The social contexts of behaviors and relationships: The relation of classroom and cyber victimization to number of classroom and cyber friends.

Behaviors and relationships exist within a variety of social contexts. More specifically for the current research, victimization and friendships occur in classrooms and, increasingly, in online virtual contexts. The current research examined how the number of classroom friends and number of cyber friends related to the extent of classroom victimization and extent of cyber victimization. Research has demonstrated the importance of face-to-face friendships in relation to being a victim; much less is known about the role of cyber friends in relation to being a cyber victim or how these relationships may play a role in cross-context victimization. Participants were 350 children from Grades 3 through 5 (188 girls and 162 boys). Children indicated classroom friends on a classroom roster, reported the number of their cyber friends, and indicated the extent of their cyber victimization. Peers nominated classmates for classroom victimization behaviors. A path analysis revealed that number of classroom friends was negatively associated with both extent of classroom victimization and extent of cyber victimization. Number of cyber friends was positively associated with extent of cyber victimization and was negatively related to extent of classroom victimization. Discussion of results includes the construction, use, and adaptation of social skills within and between social contexts.

A Short-Term Longitudinal Examination of the Relation of Forms of Antipathy Relationships to Children's Loneliness, Peer Optimism, and Peer Sociability Behaviors.

Researchers have focused on children's friendship relationships more than antipathy (disliking) relationships. The present one-year longitudinal research examined the relation of different forms of antipathy nominations (Mutual, Unilateral Given, Unilateral Received) to children's social competence (self-reports of loneliness and peer optimism, classroom peer nominations for sociability behaviors) for 121 third and fourth graders (fourth and fifth graders in Year 2). From path analyses, the pattern between forms of antipathy relationships to the measures of social competence was identical for concurrent findings at Time 1 and between forms of antipathy relationships and the measures of social competence one year later. Higher numbers of Mutual Antipathies and higher numbers of Unilateral Received Antipathies were related to greater loneliness and fewer peer nominations for sociability behaviors. In addition, higher numbers of Unilateral Received Antipathies were related to less peer optimism. Interestingly, numbers of Unilateral Given Antipathies were not significantly related to any of the social competence measures at Time 1 or one year later. These findings suggest that dislike relationships, whether mutual or unilateral received, may have important negative associations for children's concurrent and later social competence.

Sexually-transmitted Infections and Unintended Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Analysis of Risk Transmission through Friends and Attitudes.

Data from 1087 adolescent participants in three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was used to examine the effects of peer selection and socialization processes in adolescence on later reports of sexually-transmitted infections (STI) and unintended pregnancies. Friends' attitudes and behavior were assessed with friends' reports. Among males, there was evidence for selection effects on STI diagnoses and socialization effects on reports of unintended pregnancy, both involving friends' attitudes. Among females, there was evidence for long-term effects of both socialization and selection processes involving same-sex friends' attitudes. Discussion focuses on the importance of peer and individual attitudes as potential intervention targets.

How can parents make a difference? Longitudinal associations with adolescent sexual behavior.

Parents have the potential to protect against adolescent sexual risk, including early sexual behavior, inconsistent condom use, and outcomes such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Identification of the specific parenting dimensions associated with sexual risk in adolescence and young adulthood is necessary to inform and focus prevention efforts. The current study examined the relation of proximal (e.g., discussions of sexual costs) and distal (e.g., parental involvement, relationship quality) parenting variables with concurrent and longitudinal adolescent sexual behavior. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provided a nationally representative sample with information about the family using adolescent and parent informants. Longitudinal information about sexual risk included adolescent condom use and adolescent sexual initiation, as well as young adult unintended pregnancy, reports of STIs, and biological assay results for three STIs. Higher parent-adolescent relationship quality was associated with lower levels of adolescent unprotected intercourse and intercourse initiation. Better relationship quality was also associated with lower levels of young adult STIs, even when accounting for prior sexual activity. Unexpectedly, more parent reports of communication regarding the risks associated with sexual activity were negatively associated with condom use and greater likelihood of sexual initiation. These results demonstrate that parents play an important role, both positive and negative, in sexual behavior, which extends to young adulthood, and underscores the value of family interventions in sexual risk prevention.

Peer selection and socialization effects on adolescent intercourse without a condom and attitudes about the costs of sex.

This study investigated peer selection and socialization effects on sexual behavior and attitudes using 1,350 15- to 18-year-old students participating in two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Regarding socialization effects, friends' intercourse without condoms predicted later individual intercourse without condoms positively. Friends' attitudes about the costs of sex predicted later individual attitudes positively and intercourse without condoms negatively. The latter relation was stronger for females than for males. Regarding selection effects, individual attitudes predicted later friends' attitudes positively, but the strength of this effect varied by ethnicity. The results suggest that adolescents socialize friends to have similar sexual attitudes and behavior but tend to select friends based on similar attitudes rather than similar behaviors.

Adolescent sexual behavior and attitudes: a Costs and Benefits approach.

PURPOSE: The majority of past research conceptualized adolescent sexual attitudes as a single factor that included both Costs and Benefits of sexual behavior. The current study examined the independent influences of attitudes concerning the costs, such as embarrassment and pregnancy, and benefits, such as physical pleasure, of sexual intercourse on reports of actual engagement in sexual intercourse controlling for age, gender, religion, and cognitive ability. METHODS: This study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Participants were 14,871 adolescents aged 15 and older who completed the Wave I In-Home Interview. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relation between Costs and Benefits and the variables of age, gender, religion, and cognitive ability. Logistic regression was used to predict engagement in sexual intercourse at Wave I and Wave II from measures of costs, benefits, age, gender, religion, and cognitive ability. RESULTS: The measure of Costs and Benefits demonstrated good psychometric properties. Both Costs and Benefits were significantly associated with concurrent and future sexual activity after controlling for demographic variables (age, religion, gender, cognitive ability). In addition, both Costs and Benefits also predicted sexual initiation between Waves I and II. CONCLUSIONS: The current study demonstrated the importance of both Costs and Benefits in predicting later sexual activity. Although attitudes concerning costs were slightly more influential in predicting sexual activity, our results suggest that interventions designed to delay sexual activity should include components of both Costs and Benefits.