Can we predict adolescent cannabis use? A Bayesian semi-parametric approach to project future trends.

Despite its decrease in many Western countries, cannabis remains the most used illicit substance among adolescents. This study aims to summarize cannabis consumption during the last two decades and project trends among 15-year-olds in the 2021-22 HBSC survey. A Bayesian semi-parametric hierarchical model was adopted to estimate the trend of cannabis consumption using data of about 287,000 adolescents from the 2001/2002 to the 2017/2018 HBSC wave and the 38 countries that met the inclusion criteria.

What Do Young Adults Expect from the Recreational Use of Ecstasy (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine/Molly)? A Latent Class Analysis of a Convenience Sample of Dutch Young Adults.

Introduction: This study offers insights into Dutch young people's expected social and personal consequences of ecstasy use. Substance use expectancies are assumed to be an essential component in explaining substance use behaviour and, therefore, the development of effective substance use prevention and treatment strategies.

Method: Dutch young adults with an online interest in drug-related social media posts were targeted with an online survey about their use of alcohol and drugs.

The great decline in adolescent risk behaviours: Unitary trend, separate trends, or cascade?

In many high-income countries, the proportion of adolescents who smoke, drink, or engage in other risk behaviours has declined markedly over the past 25 years. We illustrate this behavioural shift by collating and presenting previously published data (1990-2019) on smoking, alcohol use, cannabis use, early sexual initiation and juvenile crime in Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the USA, also providing European averages where comparable data are available. Then we explore empirical evidence for and against hypothesised causes of these declines.

An Indirect Measure of Implicit Sexual Assertiveness: Reliability and Validity of the Sexual Assertiveness IAT in Young Adults in The Netherlands.

In the present study we investigated the reliability and validity of an Implicit Association Test of sexual assertiveness (the SA-IAT) in a sample of young adults (n = 159). The D600 algorithm was used to calculate implicit sexual assertiveness scores. Explicit sexual assertiveness was measured using a selection of items from the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness.

Grumpy or depressed? Disentangling typically developing adolescent mood from prodromal depression using experience sampling methods.

Introduction: This study aimed at differentiating normative developmental turmoil from prodromal depressive symptoms in adolescence.

Method: Negative and positive mood (daily) in different contexts (friends, home, school), and (subsequent) depressive symptoms were assessed in Dutch adolescents.

Results & Conclusion: Mixture modeling on one cross-sectional study, using a newly developed questionnaire (CSEQ; subsample 1a; n = 571; girls 55.

Social Media Use and Adolescents' Sleep: A Longitudinal Study on the Protective Role of Parental Rules Regarding Internet Use before Sleep.

The popularity of social media use among adolescents has raised concerns about the potentially harmful effects of social media use on adolescents' sleep. Since longitudinal research considering this relationship is scarce, the present two-wave longitudinal study of 2021 secondary school students (M = 13.86, SD = 1.

The impact of heavy and disordered use of games and social media on adolescents' psychological, social, and school functioning.

Aim: To extend the scholarly debate on (a) whether or not the compulsive use of games and social media should be regarded as behavioral addictions (Kardefelt-Winther et al., 2017) and (b) whether the nine DSM-5 criteria for Internet gaming disorder (IGD; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) are appropriate to distinguish highly engaged, non-disordered users of games and social media from disordered users, this study investigated the impact of engaged and disordered use of games and social media on the psychosocial well-being and school performances of adolescents.

Methods: As part of the Digital Youth Project of the University of Utrecht, a three-wave longitudinal sample of 12- to 15-year-old adolescents (N = 538) was utilized.

A Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards Among Youth: Psychometric Properties.

The (hetero)sexual double standard (SDS), prescribing sexual modesty for girls and sexual prowess for boys, negatively affects sexual and mental health. Nevertheless, endorsement and enactment of the SDS is still common. In this study, we respond to recent calls for modernization in the field of sexual double standard research.

The Impact of Personal Gender-Typicality and Partner Gender-Traditionality on Taking Sexual Initiative: Investigating a Social Tuning Hypothesis.

Sexual assertiveness is an issue of interest in the context of gender equality and sexual health. This study investigated the social tuning hypothesis that encountering a gender-traditional partner would lead to stronger gender-typical behavior, i.e.

Music Preferences, Friendship, and Externalizing Behavior in Early Adolescence: A SIENA Examination of the Music Marker Theory Using the SNARE Study.

Music Marker Theory posits that music is relevant for the structuring of peer groups and that rock, urban, or dance music preferences relate to externalizing behavior. The present study tested these hypotheses, by investigating the role of music preference similarity in friendship selection and the development of externalizing behavior, while taking the effects of friends' externalizing behavior into account. Data were used from the first three waves of the SNARE (Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early adolescence) study (N = 1144; 50% boys; M  = 12.

Dutch Adolescents' Motives, Perceptions, and Reflections Toward Sex-Related Internet Use: Results of a Web-Based Focus-Group Study.

The Internet offers adolescents unique opportunities to actively shape their own sexual media environment. The aim of this study was to gain in-depth insight into Dutch adolescents' motives, perceptions, and reflections toward Internet use for (a) finding information or advice related to romance and sexuality; (b) searching for and viewing pornographic or erotic material; and (c) romantic and sexual communication (i.e.

Individual Popularity, Peer Group Popularity Composition and Adolescents' Alcohol Consumption.

Previous studies have convincingly shown associations between popularity and adolescent drinking. This study examined whether the popularity composition of the peer group and the relative difference in popularity between adolescents and their peers are also associated with adolescent drinking. Participants were 800 adolescents (M  = 14.

The Relationship Between Endorsement of the Sexual Double Standard and Sexual Cognitions and Emotions.

Sexual gender norms promoting sexual prowess for men, but sexual modesty for women have been shown to negatively affect sexual and mental health in both men and women. Knowledge about the relationship between gender norms and sexual cognitions and emotions might further the understanding of continued gender-norm conformity. In the present study, we investigated whether and how gendered sexual attitudes are related to (positive and negative) sex-related emotions, via sexual cognitions (autonomy, body esteem, and approach/avoidance motives for sex).

Adolescent Gambling-Oriented Attitudes Mediate the Relationship Between Perceived Parental Knowledge and Adolescent Gambling: Implications for Prevention.

Although substantial research has provided support for the association between parental practices and adolescent gambling, less is known about the role of adolescent attitudes in this relationship. The primary purpose of this study was to test an integrative model linking perceived parental knowledge (children's perceptions of their parents' knowledge of their whereabouts and companions) with adolescent gambling while evaluating the mediating effects of adolescents' own gambling approval, risk perception of gambling, and descriptive norms on gambling shared with friends. The data were drawn from the ESPAD® Italia 2012 (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) study, which is based on a nationally representative sample of Italian adolescent students aged 15-19.

Adolescents' use of sexually explicit Internet material and their sexual attitudes and behavior: Parallel development and directional effects.

Although research has repeatedly demonstrated that adolescents' use of sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) is related to their endorsement of permissive sexual attitudes and their experience with sexual behavior, it is not clear how linkages between these constructs unfold over time. This study combined 2 types of longitudinal modeling, mean-level development and cross-lagged panel modeling, to examine (a) developmental patterns in adolescents' SEIM use, permissive sexual attitudes, and experience with sexual behavior, as well as whether these developments are related; and (b) longitudinal directionality of associations between SEIM use on the 1 hand and permissive sexual attitudes and sexual behavior on the other hand. We used 4-wave longitudinal data from 1,132 7th through 10th grade Dutch adolescents (M(age) T1 = 13.

Unfinished Business or, Why Is It So Difficult to Implement an Evidence-Based Alcohol-Use Intervention Program?

Though many evidence-based interventions targeting adolescent alcohol drug use are available, it is unknown if these interventions are put to practice. In this article, we discuss some critical issues associated with the implementation of an evidence-based alcohol prevention program in the Netherlands. Tips that may potentially contribute to a successful implementation of this specific intervention are provided.

Psychosexual Correlates of Sexual Double Standard Endorsement in Adolescent Sexuality.

Endorsement and enactment of the (hetero)sexual double standard (SDS), prescribing sexual modesty for girls and sexual prowess for boys, has been shown to be negatively related to sexual and mental health. To be able to challenge the SDS, more insight is needed into the conditions that shape gendered sexual attitudes. A survey was conducted among 465 heterosexual adolescents (aged 16-20 years), examining the relationship between a number of relevant demographic and psychosexual variables and SDS endorsement.

Lower Psychological Well-Being and Excessive Sexual Interest Predict Symptoms of Compulsive Use of Sexually Explicit Internet Material Among Adolescent Boys.

Although a growing body of literature addresses the effects of young people's use of sexually explicit Internet material, research on the compulsive use of this type of online content among adolescents and its associated factors is largely lacking. This study investigated whether factors from three distinct psychosocial domains (i.e.

Sex-Related Online Behaviors, Perceived Peer Norms and Adolescents' Experience with Sexual Behavior: Testing an Integrative Model.

Research on the role of sex-related Internet use in adolescents' sexual development has often isolated the Internet and online behaviors from other, offline influencing factors in adolescents' lives, such as processes in the peer domain. The aim of this study was to test an integrative model explaining how receptive (i.e.

Trends in the co-occurrence of tobacco and cannabis use in 15-year-olds from 2002 to 2010 in 28 countries of Europe and North America.

Background: Cannabis and tobacco use frequently co-occur. Adolescents who consume both substances experience more respiratory distress and psychosocial problems and are less likely to stop compared with those who use either tobacco or cannabis alone. This study examined time trends in tobacco and cannabis use among 15-year-olds in Europe and North America between 2002 and 2010.

Decreases in adolescent weekly alcohol use in Europe and North America: evidence from 28 countries from 2002 to 2010.

Background: This study examined trends in adolescent weekly alcohol use between 2002 and 2010 in 28 European and North American countries.

Methods: Analyses were based on data from 11-, 13- and 15-year-old adolescents who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Results: Weekly alcohol use declined in 20 of 28 countries and in all geographic regions, from 12.

Investigating cannabis use normalization by distinguishing between experimental and regular use: a multilevel study in 31 countries.

Objective: This research examined whether national population-level cannabis frequency rates moderate the strength of the relationship between individual-level psychosocial and behavioral risk factors (poor parental communication, bullying, fighting, etc.) and different levels of adolescent cannabis use (abstinence, experimental use, and regular use).

Method: Data from the 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey (N = 62,009, age = 15 years) from 31 countries were analyzed using multinomial hierarchical linear modeling.