative outcome expectancies are not considered, or outcome expectancies are not properly addressed. Health care providers are recommended to list the outcome expectancy for the problem behavior and corresponding treatment for their patient. Through the process it is important to acknowledge both the positive and negative outcomes of engaging in the problem behavior. Health care providers are then encouraged to have their patient identify the goals and objectives that will assist in achieving the desired outcome. By recognizing and addressing outcome expectancies, it is more likely that the patient will be less resistant to the health care provider’s recommendations to change problematic behavior.
African-American and White high-school students were exposed to a series of music videos featuring (a) popular rock, (b) nonpolitical rap, or (c) radical political rap. They recorded their enjoyment after exposure. In a purportedly unrelated subsequent study, the students, after assessment of their self-esteem, took part in a mock student-government election. African-American and White candidates presented ethnically (a) liberal, (b) neutral, or (c) radical platforms. It was found that African-American students enjoyed rap more than rock, whereas White students enjoyed rock more than rap. More important, musical genres were without consequence for the self-esteem of African-American students. Self-esteem of White students was marginally affected: Compared to exposure to rock, it was higher after exposure to rap, but only with regard to scholastic abilities. Musical genres were also without consequence for African-American students’ support of candidates. In contrast, White students’ candidate support was significantly affected: After exposure to radical political rap, White students gave more support to an African-American, ethnically liberal candidate and less support to a White, ethnically radical candidate than after exposure to nonpolitical rap or popular rock. Radical political rap thus appeared to motivate White adolescents to support efforts toward racial harmony and to oppose White-supremacy agendas. At the same time, a positive effect of radical political rap on ethnic consciousness and on feelings of ethnic solidarity could not be demonstrated for African-American adolescents.
Although abstinence-only programs in the United States have historically failed to provide medically accurate information on sexual health, young people in the twenty-first century have turned to YouTube to answer their sex questions. The accessible and engaging format of the YouTube video has helped some sex educators achieve Internet fame among a mass audience of users devoted to watching their web series and interacting with them on social media. Using two sex education channels (Laci Green’s Sex Plus and Lindsey Doe’s Sexplanations) as case studies, this article investigates the ways in which YouTube stardom shapes the production of and engagement with online sex education videos. In doing so, the article uncovers how Internet fame helps to create a brand of sex education salient to audiences across media platforms that rely on the illusion of face-to-face interaction, the development of an authoritative yet approachable identity, and the cultivation of a virtual community.
Prior research reveals that many police engage in victim blaming, skeptical reactions to adult sexual assault survivors. However, little is known about adolescent survivors' experiences with police. To address this gap, qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 adolescent rape survivors to understand adolescents' perceptions of their interactions with the police (specifically the messages the officers conveyed about the assault and the victims themselves). Positive perceptions occurred when the adolescents perceived police behavior as indications of believing their story, validating their decision to report, and refraining from judgment of their behavior. On the other hand, negative perceptions were associated with behaviors that were viewed as indications of skepticism, blame, or judgment. Specific behaviors that were associated with each of these themes are discussed. Interactions with the police influenced survivors' emotional well-being and their hope for their case's success. Implications for improving interactions between police and adolescent sexual assault victims are discussed.
Previous research has identified that exposure to the crime drama genre lowers rape myth acceptance and increases sexual assault prevention behaviors such as bystander intervention. However, recent content analyses have revealed marked differences in the portrayal of sexual violence within the top three crime drama franchises. Using a survey of 313 college freshmen, this study explores the influence of exposure to the three most popular crime drama franchises: Law & Order, CSI, and NCIS. Findings indicate that exposure to the Law & Order franchise is associated with decreased rape myth acceptance and increased intentions to adhere to expressions of sexual consent and refuse unwanted sexual activity; whereas exposure to the CSI franchise is associated with decreased intentions to seek consent and decreased intentions to adhere to expressions of sexual consent. Exposure to the NCIS franchise was associated with decreased intentions to refuse unwanted sexual activity. These results indicate that exposure to the specific content of each crime drama franchise may have differential results on sexual consent negotiation behaviors.
Sexual assault is a broad-based term that encompasses a wide range of sexual victimizations including rape. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics published its last policy statement on sexual assault in 2001, additional information and data have emerged about sexual assault and rape in adolescents and the treatment and management of the adolescent who has been a victim of sexual assault. This report provides new information to update physicians and focuses on assessment and care of sexual assault victims in the adolescent population.
Whereas previous research has mainly focused on negative effects of listening to music on intergroup attitudes and behavior, the present three experiments examined whether music exposure could reduce prejudice and discrimination. In fact, those participants who had listened to songs with pro-integration (relative to neutral) lyrics expressed less prejudice (Studies 1 and 3) and were less aggressive against (Study 2) and more helpful toward an outgroup member (Study 3). These effects were unaffected by song liking as well as mood and arousal properties of the songs employed, suggesting that it is indeed the pro-integration content of the lyrics that drives the effects. It is discussed to what extent music exposure could be employed to effectively reduce prejudice and discrimination in the real world. Aggr. Behav. 9999:XX-XX, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Purpose
To estimate the likelihood that a recent cohort of children would be exposed to sexual abuse and sexual assault by age 17 in the United States.
Methods
This analysis draws on three very similarly designed national telephone surveys of youth in 2003, 2008, and 2011, resulting in a pooled sample of 708 17-year-olds, 781 15-year-olds, and 804 16-year-olds.
Results
The lifetime experience of 17-year-olds with sexual abuse and sexual assault was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 19.8–33.5) for girls and 5.1% (95% CI 2.6–7.6) for boys. The lifetime experience with sexual abuse and sexual assault at the hands of adult perpetrators exclusively was 11.2% (95% CI 6.4–16.1) for females and 1.9% (95% CI .5–3.4) for males. For females, considerable risk for sexual abuse and assault was concentrated in late adolescence, as the rate rose from 16.8% (95% CI 11.5–22.2) for 15-year-old females to 26.6% (95% CI 19.8–33.5) for 17-year-old females. For males, it rose from 4.3% (95% CI 1.9–6.8) at 15 years to 5.1% (2.6–7.6) at 17 years.
Conclusions
Self-report surveys in late adolescence reveal high rates of lifetime experience with sexual abuse and sexual assault at the hands of both adults and peers. Because of high continuing victimization during the late teen years, assessments are most complete when conducted among the oldest youth.
In this article I argue that although the notion of identification with media characters is widely discussed in media research, it has not been carefully conceptualized or rig- orously tested in empirical audience studies. This study presents a theoretical discus- sion of identification, including a definition of identification and a discussion of the consequences of identification with media characters for the development of identity and socialization processes. It is suggested that a useful distinction can be made be- tween identification and other types of reactions that media audiences have to media characters. A critical look at media research involving identification exposes the in- herent conceptual problems in this research and leads to hypotheses regarding the antecedents and consequences of identification with media characters. The impor - tance of a theory of identification to media research and communication research, more broadly, is presented. When reading a novel or watching a film or a television program, audience members often become absorbed in the plot and identify with the characters portrayed. Unlike the more distanced mode of reception—that of spectatorship—identification is a mechanism through which audience members experience reception and interpreta- tion of the text from the inside, as if the events were happening to them. Identification is tied to the social effects of media in general (e.g., Basil, 1996; Maccoby & Wilson, 1957); to the learning of violence from violent films and television, specifically (Huesmann, Lagerspetz, & Eron, 1984); and is a central mechanism for explaining such effects. As Morley (1992) said: "One can hardly imagine any television text having any effect whatever without that identification" (p. 209). The most promi-
The objective of the research was to construct a brief coping questionnaire designed to assess the approach-avoidance dichotomy. A 20-item questionnaire was designed and tested in samples of 206 students and 93 patients. Based on empirical analyses and interviews with patients, 12 items were chosen for the final scale, which was named the Brief Approach/Avoidance Coping Questionnaire (BACQ). BACQ was then tested in a clinical sample of 299 primary care patients. A Cronbach's alpha of 0.68 was found in a primary care sample. In testing concurrent validity, BACQ indexes correlated significantly with relevant COPE sub-scales in a 0.34 to 0.57 range. A factor structure based on a two-factor solution gave one bipolar factor, ranging from active approach to resignation and withdrawal, and a second factor with items indicating diversion. In conclusion, the 12-item BACQ is a brief measure of coping strategies with satisfactory psychometric properties. The instrument is designed to measure a general concept of approach versus avoidance oriented coping, but the findings also point to two sub-dimensions of avoidant coping, resignation/withdrawal and diversion.
Children aged 7 to 12 were interviewed about their favorite TV character. Nearly all boys and about half of the girls selected same‐sex favorites. Regression analyses used perceived character traits (attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior) to predict wishful identification and parasocial interaction with characters. For male characters, wishful identification was predicted by intelligence and (for girls only) humor; parasocial interaction was predicted by intelligence, attractiveness, and (for boys only) strength. In marked contrast, for female characters (chosen only by girls), attractiveness was the only significant predictor. Although girls rated female characters as more intelligent than male characters, this trait apparently was not an important determinant of attraction. Interpretations of the findings and implications for socialization effects are discussed.
Social cognitive theory provides an agentic conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thought, affect and action. Communications systems operate through two pathways. In the direct pathway, they promote changes by informing, enabling, motivating, and guiding participants. In the socially mediated pathway, media influences link participants to social networks and community settings that provide natural incentives and continued personalized guidance, for desired change. Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new styles of behavior in terms of the psychosocial factors governing their acquisition and adoption and the social networks through which they spread and are supported. Structural interconnectedness provides potential diffusion paths; sociocognitive factors largely determine what diffuses through those paths.
While many scholars “know” a fear appeal when they hear one, few can define exactly what causes a message to be categorized as a fear appeal. This lack of specificity in operationalizations of fear appeals may have contributed to the diverse empirical literature. This essay attempts to identify the methodological and conceptual confounds in the literature. First, the structural, style, and extra‐message features of fear appeals are defined. Then, study design issues are discussed. Finally, the empirical literature is analyzed. Recommendations are offered for those conducting research.
Addresses the centrality of the self-efficacy mechanism (SEM) in human agency. SEM precepts influence thought patterns, actions, and emotional arousal. In causal tests, the higher the level of induced self-efficacy, the higher the performance accomplishments and the lower the emotional arousal. The different lines of research reviewed show that the SEM may have wide explanatory power. Perceived self-efficacy helps to account for such diverse phenomena as changes in coping behavior produced by different modes of influence, level of physiological stress reactions, self-regulation of refractory behavior, resignation and despondency to failure experiences, self-debilitating effects of proxy control and illusory inefficaciousness, achievement strivings, growth of intrinsic interest, and career pursuits. The influential role of perceived collective efficacy in social change and the social conditions conducive to development of collective inefficacy are analyzed. (21/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1982 American Psychological Association.
This study utilizes data from the Latino National Political Survey to evaluate the relationship between several social and cultural variables, media use, and Hispanic perceptions of discrimination. We examine the effects that level of income and education, personal experience, ethnicity, and political party preference and media exposure have on these perceptions. The examination builds on social-psychological theories and media framing/cultivation arguments. The cross-section, regression analysis considers Hispanics as a whole and as various subgroups (Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans), respectively. Contrary to conventional wisdom that media use is positively related to perceived discrimination, we find that socioeconomic and ethnic conditions are of greater import for understanding perceptions. Further, it appears that media use has little impact on perceptions of discrimination.
This study draws on the social-discount and social-rejection hypotheses to examine the effect of perceived discrimination
on immigrant youths’ depressive moods, self-efficacy, and preferences for in-group socialization experiences. Data from a
panel study of immigrant young adolescents (aged 12–18) who came to Israel from countries of the former Soviet Union during
the preceding 6years was used (n=732). The average age of participants was 15.5years; and 50% were boys. Partial support emerged for the social-rejection
hypothesis: perceived discrimination increases depressive moods and reduces self-esteem. Yet increased perceived discrimination
did not increase the preference for in-group socialization. Perceived discrimination seems to be detrimental to individuals’
psychological well-being but apparently does not hinder social integration.