Background: Prescription drug misuse among youth aged 12-18 remains high in the United States. Grounded in Social Norms Theory, school-based curricula have been shown to effectively challenge students' misperceptions of peer norms and safety regarding prescription drug misuse (PDM). Objective: The present study is a quasi-experimental evaluation…

According to social identity theory, individuals self-categorize into groups and then differentiate between groups based on stereotypical norms to create a perceived hierarchy to benefit their self-esteem. The purpose of this study was to explore the presence of social identities among adolescent musicians related to the career paths of music…

As part of citizenship education, the prevention of radicalization and extremism through education (PVE-E) is an urgent initiative of global educational policy. According to research, radicalized individuals, despite the ideology held, have mindsets that challenge equality and social justice. In this light, this study examines the intergroup…

Classrooms are important spaces for young people with variations in sex characteristics and their classmates. Sex education can promote agency and well-being by helping young people make sense of their embodiment and form rewarding social relationships and by changing societal understandings about variations in sex characteristics. Realising this…

This study examined how peer norms condition the effect of romantic involvement on adolescents' externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. We hypothesized that, as a result of social control and social learning, adolescents who start a romantic relationship report more problem behavior when romantic involvement was not normative behavior…

In recent years there has been growing awareness about teenage motherhood, a phenomenon constructed as an economic and social concern in South Africa. This article presents a narrative inquiry undertaken with seven teenage mothers on their experiences of schooling and motherhood at a rural secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study…

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterised by a distressing preoccupation with perceived defects or flaws in one's appearance. BDD most typically emerges in adolescence and is estimated to affect 2.2% of the UK adolescent population. There is a dearth of research into children's and young people's lived experiences of BDD, particularly in…

The bullying phenomenon has been simplified and studied primarily from a psychological perspective. In this study, the phenomenon of bullying was examined by analyzing the joint influence of sociocultural factors such as gender stereotypes, sexism, and attitudes toward sexual and cultural diversity on bullying participation as a bully and a bully…

Sexual consent has increasingly become a central component of Relationships and Sex Education. This paper draws upon findings from qualitative research conducted with teenagers in England, which explored their perspectives on consent within their contemporary youth sexual cultures, including in digital (sexting) contexts. The findings suggest that…

Visual and cultural identities are situated in habitus, social theory on the body and clothing. Framed by narrative inquiry, girl method, and feminist research, I investigated the mean girl experiences of Grace and Hayley, who witnessed hostility alongside an exaggerated policed feminine sartorial aesthetic. White, middle and upper class, managers…

Background: Peer crowds are macro-level, reputation-based subcultures with shared preferences, values, and behavior. The Country peer crowd has been the focus of tobacco industry research and marketing but has yet to be the primary focus of public health research. The current study explores the utility of "Down and Dirty," a "Social…

Background: This study examined how risk perceptions and social norms around e-cigarettes are associated with susceptibility (i.e., openness to using the product in the next 12 months) of e-cigarettes and smoking among adolescents. Methods: We analyzed data from a 2016 representative survey of 8,718 middle school students in Mexico. The study…

This paper proposes an analysis of dialogical processes in the creation of a radio feature story titled "Teen Views of Sex," co-produced by Mexican immigrant high school students in the context of a Youth Radio and Radio Arts program. After describing the socio-cultural and curricular context of the program, I apply Zittoun and Grossen's…

Computers and information technology are fast becoming a part of young people's everyday life. However, there remains a difference between the majority who can use computers and the minority who are computer scientists or professionals. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally skilled young people (aged 13-19), we explore their…

This longitudinal study examined the extent to which the development of prosocial and aggressive peer norms was related to individual prosocial and aggressive behavior development across the first year of secondary education (three waves, n = 1,134 adolescents from 51 classes, M[subscript age] = 12.66). A distinction was made between descriptive…