Young Lives Research Articles

Young Children's screen habits: Identifying child and family contributors

Screen devices are an integral part of many young children's lives but less is known about how child and parent/family factors contribute to young children's screen habits. Our study examined the contribution of child and family demographic and behavioral factors for Chinese children's weekday screen time, weekend screen time, daily frequency of using five devices, and purpose of screen device use. We collected baseline and follow-up data from parents of 255 children at a preschool in Beijing with an interval of 3 months (9/2021 and 12/2021; M = 4.41 years, SD = 0.80 at Follow-Up; Boys: 54.9%). Multiple regression analyses with the four outcome variables against six child-level and eight parent/family-level factors revealed that parent/family-level factors accounted for far more variance (10.1%–32.5%) than child-level factors (3.6%–5.0%) in predicting the outcome variables (βs = 0.19, p < .01 to .38, p < .001). Of all the variables, number of screen devices at home and frequency of the parent-child co-used screen devices were the only two factors that were most robust and significantly predicted all four outcome variables. Furthermore, different aspects of children's screen habits were related to overlapping and unique child and parent/family factors. To improve children's screen habits, interventions need to address the number of devices at home and the practice of parent-child co-using screen devices.

The impact of digital technology use on youth sense of community: a case study from Croatia

The question of how digital technologies, especially the use of the Internet, affect young people's lives is one of the central research topics in contemporary sociology. On the one hand, the positive effects of digital technologies, enabling the emergence of online communities, are highlighted. On the other hand, there are also many negative effects, especially the fear of alienation. Based on the results of research conducted with 552 third and fourth grade high school students in Vukovar-Syrmia County (Croatia), this paper examines how social networking, frequency of digital technologies use, and technologically-mediated socializing influence attitudes towards the local community. It has been shown that the frequency of using digital technology does not have a negative effect on the sense of community, on the contrary – the use of mobile phones is positively correlated to support and emotional connection with peers. However, the tendency to use technology for socializing has a significant effect on two of the three measured dimensions of sense of community, in the way that young people who prefer to establish and maintain online relationships are less close to the local community. The findings support previous studies indicating multiple and varied effects of digital technologies, particularly the Internet use, on local social relationships. It has also been shown that the use of digital technologies had a much stronger effect on the assessment of attitudes towards peers in the community than in other studied dimensions of sense of community – support and emotional connection in the community and satisfaction of needs and opportunities for involvement.

UNCOVERING THE SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND CONCERNS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

The coronavirus (COVID-19) began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in which the pandemic has spread worldwide. Before the outbreak, Malaysia'’s government implemented precautionary measures by enforcing the Movement Control Orders (MCO). Social media sites that focus on a photo-based usage are currently a vital part of young people's lives. COVID-19 has enormously affected people's mental health, such as anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and sleep deprivation. Social media became a reliable way of seeking resources, especially for university students during the pandemic. This concept paper builds upon various insights from many researchers on social media within the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher first presents background on social media and COVID-19 pandemic. Next, based on prior literature, she provides the logical reasons for using social media during this unprecedented time. Additionally, the researcher discusses the conceptual framework explaining why individuals consume social media during these challenging times, including the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), given the recent growth of studies on this research question. Finally, the researcher offers discussion and recommendations for future research in this range.

Impact of Body Appreciation and Social Appearance Anxiety on Life Satisfaction among Young Adults

This study was intended to investigate the impact of body appreciation and social appearance anxiety on life satisfaction among young adults. The aim of this study was to determine whether body appreciation impacts the young adults life satisfaction and they feel social appearance anxiety or not. Total 600 participants including 300 males and 300 females, having age range of 18-41 years from Islamabad and Rawalpindi were selected. Purposive sampling technique was used for research purpose. The Body Appreciation Scale (TL. Tylka., 2015), Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (Levinson 2013), and life satisfaction scale (Diener et al., 1985) administered on the participants of the study. For the purpose of testing hypothesis, Pearson Correlation, T-Test analysis and linear regression analysis were used. The finding of the current study suggests that young adults faced body appreciation problems. Our findings revealed that social appearance anxiety negatively predicted life satisfaction. It also indicated that there was significant positive correlation between body appreciation and life satisfaction. The results also demonstrated that females scored higher on social appearance anxiety as compared to males. This study will be helpful for young adults to understand the impact of body appreciation and social appearance anxiety on life satisfaction. This study will also highlight that how body appreciation will impact our life and increase anxiety level.

Impact of Gut Microbiota in Brain Ageing: Polyphenols as Beneficial Modulators.

Brain ageing is a complex physiological process that includes several mechanisms. It is characterized by neuronal/glial dysfunction, alterations in brain vasculature and barriers, and the decline in brain repair systems. These disorders are triggered by an increase in oxidative stress and a proinflammatory state, without adequate antioxidant and anti-inflammatory systems, as it occurs in young life stages. This state is known as inflammaging. Gut microbiota and the gut-brain axis (GBA) have been associated with brain function, in a bidirectional communication that can cause loss or gain of the brain's functionality. There are also intrinsic and extrinsic factors with the ability to modulate this connection. Among the extrinsic factors, the components of diet, principally natural components such as polyphenols, are the most reported. The beneficial effects of polyphenols in brain ageing have been described, mainly due to their antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, including the modulation of gut microbiota and the GBA. The aim of this review was, by following the canonical methodology for a state-of-the-art review, to compose the existing evidenced picture of the impact of the gut microbiota on ageing and their modulation by polyphenols as beneficial molecules against brain ageing.

Exploring the mechanisms explaining the quality of sibling relationships when children are taken into care: A qualitative study of Norwegian children

AbstractSibling relationships are potentially central in children's and young people's lives. Research has shown that the quality of sibling relationships changes in a variety of ways when a sibling(s) moves into care. There is limited understanding of the mechanisms that cause these changes. This study addresses this gap by reanalysing a dataset of 25 semistructured interviews with young people (16 to 23 years) drawn from a municipality in Southern Norway. The original study explored the changes in sibling relationships when the young person moved into care. This reanalysis of the data set explores specifically, using a template analysis, the mechanisms that children describe when exploring why these changes occur. Findings show the intricacies of the young person's social identification with the biological and/or foster family and how sharing a common identity may be key to the development of the sibling relationship when the young person(s) is taken into care. Our findings also show how key adults, such as foster parents and social workers, influence the relationship. The paper concludes with recommendations for social workers on how they may strengthen sibling relationships in families where children have been taken into care.

"There's Something to Remind You that Everything Is Okay": Australian Trans Young People and the Presence of Animals in Interactions With Healthcare Professionals.

While animals have long been a focus in therapeutic spaces for young people via approaches such as animal-assisted therapies, there is a sense in which such approaches overlook the broader contribution that animals play by being present in young people's lives. In this article, we explore how the presence of animals (both physical and psychological) in interactions with healthcare professionals may hold specific meaning for trans young people living in Australia. Participants were recruited through Parents of Gender Diverse Children. Interviews were conducted in November 2021 with 17 trans young people and one of each of their parents living in Australia. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Two main themes were developed: (1) how healthcare professionals respond to conversations about animals and (2) the beneficial role of the presence of animals. The article concludes by discussing the importance of thinking about the presence of animals beyond existing frameworks and recognizing the value placed on the presence of animals by trans young people.

The stories behind stories: Reflections on the role of voice in research with unaccompanied refugee youth

The stories behind stories: Reflections on the role of voice in research with unaccompanied refugee youth

At the ‘risky’ end of things: labelling, self-concept and the role of supportive relationships in young lives

ABSTRACT The ‘risky’ label attached to certain groups of young people has disproportionately made them the target of ‘interventions’ designed to monitor, rehabilitate or punish. This article explores how young people experience and respond to that label across many aspects of their lives from school to leisure and from justice to welfare. We employ the notion of self-concept to understand the negative impact of labelling on young people and by contrast, the enabling influence of supportive relationships. Our analysis points to a relevant link between labelling and conflict and young people’s self-concept, as well as to the relationship between self-concept and demonstrations of different forms of agency. Drawing on key findings from a meta-ethnographic synthesis of case studies from three countries (Estonia, Portugal and UK), we find that, regardless of the country where young people live, the significant relationships in their lives are essential for breaking the ‘risk-labelled’ cycle and to promote a more positive path. The case studies were developed with 71 participants (49 male), mostly aged between 15 and 24 years old, who presented long paths of conflict with major normative social institutions like the family, school, or the law, frequently leading to school exclusion and, sometimes, anti-social or criminal behaviour.

Teaching quality and student learning achievements in Ethiopian primary education: How effective is instructional quality in closing socioeconomic learning achievement inequalities?

Teaching quality affects student learning achievements, and high socioeconomic status (SES) students usually outperform low SES ones. However, teaching quality may affect students differently depending on their SES backgrounds. This study employs three-level hierarchical linear modeling with Ethiopian Young Lives data to examine the potential differential effects of the three basic dimensions of teaching quality (teacher support, classroom management, and cognitive activation) across student SES groups. Our findings reveal that, in general, the three dimensions of teaching quality are positively associated with learning achievements. However, compared to low and middle SES background students, high SES background students benefit from classroom management and cognitive activation. This suggests that teaching quality (classroom management and cognitive activation) may contribute to widening inequalities in learning achievements. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.

Early career academic's odyssey: A narrative study of her professional identity construction

Abstract Recent decades have seen a major transformation of the Spanish university system caused by changes introduced in the teaching staff evaluation procedure in which research has been prioritized. As a result, there has been a growing interest in studying how these procedures impact the way in which early career academics construct their professional identity. In this vein, this article aims to analyze how the professional identity of this group is constructed and developed in the current context of higher education. To this end, a single case study was conducted, applying a biographical-narrative approach. The results show how professional identity development has become polarized in terms of initial rejection to full acceptance of the demands of modern academia. Consequently, professional practices have also been affected by the prioritization of research over teaching, leading to the development of unethical practices to maintain competitiveness. All of these effects have contributed to high levels of stress and job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, maternity is also seen as an obstacle to female academics’ professional and academic development. Finally, our findings highlight the need for policies that provide full support aimed at helping young researchers live balanced professional lives.

Teaching in the right context: Textbook supply program, language, and learning

AbstractAn ethnic gap in education is prevalent around the world. This remains the case in Vietnam, a country that has achieved phenomenal economic growth and raised the educational attainment of the public. This paper examines the impact of language policy reorientation represented by the textbook supply program in Vietnam on the ethnic gap in children's learning measured by a vocabulary test. Applying difference‐in‐differences estimation to the Young Lives data between 2006 and 2015, we show that the program became more effective in narrowing the ethnic gap as the education policy became reoriented toward ethnic minority children. A causal mediation analysis reveals that increased study time is possibly a moderate mediator through which the language policy reorientation helped narrow the ethnic gap for the young cohort over and above the direct impact, but this was not the case for the old cohort. This paper, therefore, alludes to the importance of delivering learning materials carefully designed for the target group to bring about meaningful behavioral changes. It also underscores the importance of teaching in the right context, corroborating the findings from recent studies on teaching at the right level.

The brain's weakness in the face of trauma: How head trauma causes the destruction of the brain.

Of all our organs, the brain is perhaps the best protected from trauma. The skull has evolved to enclose it and, within the skull, the brain floats in a protective bath of cerebrospinal fluid. It is becoming evident, however, that head trauma experienced in young adult life can cause a dementia that appears decades later. The level of trauma that induces such destruction is still being assessed but includes levels well below that which cracks the skull or causes unconsciousness or concussion. Clinically this damage appears as dementia, in people who played body-contact sports in their youth or have survived accidents or the blasts of combat; and appears also, we argue, in old age, without a history of head trauma. The dementias have been given different names, including dementia pugilistica (affecting boxers), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (following certain sports, particularly football), traumatic brain injury (following accidents, combat) and Alzheimer's (following decades of life). They share common features of clinical presentation and neuropathology, and this conceptual analysis seeks to identify features common to these forms of brain injury and to identify where in the brain the damage common to them occurs; and how it occurs, despite the protection provided by the skull and cerebrospinal fluid. The analysis suggests that the brain's weak point in the face of trauma is its capillary bed, which is torn by the shock of trauma. This identification in turn allows discussion of ways of delaying, avoiding and even treating these trauma-induced degenerations.

Saving and Empowering young lives in PAKistan (SEPAK): An Exploratory Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (cRCT)

IntroductionSuicide is a leading cause of death among young people and most deaths by suicide occur in low and middle-income countries. School is the best place where we can identify and respond to youth suicide risk. School-based interventions for suicide prevention in young people have been successful across US, Europe and Australia, but require adaptations to be acceptable and feasible in Pakistan.ObjectivesTo develop and test culturally adapted preventative interventions for suicidal behaviours among pupils in secondary schools in Pakistan. The qualitative component aimed at exploring the views of students, parents, teachers and general practitioners on cultural adaptation, experience of participation, areas of improvement and suggestions for scale-up of the school-based suicide prevention program (SEPAK).MethodsA clustered randomised controlled trial. The four culturally modified interventions 1) Linking Education and Awareness of Depression and Suicide Awareness (LEADS) Training for pupils (students=260) 2) the Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) for teachers (students=203) 3) QPR for parents (students=445); 4) Screening by Professionals (Profscreen) (students=260) were compared against control intervention (educational posters) (students=227). Structured questionnaires were administered at baseline and 1-month post-intervention to assess suicidal behaviours, psychological well-being and quality of life. A total of 8 focus groups (FGs) were conducted at pre and post intervention stage with each stakeholders.ResultsPatient and public involvement and Engagement (PPIE) was strongly embedded in the project to ensure meaningful benefits for participants. A total of 40 schools were recruited from 8 cities across Pakistan. A total of 243 students attended LEADS intervention, 92 teachers and 304 parents completed QPR training, and 9 general practitioners were trained in ProfScreen. The retention rate at follow-up was 99% that shows feasibility of delivering intervention package in Pakistan. All participants marked SEPAK as effective in identifying risk of and preventing self-harm and suicide in young people and in improving pathways to treatment. Interventions were perceived as helpful in improving knowledge about mental health, impact of mental health difficulties on functioning, reducing stigma, equipping stakeholders to identify and signpost at-risk people. Improvement in clinical and teaching practice as well as understanding others behaviors were also reported.ConclusionsThis study suggest feasibility of integrating a suicide prevention program in existing educational system and highlights positive role of creating awareness about suicide in youth, introduction of school-based mental health programs, parental counseling and strengthening of the health system by training general practitioners in early identification of suicide risk and promoting suicide prevention strategiesDisclosure of InterestNone Declared

Perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic as demonstrated in drawings of Swedish children aged 4-6 years.

To explore the perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, as expressed in the drawings of Swedish children aged 4-6 years. We analysed 91 drawings with associated descriptions submitted to the Swedish Archive of Children's Art from April 2020 to February 2021. The visual and text analysis resulted in three themes. First, illustrating the virus and embodying the danger showed that young children understood the invisible enemy, combining realistic elements of the virus particle with fantasies of the 'virus monster' that needs to be fought off. Second, life has changed for the worse describes the profound effect the pandemic had on young children's lives also in Sweden, with comparatively mild restrictions and no school closures. Third, the virus spreads across the world, affects people and infects their bodies conveys young children's understanding of the pandemic as an existential challenge affecting the whole world. Children displayed surprisingly high levels of health literacy related to COVID-19, including contagion routes and the importance of hand hygiene. The drawings of Swedish children aged 4-6 years demonstrated the profound, practical and emotional effects of the pandemic on their lives. Drawings also illuminated young children's level of health literacy regarding COVID-19.

"It's Kind of Our Everyday Life. It Sort of Becomes Natural": Everyday Violence and Violent Practices Among Young People.

Although violence among youth remains an important, global issue, little research has been conducted regarding how young people themselves define violence and what practices in relation to violence that are evident in their everyday lives. Using an intersectional gender perspective, specifically exploring the intersection of gender, age, and class, this paper therefore aims to explore how young people define violence, as well as to explore what practices in relation to violence that are evident in young people's everyday lives. By using a photovoice methodology, 11 focus groups of young boys and girls (17-19 years old) living in two municipalities in northern Sweden were interviewed and asked to take photographs representing themes that were discussed. Overall, three main themes in the young peoples' stories were identified: Violence as ubiquitous, Easy prey and dangerous predators, and The way forward. The findings demonstrated that violence is pervasive, all-encompassing and normalized in young people's everyday lives, and that this violence is moderated by intersecting power orders of gender, age, and class. Any future theoretical frameworks or prevention strategies should therefore aim to include an intersectional perspective as well as including the voices of the youths themselves.

‘How I'm feeling today, I probably won't be feeling tomorrow’. Using I-Poems to explore young people's changing emotions during the Covid-19 pandemic – A qualitative, longitudinal study

BackgroundRelatively little published qualitative research has explored children and young people’s (CYP) prolonged or longitudinal experiences of the pandemic, and their emotional responses to such unreserved change to everyday life. As part of a broader, qualitative longitudinal study, this paper explores change and continuity in young people's emotions over time during the Covid-19 pandemic in North East England. MethodsI-Poems were curated for each of the 26 young people in this study from serial interview transcripts and diary entries, collected over the course of 16 months. Creation of I-Poems require researchers to focus on sentences made by the interviewee that include the word “I,” and without changing the order of those sentences, to present them in poetic stanzas. FindingsYoung people's voices and experiences became more poignant and powerful when their ‘I’ narrative was centralised, silencing the presence of the researcher. Further, presenting the data in this way allowed us to see how the following emotions shifted over time: grief, sadness, frustration, anger, anxiety, joy, pleasure, excitement. We contend that young people experienced significant rupture and change over the course of our 16 month project, with both positive and negative repercussions for their emotional wellbeing. ConclusionsLarge scale (quantitative and qualitative) studies remain much needed to focus on the long-term impacts of the pandemic on young people's social, emotional and cultural lives. Longitudinal and creative qualitative approaches (such as I-Poems) have the potential to centralise participant voice, break down power dynamics, and allow exploration of shifting experiences and emotions over time.

Children’s Educational Outcomes and Persistence and Severity of Household Food Insecurity in India: Longitudinal Evidence from Young Lives

BackgroundFood insecurity is a pressing global challenge with far-reaching consequences for health and well-being. However, little attention has focused specifically on the experiences of children and adolescents over the age of 5 y in food insecure households. ObjectivesWe examine whether the persistence and severity of household food insecurity are negatively associated with children’s educational outcomes. MethodsWe used data for the younger cohort of the longitudinal Young Lives data from rounds 3 (2009), 4 (2013), and 5 (2016), when children were aged 8 y, 12 y, and 15 y, respectively. Drawing on the Household Food Insecurity and Access Scale, we used descriptive statistics, graphical analysis, and multilevel regressions to document how the persistence and severity of household food insecurity are associated with children’s educational outcomes (years of education, maths, and vocabulary [PPVT] test scores). We controlled for potentially confounding sociodemographic characteristics, including children’s own baseline grade attained and test scores in “value-added” models, to provide robust estimates of household food insecurity in predicting children’s educational outcomes. ResultsHousehold food insecurity generally declined between 2009 and 2016. Fewer than 50% of households were food secure across the 3 rounds of data we examined. Our robust, multivariate, value-added models show that the persistence and severity of food insecurity are negatively associated with all 3 children’s educational outcomes we examined. ConclusionsWe add to a small but growing literature exploring how household food insecurity is associated with children’s educational outcomes in the Global South. Our findings on severity of food insecurity highlight the importance of understanding food insecurity along the severity continuum rather than as a dichotomous state, as previously done in existing literature. Addressing household food insecurity in childhood and adolescence may be a key factor to improve children’s educational outcomes.

Social Media Usage

Social media is an important part of young generations' digital lives and has become much more than a social connection tool. This research offers comprehensions into usage of social media among Gen Y and Gen Z and investigates the usage of social media's features such as socialization, information, entertainment, education, and shopping. Various previous studies are available which attempted to investigate the usage of social media by Gen Z and Gen Y independently. This study is the first that attempted to compare the usage between Gen Z and Gen Y. This is an empirical study comprising 293 respondents from Gen Y and Gen Z, who were selected purposively. The findings suggest that Gen Z use social media more than Gen Y for education, entertainment, shopping, and socialization whereas social media usage of both the generations for information seeking are equal. This study offers recommendations for companies from India to consider incorporating social media marketing actions to encourage their brands and products to specific age groups.

The dark side of signals: Patents protecting radical inventions and venture capital investments

Patents are an important signal of the unobserved quality of young, innovative firms. We study patents that protect radical inventions associated with high earnings potential but also a high risk of failure. These previously disregarded signals convey positive and negative information simultaneously, i.e., strong signals that have a dark side. We argue that whether firms that send such signals are attractive investment targets for venture capital (VC) investors depends on the characteristics of the investors. Reputable VC investors are attracted to the strong quality signals of patents protecting radical inventions and are better able than other VC investors to deal with the dark side of these signals through syndication. These effects are stronger in the first financing round than in follow-on rounds, as the (positive and negative) informational value of patents protecting radical inventions diminishes over time as information asymmetries between young firms and prospective VC investors are reduced. We test these predictions using a sample of 759 young life science firms and 555 VC investors. Econometric estimates from a matching model support our predictions.