While more research is emerging about the development of masculinity during adolescence, not much is known about how masculine-type behaviors develop over time in middle to late adolescence within the context of friendships and peer experiences. This study examined trajectories of masculine-typed behavior from ages 14 to 17. Multilevel modeling was used to account for cross-time and within-time variability in masculine-typed behavior and examined the role of positive and negative peer experiences in predicting this variability. This was done in a sample of 334 U.S. adolescents (51% boys; 50% White, 19% Black, 15% Latina/o/e). At the between-person level, boys and girls decreased in masculine-typed behavior over time. At the within-person level, negative peer experiences predicted fluctuations toward greater masculine-typed behavior, whereas friend support predicted fluctuations toward less masculine-typed behavior. Adolescence is a key period for navigating masculinity norms, and peer experiences are a key context for the development of masculine-typed behavior.

Problematic media use (PMU) during early childhood has the potential to interfere with the healthy functioning of family systems and may be associated with significant long-term problems for the child. However, we know very little about what contributes to early childhood PMU, particularly in the family context. We examine parenting factors as correlates of child PMU in two studies, from two different countries, using two different methods. Study 1 (N=93, Mage=45.3months, SD=10.15, 58%males, 87%mothers) investigated the concurrent role of self-reported parental burnout and parent-child conflict and closeness as correlates of child PMU in an early childhood sample in New Zealand. Study 2 (N=269, Mage=41.17months, SD=3.06 months, 49%males, 95%mothers) investigated observed parental warmth and harsh criticism as predictors of concurrent and longitudinal PMU in an early childhood sample in the United States. Together, findings showed that in both countries approximately 22-25% of young children show symptoms of PMU. After controlling for parents PMU, parent-child conflict, warmth and parental burnout were not associated with child PMU. Low levels of parent-child closeness and parents use of harsh criticism were predictive of child PMU. The findings advance our understanding of some of the parenting factors that influence the development of PMU in young children.

Parents regularly use media to help regulate their childs difficult emotions, particularly for those with a more difficult temperament. However, no research has examined how this may be related to the development of problematic (or addictive-like) media use in early childhood. The purpose of the study was to examine associations between temperament, parental media emotion regulation, and problematic media use in young children, using both questionnaires and observational data. Participants included 269 toddlers (2-3 years old) and their parents, who completed several observational tasks and questionnaires. Analyses revealed that higher levels of media emotion regulation was associated with more problematic media use and more extreme emotions when media was removed in toddlers. Additionally, temperament (specifically negative affect and surgency) was related to problematic media and extreme emotions and was mediated by media emotion regulation. Parents should avoid using media as a primary way of regulating their childrens emotions as this may be related to the development of problematic media strategies during infancy.

Researchers have begun to extensively examine pathological (or addictive-like) media use during adolescence and adulthood. However, few studies have examined precursors to these types of behavior (termed problematic media use) in early childhood, with even fewer examining predictors of this behavior over time. The current longitudinal study examined bi-directional associations between television content (educational, prosocial, and violence) and problematic media use over a 1-year period during early childhood. Participants included 443 children (M age at Wave 1 = 29.68 months) and their parents. Results revealed that early educational media was protective against developing problematic media use over time. However, early problematic media use was not predictive of future media content choices longitudinally. Additionally, problematic media use was moderately stable over time. Implications for parents and policy makers regarding the importance of early media content for later outcomes and consideration of media use trajectories are discussed.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09898.].

This study examines associations between media use and mental health for adolescents prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using two separate datasets that sampled adolescents (8th, 10th, and 12th graders) in 2018 (n = 31,825) and 2020 (n = 1,523), mental health (hopelessness and happiness), media use (time spent using a variety of media), and personal health habits (sleep) were assessed. Overall, we found that there were significant differences by year in adolescent hopelessness, with adolescents reporting less hopelessness in 2020 (during COVID-19) than in 2018 (pre COVID-19). There were not ​practical significant differences in adolescent happiness and loneliness. Adolescents also reported getting more sleep in our 2020 sample than the 2018 sample. Adolescents in 2020 spent significantly more time watching movies and video chatting, but less time texting and on social media than adolescents in 2018. Finally, we found that time spent video chatting and sleep had a different relationship with various aspects of mental health (happiness, hopelessness, or loneliness) in 2018 vs. 2020.