Adolescents' Reasons to Unfriend on Facebook.

This study is the first to examine adolescents' reasons for unfriending people on Facebook. By means of open-end questions, 419 participants described the primary online (i.e., arising from friends' behavior on Facebook) or offline (i.e., emerging from Facebook friends' offline behavior) reason for which they recently unfriended someone. Two researchers took part in the coding process. Qualitative analyses revealed that unfriending happened mainly for online reasons, such as posting (too much) inappropriate, polarizing, or uninteresting posts; seeking attention, bragging, or stalking; and other irritating behaviors (e.g., using bad grammar). Some adolescents indicated that they unfriended people because of online reasons related to replacing friendships or interests, quarrels, and incompatible friends/family. In previous studies among adults, quarrels and incompatible friends/family were reported solely as offline reasons. These findings suggest that adolescents potentially argue more often online or that their quarrel is so intense it leads to unfriending decisions. Adults in turn, also unfriend people because of posts related to everyday life (e.g., jobs and children). Such everyday life events seemed to be less relevant for adolescents' unfriending. The practical value of this study is that it provides a typology of adolescents' online and offline reasons for unfriending. This typology can be used for further research or by practitioners developing awareness campaigns as it indicates which behavior/events mostly provoke unfriending. Although viewing a post as inappropriate or polarizing might be subjective, general guidelines on how to respectfully address sensitive issues (e.g., political, religious, or other societal issues) can be given.

A Factorial Validation of Parental Mediation Strategies with Regard to Internet Use.

This study investigated the strategies which parents employ in order to mediate their adolescent child's internet use, thereby including the perspectives from the mother, the father and an adolescent child aged 13 to 18. Data from 357 families (n = 1071) were analyzed. Parental mediation strategies were inductively derived from a wide range of concrete mediation practices. Factor analysis yielded the same six factor solution for each informant, resulting in the identification of six distinct parental mediation strategies. Differences occurred between the three informants in terms of the quantity of mediation taking place. Parental mediation was predicted by the child's age, but less by the parents' age and the child's gender.

Parental Knowledge of Adolescents' Online Content and Contact Risks.

Parental knowledge about adolescents' activities is an identified protective factor in terms of adolescent adjustment. While research on parental knowledge has focused on adolescents' offline behavior, there is little empirical understanding of parental knowledge about adolescents' online behavior. This study investigates parental knowledge about adolescents' online activities and experiences with online risks, as well as the correlates of such knowledge. Building on former research, open communication and knowledge-generating monitoring practices are investigated as potential correlates of parental knowledge. Use is made of triadic data, relying on reports from children aged 13 to 18, mothers and fathers within the same family (N = 357 families; 54.9 % female adolescents). The results showed that parents have little knowledge about the occurrence of online risks and their children's online activities. While mothers did not have more accurate knowledge compared to fathers, they did perceive themselves to be more knowledgeable than fathers. Associations between parental knowledge and hypothesized correlates were tested by means of one-way ANOVA tests and stepwise logistic regression models. Limited evidence was found for associations with parents' accurate knowledge about the occurrence of online risks. Engagement in knowledge-generating monitoring practices was linked to mothers and fathers' self-perceived knowledge about their children's online activities. For mothers, open communication with the child was linked to self-perceived knowledge. The findings suggest that parents need to be more aware of the possibility that online risks might occur and that more research needs to be done in order to understand what parents can do to improve their accurate knowledge.

Predicting students' intention to use stimulants for academic performance enhancement.

BACKGROUND: The non-medical use of stimulants for academic performance enhancement is becoming a more common practice among college and university students. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of students' intention to use stimulant medication for the purpose of enhancing their academic performance. Based on an extended model of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, we examined the predictive value of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, psychological distress, procrastination, substance use, and alcohol use on students' intention to use stimulants to improve their academic performance. METHODS: The sample consisted of 3,589 Flemish university and college students (mean age: 21.59, SD: 4.09), who participated anonymously in an online survey conducted in March and April 2013. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationships among the study variables. RESULTS: Our results indicate that subjective norm is the strongest predictor of students' intention to use stimulant medication, followed by attitude and perceived behavioral control. To a lesser extent, procrastinating tendencies, psychological distress, and substance abuse contribute to students' intention. Conclusions/ Importance: Based on these findings, we provide several recommendations on how to curtail students' intention to use stimulant medication for the purpose of improving their academic performance. In addition, we urge researchers to identify other psychological variables that might be related to students' intention.

The association between adolescent sexting, psychosocial difficulties, and risk behavior: integrative review.

When a sexting message spreads to an unintended audience, it can adversely affect the victim's reputation. Sexting incidents constitute a potential school safety risk. Just as with other types of adolescent risk behavior, school nurses might have to initiate the first response when a sexting episode arises, but a school nurse's role goes beyond intervention. They can also play an important role in the prevention of sexting and its related risks. This article reviews the links between adolescent sexting, other types of risk behavior, and its emotional and psychosocial conditions. Seven databases were examined and nine studies remained for further review. The review of the literature shows that adolescent sexting is cross sectionally associated with a range of health-risk behaviors. Youth who engage in sexting are also found to experience peer pressure and a range of emotional difficulties. The results can guide school nurse education and practice.

Determinants of physicians' prescribing behaviour of methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement.

The non-medical use of methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement becomes a more and more common practice among college and university students. Although physicians are a source of access, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that might lead to physicians' intention and behaviour of prescribing methylphenidate to improve students' academic performance. Applying Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we tested whether attitudes, subjective norms (controllability and self-efficacy) and perceived behavioural control predicted the intention and the prescribing behaviour of physicians. Participants were 130 physicians (62.3% males). Structural equation modelling was used to test the ability of TPB to predict physicians' behaviour. Overall, the present study provides support for the TPB in predicting physicians' prescribing behaviour of methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement. Subjective norms, followed by attitudes, are the strongest predictors of physicians' intention to prescribe methylphenidate. To a lesser extent, controllability predicts the intention of physicians, and self-efficacy predicts the self-reported behaviour. Compared to their male colleagues, female physicians seem to have more negative attitudes towards prescribing methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement, feel less social pressure and perceive more control over their behaviour. Intervention programmes that want to decrease physicians' intention to prescribe methylphenidate for improving academic performance should primarily focus on alleviating the perceived social pressure to prescribe methylphenidate and on converting physician neutral or positive attitudes towards prescribing methylphenidate into negative attitudes.

Predicting adolescents' disclosure of personal information in exchange for commercial incentives: an application of an extended theory of planned behavior.

This study adopts a global theoretical framework to predict adolescents' disclosure of personal information in exchange for incentives offered by commercial Websites. The study postulates and tests the validity of a model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), including antecedent factors of attitude and perceived behavioral control (PBC). A survey was conducted among 1,042 respondents. Results from SEM analyses show that the hypothesized model fits the empirical data well. The model accounts for 61.9 percent of the variance in adolescents' intention to disclose and 43.7 percent of the variance in self-reported disclosure. Perceived social pressure exerted by significant others (subjective norm) is the most important TPB factor in predicting intention to disclose personal information in exchange for incentives. This finding suggests that in discussions of adolescents' information privacy, the importance of social factors outweighs the individually oriented TPB factors of attitude and PBC. Moreover, privacy concern and trust propensity are significant predictors of respondents' attitudes toward online disclosure in exchange for commercial incentives, whereas the frequency of Internet use significantly affects their level of PBC.

Predicting adolescent perpetration in cyberbullying: an application of the theory of planned behavior / Cómo predecir la perpetración adolescente del ciberacoso escolar: aplicación de la Teoría de la Conducta Planificada

This study aims to contribute to the research field on cyberbullying by offering a comprehensive theoretical framework that helps to predict adolescents’ perpetration of cyberbullying. One thousand forty-two pupils from 12 to 18 years old in 30 different Belgian secondary schools participated in two surveys within a three-month interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether the overall model of theory of planned behavior (TPB) helps to predict adolescents’ self-reported perpetration in cyberbullying. Overall, the present study provides strong support for the theoretical utility of the TPB in cyberbullying research. The model accounted for 44.8% of the variance in adolescents’ behavioral intention to cyberbully and 33.2% of the variance in self-reported cyberbullying perpetration. We found a strong positive relationship between adolescents’ attitude towards cyberbullying and their behavioral intention to perpetrate it. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm, the other two TPB constructs, were also significant albeit relatively less important predictors of adolescents’ intention to cyberbully. The finding that adolescents’ attitude is the most important predictor of perpetration, entails that prevention and intervention strategies should aim at reducing the perceived acceptability of cyberbullying among adolescents by converting neutral or positive attitudes towards this anti-social behavior into negative evaluations (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio es contribuir al campo de investigación del ciberacoso escolar mediante un marco teórico exhaustivo que ayude a predecir la perpetración del ciberacoso escolar en adolescentes. Participaron 1.042 alumnos con edades comprendidas entre los 12 y los 18 años de treinta escuelas belgas de Educación Secundaria diferentes en dos encuestas autoadministradas en un intervalo de tres meses. Se utilizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para probar si el modelo general de la Teoría de la Conducta Planificada (TCP) ayuda a predecir la perpetración del ciberacoso escolar de los adolescentes obtenida por autoinforme. En general, el presente estudio confirma firmemente la utilidad teórica de la TCP en la investigación del ciberacoso escolar. El modelo representa el 44,8% de la varianza de la intención conductual del ciberacoso escolar en adolescentes y el 33,2% de perpetración del ciberacoso escolar obtenida por autoinforme. Encontramos una fuerte relación positiva entre la actitud de los adolescentes hacia el ciberacoso escolar y su intención de perpetrarlo. La norma subjetiva y el control conductual percibido, los otros dos constructos de la TCP, fueron también predictores significativos de la intención de los adolescentes, aunque contribuyeron significativamente menos en varianza explicada (AU)

Predicting adolescent perpetration in cyberbullying: an application of the theory of planned behavior.

This study aims to contribute to the research field on cyberbullying by offering a comprehensive theoretical framework that helps to predict adolescents' perpetration of cyberbullying. One thousand forty-two pupils from 12 to 18 years old in 30 different Belgian secondary schools participated in two surveys within a three-month interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether the overall model of theory of planned behavior (TPB) helps to predict adolescents' self-reported perpetration in cyberbullying. Overall, the present study provides strong support for the theoretical utility of the TPB in cyberbullying research. The model accounted for 44.8% of the variance in adolescents' behavioral intention to cyberbully and 33.2% of the variance in self-reported cyberbullying perpetration. We found a strong positive relationship between adolescents' attitude towards cyberbullying and their behavioral intention to perpetrate it. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm, the other two TPB-constructs, were also significant albeit relatively less important predictors of adolescents' intention to cyberbully. The finding that adolescents' attitude is the most important predictor of perpetration, entails that prevention and intervention strategies should aim at reducing the perceived acceptability of cyberbullying among adolescents by converting neutral or positive attitudes towards this anti-social behavior into negative evaluations.