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A Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship Between Media Use and Self-Competence During Adolescence

Christine McCauley Ohannessian ConnecticutChildren’sMedicalCenter UniversityofConnecticutSchoolofMedicine

Volume 9, Number 1, Special Edition 2014 Article 140901FA010

A Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship Between Media Use and Self-Competence During Adolescence

ChristineMcCauleyOhannessian ConnecticutChildren’sMedicalCenter UniversityofConnecticutSchoolofMedicine Abstract: Theprimarygoalofthislongitudinalstudywasto examinewhethermediausepredictsadolescentselfcompetence and/orwhetheradolescentselfcompetencepredictsmediause.The sampleincluded1,03110 th and11 th gradeboysandgirlsfromthe UnitedStates.Theadolescentscompletedaselfreport questionnairein2007and2008toassesstheirmediause(talking andtextingonthephone,listeningtomusic,emailing/IMing, playingvideogames,andworkingonthecomputer)andself competence(socialcompetence,scholasticcompetence,athletic competence,andperceivedphysicalappearance).analysis resultsrevealedthatmediausehadaminimaleffectonadolescent selfcompetence.Incontrast,adolescentselfcompetence consistentlypredictedmediause.Resultsfromthisstudyhighlight theneedtoexaminebothdirectionsofinfluencebetween adolescentmediauseandadjustment. Introduction Currenttheoriesofhumandevelopment(e.g.,developmentalsystemstheory;Lerneretal., 2011)purportthattheindividualandthecontextinfluenceoneanotherinordertoproduce development.Onecontextthatisbecomingincreasinglysalientinthelivesofadolescentsisthe worldofmediathatsurroundsthem.Recentresearchindicatesthatadolescentsareengagedin mediausemorethan7.5hoursaday(Rideout,Foehr,&Roberts,2010).Moreover, approximately25%ofthetimethatadolescentsareengagedinmediaisspentusingmultiple formsofmediasimultaneouslyor“mediamultitasking”(Brown,&Bobkowski,2011).Because theuseofmediahasbecomesocentraltothedailylivesofadolescents,itisimperativethat themannerinwhichthiscontextisrelatedtoadolescentdevelopmentbeexamined. Thereisagrowingliteraturethatsuggeststhatmediausemaynegativelyinfluence adolescents.Forexample,playingvideogameshasbeenfoundtoberelatedtoaggressive behavior(Anderson,Gentile,&Buckley,2007;Gentile,Lynch,Linder,&Walsh,2004).Playing videogames,computergames,watchingtelevision,andtalkingonthephonealsohavebeen negativelyassociatedwithacademicperformance(Durkin ,&Barber,2002;Gentile ,etal., 2004).Inaddition,timespentwatchingtelevisionandplayingvideogameshasbeenlinkedto physicalinactivity,weight,andbodyfatduringadolescence(Koezuka,,Allison,Adlaf, Dwyer,Faulkner,&Goodman,2006;Marshall,Biddle,Gorely,Cameron,&Murdey,2004).The useoftheInternethasbeenfoundtoberelatedtoadolescentpsychologicalproblems (loneliness,depression,anxiety)aswell(Kraut,Patterson,Lundmark,Kiesler,Mukopadhyay,& Scherlis,1998)andrecentresearchindicatesthatmorefrequentmediause(watching television,t ext messaging,andemailing)isassociatedwithearlierandheaviersubstanceuse duringadolescence(Ohannessian,2009). Relativelyfewstudieshavefocusedonpositiveeffectsthatmediausemayhaveon adolescents.However,resultsfromsomeinvestigationssuggestthattheinfluenceofmediaon adolescentsmaynotbeuniformlynegative.InanovelstudyconductedbyDurkinandBarber (2002),bothnegativeandpositivecorrelatesofcomputergameplayingwereexaminedin 10thgradestudents.Resultsindicatedthatadolescentswhoplayedcomputergamesactually werebetteradjustedthanthosewhodidnot.Gameplayerswerefoundtohavehigherlevels ofselfesteem,lowerlevelsofsubstanceuse,tobemoreattachedtoandinvolvedwith school,andtohavecloserfamilyrelationshipsthanthosewhodidnotplaycomputergames. Littlesupportforthepremisethatgameplayingisrelatedtonegativeoutcomeswasfound. AlthoughtheDurkinandBarberstudymadeanimportantcontributiontotheliterature,the dataaredated(datacollectiontookplacein1988)andonlycomputergameusewas examined(videogamesandothertypesofmediawerenotassessed).Thisisacritical limitationbecausethetypeofmediaavailableandadolescents’useofmediaarechangingata rapidpace.Therefore,agoalofthepresentstudywastoextendtheDurkinandBarberstudy toadolescentstodayandtoexaminetherelationsbetweenvarioustypesofmediaand adolescentadjustment. Recentworkalsosuggeststhatmediausemayserveasaprotectivefactorfortroubledyouth. Inacommunitysampleof1416yearolds,boyswhospentrelativelymoretimeplayingvideo gamesandwatchingtelevisionreportedthelowestlevelsofanxiety(Ohannessian,2009).This patternwasespeciallypronouncedinboyswithanalcoholicparent.Perhapscertaintypesof media(e.g.,videogames,watchingtelevision)provideadolescentswithameansto psychologicallydisengagefromtheirproblems.Thistypeofdisengagementmaybe psychologicallyadaptiveaccordingtocopingandmotivationaltheories(e.g.,Klinger,1975). Insum,mostresearchtodatehasfocusedonthenegativeeffectsthatmediausemayhave onadolescentadjustment.Moreover,moststudieshaveexaminednegativeindicatorsof adjustment(e.g.,psychologicalproblems,substanceuse).Thepresentstudyadoptedamore optimisticoutlookbyassessingpositiveindicatorsofadjustment.Italsoisimportanttonote thatthemajorityofresearchexaminingassociationsbetweenmediauseandadolescent adjustmenttodatehasbeencrosssectionalorhasexaminedonlyonedirectionofeffect,that iswhethermediauseinfluencesadolescentadjustment.However,accordingtodevelopmental systemstheoreticalmodelsofhumandevelopment(Lerner,etal.,2011;Overton,2010), characteristicsoftheindividualandthecontextinfluenceoneanotherinordertoproduce development.Assuch,thegoalofthisstudywastoexaminebidirectionalrelationsbetween mediauseandpositiveadjustment(asindicatedbyselfcompetence)inalarge,diverse communitysampleofadolescents.Morespecifically,thefollowingresearchquestionswere addressed: 1) Doesmediausepredictadolescentselfcompetence?and/or 2) 2)Doesadolescentselfcompetencepredictmediause? Method Participants Thesampleincluded1,03110 th and11 th gradestudents(53%female)fromtheMid AtlanticregionoftheUnitedStates(Delaware,Maryland,andPennsylvania).Duringthespring of2007(Time1)andthespringof2008(Time2),studentscompletedsurveysinschool.The meanageoftheadolescentswas16.15(SD=.75).Most(58%)oftheadolescentswere Caucasian.However,23%wereAfricanAmerican,12%wereHispanic,and2%wereAsian (therestresponded“other”).Thesepercentagesreflecttheareafromwhichthesamplewas drawn(71%Caucasian,23%AfricanAmerican,4%Asian,7%Hispanic;U.S.CensusBureau, 2008).Mostoftheadolescents(72%)livedwithbothoftheirbiologicalparents(96%ofthe adolescentslivedwiththeirbiologicalmother,73%livedwiththeirbiologicalfather).In addition,themajorityofmothers(96%)andfathers(95%)werehighschoolgraduates.Some oftheparents(26%ofmothersand24%offathers)hadgraduatedfromafouryearcollege. Aminorityoftheparents(10%ofmothersand7%offathers)hadattendedgraduateschool. Procedure Ofnote,thestudyprotocolwasapprovedbytheUniversityofDelaware’sInstitutionalReview Board.SevenU.S.publichighschoolslocatedwithinapproximately60milesofthestudysite participated.Inthespringof2007,10 th and11 th gradestudentsfromthesehighschools,who providedassentandhadparentalconsent,wereadministeredasurveyinschoolbytrained researchpersonnel(allofwhomwerecertifiedwithhumansubjectstraining).Seventyone percentofthestudentsattendingthestudyschoolsparticipated.Mostofthestudentsthatdid notparticipatewereabsentonthedayofdatacollection.Onlythreepercentofthe adolescentspresentduringdatacollectiondidnotparticipate. Theadolescentsweretoldthatparticipationwasvoluntary,thatthedatacollectedwere confidential,andthattheycouldwithdrawfromthestudyatanytime.Theyalsowere informedthataCertificateofConfidentialityfromtheU.S.governmentwouldfurtherprotect theirprivacy.Thesurveytookapproximately40minutestocomplete.Atthecompletionofthe survey,theadolescentsweregivenamoviepass.Allparticipatingadolescentswereinvitedto participateagainthefollowingspring(Time2).ThesameprotocolwasusedatTime2. Measures Thesurveyincludedademographicquestionnaire.Thisquestionnaireincludedquestions relatingtotheageoftheadolescentandtheirparents’highesteducationlevelcompleted(1= elementaryschoolto6=graduateormedicalschool).Thesurveyalsoincludedmeasuresof mediauseandselfcompetence. Media Use. Theadolescentswereaskedhowmuchtimetheyspenttalkingonthephone, listeningtomusic(radio),textmessaging,emailing/IMing,playingvideogames(PlayStation, Nintendo,GameBoy,Xbox,etc.),usinganiPod/MP3player,andworkingonthecomputer“on anaverage/typicalday.”Theresponsescalewas1= none,2=lessthanonehour,3= aboutonehour ,4=about2hours,5=aboutthreehours,and6=4ormorehours. Self-Competence. TheparticipantsalsocompletedtheSelfPerceptionProfilefor Adolescents(SPPA;Harter,1988),whichincludedthefollowingfiveitemscales:Self perceivedsocialcompetence,scholasticcompetence,athleticcompetence,andphysical appearance.TheresponsescalefortheSPPAispresentedinafourpointstructured alternativeformatthattranslatesto1=lowperceivedcompetence to4=highperceived competence.PriorresearchhassupportedthevalidityoftheSPPA(Harter,1988).Inthe presentsample,Cronbachalphacoefficientsrangedfrom.77to.88. Results Bivariate Analyses PearsonproductmomentcorrelationsforthestudyvariablesarepresentedinTable1.As shown,socialcompetencewaspositivelyassociatedwithtalkingonthephone,text messaging,listeningtomusic,andemailing/IMing,andnegativelyassociatedwithplaying videogames.Incontrast,academiccompetencewasnegativelyrelatedtotextmessagingand athleticcompetencewaspositivelyrelatedtoplayingvideogames.Physicalappearancewas positivelyrelatedtotalkingonthephone;however,itwasunrelatedtoalloftheothertypes ofmediauseassessed.

Table 1 Means,StandardDeviations,andCorrelationsbetweentheStudyVariables Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1.SocialCompetence — .33*** .37*** .43*** .19*** .11** .20*** .02 .10* .06 .06

2.ScholasticCompetence .34*** — .25*** .34*** .07 .11** .09* .03 .04 .00 .08*

3.AthleticCompetence .27*** .15*** — .33*** .01 .01 .03 .03 .12** .01 .02

4.PhysicalAppearance .35*** .3*** .28*** — .09* .01 .00 .07 .05 .02 .01

5.Talkingonthephone .08 .10* .02 .04 — .44*** .41*** .26*** .00 .29*** .23***

6.ListeningtoMusic .05 .11* .05 .01 .35*** — .31*** .30*** .09** .43*** .23***

7.TextMessaging .14** .09* .03 .06 .34*** .26*** — .32*** .02 .24*** .16***

8.EMailing/IMing .09* .08 .01 .06 .27*** .24*** .40*** — .16*** .28*** .45***

9.PlayingVideoGames .10* .03 .14*** .00 .00 .02 .03 .08* — .27*** .26***

10.UsingiPod/MP3 .12** .02 .09* .04 .24*** .20*** .29*** .31*** .14*** — .35***

11.WorkingonComputer .02 .01 .02 .02 .22*** .19*** .21*** .47*** .18*** .33*** —

Mean 16.09 15.14 13.52 14.12 3.40 4.00 2052 3.02 2.46 3.13 3.19

SD 2.99 3.24 3.94 3.94 1.55 1.55 1.70 1.71 1.62 1.75 1.58

Note: CorrelationsbetweenthemediausemeasuresatTime1andtheself competencemeasuresatTime2arepresentedunderthediagonal. CorrelationsbetweentheselfcompetencemeasuresatTime1andthemediausemeasuresatTime2arepresentedabovethediagonal. MeansandSDsarefromTime1.* p<.05;** p<.01;*** p<.001. Longitudinal Analyses Pathanalysiswasemployedtoexaminewhethermediause(atTime1)predictedself competenceoneyearlater(Time2)and/orwhetherselfcompetence(atTime1)predicted mediauseoneyearlater(Time2).TheendogenousvariablesassessedatTime1,adolescent age,andparentaleducationwereincludedascovariates.Fullinformationmaximum likelihood(FIML)wasusedtohandlemissingdata.FIMLutilizesallavailabledata(the covariancematrixandavectorofthemeans)toproducemaximumlikelihoodbased sufficientstatistics.Notably,FIMLhasbeenobservedtoyieldunbiasedparameterestimates (Wothke,2000). Multiple Group Analyses Multiplegroupcomparisonanalyseswereconductedtodeterminewhetherseparateanalyses shouldbeconductedforboysandgirls.ConsistentwiththerecommendationsofVandenberg andLance(2000)fortestinginvarianceacrossgroups,foreachdirectionofeffect,an unconstrainedmodelwithfreelyestimatedparameterswascomparedtoamodel constrainingpathcoefficientstobeequalforboysandgirls.Thex2differencetestcomparing theconstrainedmodeltotheunconstrainedmodelwasnotsignificantforeitherdirection 2 2 (Χ (7)=8.35, p=.30whenselfcompetencewaspredictedfrommediause,andΧ (16)= 23.21,p=.11when mediausewaspredictedfromselfcompetence).Theseresultsindicated thatforbothdirectionsofeffect,theconstrainedmodeldidnotprovideaworsefittothe datathantheunconstrainedmodel.Therefore,thesubsequentmodelswerenotconducted separatelybygender. Does Media Use Predict Adolescent Self-Competence? Themodelpredictingselfcompetencefrommediauseprovidedagoodfittothedata(X2(96) =286.10, p =.00;CMIN/DF=2.98;CFI=.94;RMSEA=.04).However,onlytwopathswere significant(seeFigure1).AsshowninFigure1,listeningtomusicfrequentlypredictedlower perceivedathleticcompetence(β=.05, p<.05),whereasplayingvideogamesfrequently predictedhigherperceivedathleticcompetence(β=.07, p<.01). Figure 1 Modelpredictingselfcompetencefromtechnologyuse.Standardizedregressioncoefficients arepresented.Onlysignificantpathsareshown.Controlvariables,covariances,anderror termsarenotdisplayed.* p.05;** p<.01;*** p<.001. Talkingon Phone Social Listeningto Competence Music(Radio) .05* Text Messaging Scholastic Competence EMailing/IMing .07** Athletic Playing Competence VideoGames UsingIPOD/ Physical MP3Player Appearance

Workingon Computer

Does Adolescent Self-Competence Predict Media Use? Themodelpredictingmediausefromselfcompetencealsofitthedatawell(X2(126)= 420.16,p =.00;CMIN/DF=3.34;CFI=.92;RMSEA=.05).Incontrasttotheprevious model,selfcompetenceconsistentlypredictedmediause(seeFigure2).Morespecifically, higherperceivedathleticcompetencepredictedmorefrequentvideogameplaying(β=.09, p<.01).Inaddition,higherperceivedsocialcompetencepredictedmorefrequentphoneuse (β=.14, p<.001),morefrequentlisteningtomusicontheradio(β=.11, p<.01),andmore frequenttextmessaging(β =.18, p<.001).Incontrast,higherperceivedscholastic competencepredictedlessfrequentphoneuse(β=.08, p<.05),lessfrequentlisteningto musicontheradio( β=.11, p<.01),lessfrequenttextmessaging(β =.13, p<.001),and morefrequentcomputeruse(β=.09, p<.05). Figure 2 Modelpredictingtechnologyusefromselfcompetence.Standardizedregressioncoefficients arepresented.Onlysignificantpathsareshown.Controlvariables,covariances,anderror termsarenotdisplayed.* p<.05;** p< .01;*** p<.001. Talkingon .14*** Phone Social .11** Competence .18** Listeningto * Music(Radio) .11** .13*** Text Scholastic Messaging Competence .09 * EMailing/IMing * .09** Athletic Playing Competence VideoGames UsingIPOD/ MP3Player Physical Appearance Workingon Computer Discussion Themajorityofresearchconductedonadolescentmediausetodatehasfocusedonnegative aspectsofmediause.However,consistentwiththeworkofDurkinandBarber(2002)and Ohannessian(2009),resultsfromthisstudysuggestthatmediausealsomaybeassociated withpositiveadolescentadjustment.Inthepresentstudy,morefrequentphoneuse(talking andtexting),listeningtomusic,andemailing/IMingwereassociatedwithhigherlevelsof socialcompetence.Morefrequentvideogameplayingsimilarlywaslinkedtohigherlevelsof athleticcompetence.Notsurprisingly,morefrequentcomputerusewasrelatedtohigher levelsofscholasticcompetence.Theseresultsareencouraginggiventhatadolescentsnow arespendingsomuchtimeinteractingwithmedia(anaverageof7.5hoursaday;Rideout, etal.,2010). Althoughmanypositiveassociationsbetweenmediauseandadolescentadjustmentwere foundinthisstudy,afewnegativeassociationsalsowereobserved.Morespecifically,more frequentvideogameplayingwasrelatedtolowerlevelsofsocialcompetenceandmore frequenttextingwasassociatedwithlowerlevelsofscholasticcompetence.Itisinteresting tonotethatthepatternofresultsinthisstudyweredependentontheindicatorofself competence.Forexample,thefrequentuseofsocialtypesofmedia(talkingonthephone, texting,emailing)waslinkedtohigherlevelsofsocialcompetence.Incontrast,thefrequent useofsocialmediawasrelatedtolowerlevelsofacademiccompetence.Takentogether, thesefindingsunderscoretheimportanceofconsideringbothnegativeandpositiveeffectsof mediauseonadolescentadjustmentandtheneedtoexaminemultipleindicatorsof adjustment. Aprimarygoalofthisstudywastoexaminethedirectionofeffectbetweenmediauseand adolescentselfcompetence.Thelongitudinalresultssuggestthatalthoughmediausemay influenceadolescents’athleticcompetence(e.g.,morefrequentvideogameplaying predictedmoreathleticcompetenceovertime),mediausedoesnotappeartoinfluencehow adolescentsfeelaboutthemselvesacademically,socially,orinregardtotheirappearance. However,thefindingsdoindicatethathowadolescentsfeelaboutthemselvesacademically, socially,andathleticallyinfluencestheirmediause.Thesefindingsareimportantbecause theydemonstratedifferentpatternsofresultsdependingonthedirectionofeffectexamined. Theextantliteratureonadolescentmediausehasfocusedontheinfluencethatmediause hasonadolescentadjustment.However,resultsfromthisstudyindicatethattheinfluence thatadolescentadjustmentmayhaveonmediauseshouldnotbeoverlooked. Theresultsfromthisstudysuggestthatsociallywelladjustedyouthmayberelativelymore likelytousemedia.Thesefindingsmirrorresultsfromarecentstudyexaminingsocial networkinginyouth(Mikami,Szwedo,Allen,Evans,&Hare,2010).Intheirstudy,Mikami andcolleaguesfoundthatbetteradjustedyouth(asindicatedbymorepositivepeerrelations andfewerdepressivesymptoms)weremorelikelytohaveasocialnetworkingpagethanless welladjustedyouth.Importantly,thepresentstudyextendsthesefindingsbeyondonline socialcommunication.Inthepresentstudy,moresociallyadjustedyouthsimilarlyreported morefrequentsocialmediausesuchastalkingandtextingonthephone.Ofnote,these findingsareconsistentwithandextendthe“richgetricher”hypothesis,whichsuggeststhat Internetuse(e.g.,)ismostbeneficialforyouthwithstrongsocialskills (Valkenburg,&Peter,2011). Althoughthepresentstudyclearlycontributestotheliteraturebyexaminingthedirectionof effectbetweenmediauseandadolescentadjustmentinalargediversesample,caveats shouldbenoted.Adolescentsprovidedthereportsoftheirmediauseandselfcompetence. However,itisimportanttonotethatresearchhasshownthatyouthareaccuratereporters oftheirownbehaviors(Dekovic,etal.,2006).Nonetheless,itwouldbeinformativeforfuture researchtoreplicatethefindingsfromthisstudyusingothertypesofmethodology(e.g., parentreports).Also,ofnote,thepresentstudyfocusedontheentirerangeofmediause. Differentfindingsmighthaveemergedifonlyhighendusersofmedia(e.g.,thosewhomay be“addicted”toplayingvideogamesortoothertypesofmedia)wereincluded.Italso shouldbenotedthattheresearchprojectwasdesignedin2006anddataforthisstudywere collectedin2007and2008.Atthattime,socialnetworksitessuchasFacebookwerenot commonlyusedbyhighschoolstudents(Lerer,2007).Assuch,socialnetworkingwasnot includedinthecurrentstudy.Finally,itshouldbenotedthatthesampleonlyincluded adolescentsfromtheMidAtlanticUnitedStates.Therefore,cautionshouldbetakenin regardtogeneralizingthefindings. Notwithstanding,resultsfromthisstudyareimportantbecausetheyindicatethatmediause reflectsadolescentbehaviorinacontemporarycontext.Thatis,thereappearstobe continuityinadolescentmediaandnonmediabehavior.Forinstance,youthwhohavehigh levelsofsocialcompetencearelikelytobehavesociallywithorwithouttheuseofmedia. Priorresearchhasshownthatsocialcompetenceislinkedtosocialbehaviorandhaving positivefriendshipsduringadolescence(Keefe,&Berndt,1995).Inthisstudy,moresocially competentyouthtalkedonthephonemore,emailedmore,andtextedmorefrequentlythan lesssociallycompetentyouth.Thesefindingssuggestthatmediauseessentiallyisavehicle foradolescentstodowhattheywoulddootherwise.Simplyput,mediauseappearsto extend,butnotalter,adolescentbehavior. References Anderson,C.A.,Gentile,D.A.,&Buckley,K.E.(2007).Violentvideogameeffectsonchildren andadolescents:Theory,research,andpublicpolicy.NewYork,NY:OxfordUniversityPress. Brown,J.D.,&Bobkowski,P.S.(2011).Olderandnewermedia:Patternsofuseandeffectson adolescents’healthandwellbeing. JournalofResearchonAdolescence,21(1),95113. Dekovic,M.,TenHave,M.,Vollebergh,W.,Pels,T.,Oosterwegel,A.,Wissink,I.B.,etal. (2006).Thecrossculturalequivalenceofparentalrearingmeasure:EMBUC. European JournalofPsychologicalAssessment,22, 8591. Durkin,K.,&Barber,B.(2002).Notsodoomed:Computergameplayandpositive adolescentdevelopment.AppliedDevelopmentalPsychology,23(4),373392. Gentile,D.A.,Lynch,P.J.,Linder,J.R.,&Walsh,D.A.(2004).Theeffectsofviolentvideo gamehabitsonadolescenthostility,aggressivebehaviors,andschoolperformance. Journal ofAdolescence,27,522. Harter,S.(1988).ManualfortheSelfPerceptionProfileforAdolescents. Denver,CO: UniversityofDenver. Keefe,K.,&Berndt,T.J.(1996).Relationsoffriendshipqualitytoselfesteeminearly adolescence. JournalofEarlyAdolescence,16(1), 110129. Klinger,E.(1975).Consequencesofcommitmenttoanddisengagementfromincentives. PsychologicalReview,82,125. Koezuka,N.,Koo,M.,Allison,K.R.,Adlaf,E.M.,Dwyer,J.J.M.,Faulkner,G.,&Goodman,J. (2006).Therelationshipbetweensedentaryactivitiesandphysicalinactivityamongadolescents: ResultsfromtheCanadianCommunityHealthSurvey.JournalofAdolescentHealth,39,515 522. Kraut,R.,Patterson,M.,Lundmark,V.,Kiesler,S.,Mukopadhyay,T.,&Scherlis,W.(1998). Internetparadox:Asocialmediathatreducessocialinvolvementandpsychologicalwellbeing? AmericanPsychologist,53,10171031. Lerer,L.(2007)."WhyMySpaceDoesn'tCard."Forbes (NewYork).http://classic web.archive.org/web/20080602081817/http://www.forbes.com/security/2007/0 1/25/myspacesecurityidentitytechsecuritycx_ll_0124myspaceage.html. Lerner,R.M.,Lerner,J.V.,LewinBizan,S.,Bowers,E.P.,Boyd,M.J.,Mueller,M.K.,etal. (2011).PositiveYouthDevelopment:Processes,programs,andproblematics. Journalof YouthDevelopment,6(3),4064. Marshall,S.J.,Biddle,S.J.,Gorely,T.,Cameron,N.,&Murdey,I.(2004).Relationships betweenmediause,bodyfatnessandphysicalactivityinchildrenandyouth:A analysis.InternationalJournalofObesity,28,12381246. Mikami,A.Y.,Szwedo,D.W.,Allen,J.P.,Evans,M.A.,&Hare,A.L.(2010).Adolescentpeer relationshipsandbehaviorproblemspredictyoungadults’communicationonsocial networkingwebsites.DevelopmentalPsychology,46(1),4656. Ohannessian,C.M.(2009).Doestechnologyusemoderatetherelationshipbetweenparental alcoholismandadolescentalcoholandcigaretteuse?AddictiveBehaviors,34,606609. Overton,W.F.(2010).Lifespandevelopment:Conceptsandissues.InR.M.Lerner&W.F. Overton(Eds.), Thehandbookoflifespandevelopment:Vol.1.Cognition,biology,and methods (pp.129).Hoboken,NJ:Wiley. Rideout,V.,Foehr,U.G.,&Roberts,D.F.(2010).GenerationM2:Mediainthelivesof818 yearolds. MenloPark,CA:TheHenryJ.KaiserFamilyFoundation. U.S.CensusBureau.(2008).U.S.CensusBureau:StateandcountyQuickFacts.RetrievedMay 16,2010,fromhttp://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/10/10003.html. Valkenburg,P.M.,&Peter,J.(2011).Onlinecommunicationamongadolescents:An integratedmodelofitsattraction,opportunities,andrisks.JournalofAdolescentHealth,48, 121127. Vandenberg,R.J.,&Lance,C.E.(2000).Areviewandsynthesisofthemeasurementinvariance literature:Suggestions,practices,andrecommendationsfororganizationalresearch. OrganizationalResearchMethods,3(1),470. ©CopyrightofJournalofYouthDevelopment~BridgingResearchandPractice.Contentmaynotbe copiedoremailedtomultiplesitesorpostedtoalistservwithoutcopyrightholder’sexpresswritten permission.ContactEditorat: [email protected] fordetails.However,usersmayprint, downloadoremailarticlesforindividualuse. ISSN23254009(Print); ISSN23254017(Online) MEDIA USE QUESTIONNAIRE

We would like for you to tell us how much you use technology. Please indicate how much time you spend doing each activity on an average/typical day by circling the appropriate number.

For each activity, please circle one of the following:

1 = None 2 = Less than 1 hour 3 = About 1 hour 4 = About 2 hours 5 = About 3 hours 6 = 4 or more hours None Less About About About 4 or Than 1 Hour 2 3 Hours More 1 Hour Hours Hours 1. Watch T.V. 1 2 3 4 5 6

2. Talk on the phone 1 2 3 4 5 6

3. Listen to music on a stereo or radio 1 2 3 4 5 6 4. Text message 1 2 3 4 5 6

5. E-mail or IM 1 2 3 4 5 6

6. Play video games (PlayStation, Nintendo, 1 2 3 4 5 6 Game Boy, Xbox, etc.) or computer games 7. Listen to an IPOD or MP3 player 1 2 3 4 5 6 8. Work on the computer 1 2 3 4 5 6

9. Surf the Web 1 2 3 4 5 6

Self-Competence Survey

Directions: First, we would like you to decide whether you are more like the teenagers on the left side who would rather go to the movies, or whether you are more like the teenagers on the right side who would rather go to sporting events. Don’t mark anything down yet, but first decide which kind of teenager is most like you, and go to that side of the page. Now, decide whether that is only sort of true for you or really true for you and mark your answer box with an “X”. Be sure to only check one of the four boxes for each pair of sentences! Sample Sentence

Really Sortof Someteenagersliketogo Otherteenagerswouldrather Sortof Really True True tothemoviesintheir gotosportingevents True True forMe forMe sparetime forMe forMe     ______ Really Sortof Sortof Really True True BUT True True forMe forMe forMe forMe 1. Someteenagersfeelthat Otherteenagersaren’tsosure   theyarejustassmartas BUT andwonderiftheyareas   otherstheirage smart 2. Someteenagersfindit Forotherteenagers,it’spretty   hardtomakefriends BUT easy   3. Someteenagersdovery Otherteenagersdon’tfeelthat   wellatallkindsofsports BUT theyareverygoodwhenit   comestosports 4. Someteenagersarenot Otherteenagersarehappy   happywiththewaythey BUT withthewaytheylook   look 5. Someteenagersareoften Otherteenagersarepretty   disappointedwith BUT pleasedwiththemselves   themselves 6. Someteenagersarepretty Otherteenagerscandotheir   slowinfinishingtheir BUT schoolworkmorequickly   schoolwork 7. Someteenagershavea Otherteenagersdon’thave   lotoffriends BUT verymanyfriends   8. Someteenagersthink Otherteenagersareafraid   theycoulddowellatjust BUT theymightnotdowellata   aboutanynewathletic newathleticactivity activity 9. Someteenagerswishtheir Otherteenagersliketheirbody   bodywasdifferent BUT thewayitis   10. Someteenagersdon’tlike Otherteenagersdolikethe   thewaytheyareleading BUT waytheyareleadingtheirlife   theirlife 11. Someteenagersdovery Otherteenagersdon’tdovery   wellattheirclasswork BUT wellattheirclasswork   12. Someteenagersarevery Otherteenagersarereally   hardtolike BUT easytolike   13. Someteenagersfeelthat Otherteenagersdon’tfeel   theyarebetterthan BUT theycanplayaswell   otherstheirageatsports Really Sortof Sortof Really True True True True forMe forMe forMe forMe 14. Someteenagerswishtheir Otherteenagersliketheir   physicalappearancewas BUT physicalappearancethewayit   different is 15. Someteenagersare Forotherteenagersareoften   happywiththemselves BUT nothappywiththemselves   mostofthetime 16. Someteenagershave Otherteenagersalmostalways   troublefiguringoutthe BUT canfigureouttheanswers   answersinschool 17. Someteenagersare Otherteenagersarenotvery   popularwithotherstheir BUT popular   age 18. Someteenagersdon’tdo Otherteenagersaregoodat   verywellatnewoutdoor BUT newgamesrightaway   games 19. Someteenagersthinkthat Otherteenagersthinkthat   theyaregoodlooking BUT theyarenotverygoodlooking   20. Someteenagerslikethe Otherteenagersoftenwish   kindofpersontheyare BUT theyweresomeoneelse   21. Someteenagersfeelthat Otherteenagersquestion   theyareprettyintelligent BUT whethertheyareintelligent   22. Someteenagersfeelthat Otherteenagerswishedthat   theyaresociallyaccepted BUT morepeopletheyage   acceptedthem 23. Someteenagersdonot Otherteenagersfeelthatthey   feelthattheyarevery BUT areveryathletic   athletic 24. Someteenagersreallylike Otherteenagerswishthey   thewaytheylook BUT lookeddifferent   25. Someteenagersarevery Otherteenagerswishthey   happybeingthewaythey BUT weredifferent   are