How U.S. Children and Adolescents Spend Time: What It Does (and Doesn't) Tell Us About Their Development

Young people develop as "the sum of past experiences," and data on their time use are one means of quantifying those experiences. U.S. children and adolescents spend dramatically less time than in the agrarian past in household and income-generating labor. Because such labor is usually repetitive and unchallenging, this reduction has probably not deprived youths of crucial developmental experience. The schoolwork replacing this time has a clearer relationship to developmental outcomes. American teens, however, spend less time on schoolwork than teens in other industrialized countries. American teenagers have more discretionary time, much spent watching television or interacting with friends; spending large amounts of time in these activities is related to negative developmental outcomes. Increasing amounts of young people's discretionary time, however, appear to be spent in structured voluntary activities, like arts, sports, and organizations, which may foster initiative, identity, and other positive developmental outcomes.     

Ecology of depression in late childhood and early adolescence: a profile of daily states and activities

This study investigated daily states and time use patterns associated with depression. Four hundred eighty-three 5th to 9th graders reported on their experience when signalled by pagers at random times. Depressed youth reported more negative affect and social emotions, lower psychological investment, lower energy, and greater variability in affect. These differences were weaker for 5th and 6th graders, suggesting that self-reported feeling states are a poor indicator of depression prior to adolescence. No differences were found in the daily activities of depressed youths nor in the amount of time spent alone, but depressed youths experienced other people as less friendly and more often reported wanting to be alone, especially when with their families. They also spent less time in public places and more time in their bedrooms. Finally, depressed boys, but not girls, spent much less time with friends, particularly of the same sex, suggesting that social isolation is more strongly associated with depression for boys.     

Time Use, Time Pressure and Gendered Behavior in Early and Late Adolescence

Using a stratified sample of Canadian adolescents residing in Ontario (n = 2,154) time use patterns and perceptions of time pressure are explored to determine gender differences among younger (12–14 years) and older adolescents (15–19 years). For both age groups, girls report a higher total workload of schoolwork, domestic activities and paid employment and spend more time on personal care while boys have more free time, especially during early adolescence. Feelings of time pressure for teens increase with age and are significantly higher for girls in both age categories. Gender differences are less pronounced on school days when time is fairly structured, but become more consistent with traditional gender schema on the weekend when time use is more discretionary.     

Role function and job satisfaction of school psychologists practicing in an expanded role model

School psychologists are typically itinerant among multiple schools and often spend up to two-thirds of their time on assessment activities related to students with disabilities and special education programs. School psychologists in delivery of an expanded role service model are assigned to a single school and provide more consultation and intervention services. 97 school psychologists assigned to an expanded role in a single southeastern urban school district were surveyed on their job roles and job satisfaction. The majority were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, particularly with engaging in activities that were of service to others and staying involved in a variety of job activities. School psychologists wanted to spend less time in assessment, multidisciplinary team meetings, and administrative duties. The discrepancy between the desired and actual amount of time spent in multidisciplinary meetings was negatively related to job satisfaction. Psychologists wanted to spend more time in direct and indirect intervention, professional development, and networking.     

Administrator Perceptions of Actual and Desired Time Spent by School Psychologists in Different Roles and Satisfaction with School Psychologists

Abstract

A total of 512 elementary and secondary administrators in Ohio were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the time spent by school psychologists in 15 role functions, the percentage of time they desired school psychologists to spend in these 15 roles, and their satisfaction with their school psychologist. Results indicated that administrators desired school psychologists to spend less time in assessment and administrative activities than they were perceived to be spending in these areas, and desired school psychologists to spend more time than they were perceived to be spending in all other roles surveyed. Six variables were found to be significant predictors of administrator satisfaction: discrepancy between actual and desired time spent administering and interpreting psychoeducational tests (negatively related), discrepancy between actual and desired time spent providing services to prevent student problems (negatively related), percentage of time spent working with parents and families (positively related), discrepancy between actual and desired time spent performing administrative duties (negatively related), discrepancy between actual and desired time spent conducting inservice activities (positively related), and discrepancy between actual and desired time spent counseling for career/vocational issues (negatively related). Results are discussed in terms of their implication for role expansion in school psychology.     

Capturing age-group differences and developmental change with the BASC Parent Rating Scales

Estimation of age-group differences and intra-individual change across distinct developmental periods is often challenged by the use of age-appropriate (but non-parallel) measures. We present a short version of the Behavior Assessment System (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1998) Parent Rating Scales for Children (PRS-C) and Adolescents (PRS-A), which uses only their common-items to derive estimates of the initial constructs optimized for developmental studies. Measurement invariance of a three-factor model (Externalizing, Internalizing, Adaptive Skills) was tested across age-groups (161 mothers using PRS-C; 200 mothers using PRS-A) and over time (115 mothers using PRS-C at baseline and PRS-A five years later) with the original versus short PRS. Results indicated that the short PRS holds a sufficient level of invariance for a robust estimation of age-group differences and intra-individual change, as compared to the original PRS, which held only weak invariance leading to flawed developmental inferences. The importance of test–content parallelism for developmental studies is discussed.     

Minnesota Employment Counselor Activities

Employment counselors, counselor supervisors, managers, and counselor educators were surveyed in Minnesota concerning the amounts of time that are now spent and should be spent in eleven employment counselor activities. All respondents generally agreed on the amounts of time that are now spent and should be spent in the activities. They also agreed that there should be significant increases (p > .05) in the amounts of time that should be spent in counseling, teaching, and research/follow-up, and decreases in the amounts of time that should be spent in selection/intake and records/clerical activities. Employment counselors in main offices indicated that they now spend significantly less time than counselors in subordinate offices in counseling, consulting, and staff activities, and significantly more time in testing.     

Fathers’ and Mothers’ Involvement with Their Adolescents

We explored mothers’ and fathers’ time spent with their adolescents and found that mothers reported spending more time with their adolescents than did fathers. Developmental patterns were found for some aspects of time involvement, with both mothers and fathers reporting higher involvement with younger adolescents. Ratings of time-spent were not associated with adolescents’ self-reported emotional/behavioral problems. Both mothers and fathers agreed that mothers had more responsibility for adolescents’ discipline, daily care, and recreational activities. Mothers and fathers reported comparable levels of satisfaction with this arrangement. Mothers, and to a lesser extent fathers, reported greater satisfaction with the division of labor when fathers showed higher levels of responsibility for adolescents’ activities. Satisfaction with the division of labor was inversely related to interparental conflict. Few differences were found based on adolescent gender for any of these variables. Results are discussed within the context of mother–child and father–child relationships and family functioning.     

Media Use and Adolescent Psychological Adjustment: An Examination of Gender Differences

This study examined media use and psychological adjustment (as indicated by depression and anxiety symptomatology) in a sample of 328 14- to 16-year-old adolescents. Primary goals of the study were to explore whether media use differs by gender, whether media use is related to adolescent psychological problems, and whether media use moderates the relationship between parental alcoholism and adolescent psychological adjustment. Adolescents were surveyed in the spring of 2006, and again one year later. Gender differences in media use were observed with boys spending more time playing video games than girls and girls spending more time talking on the phone than boys. Strikingly, none of the types of media examined was associated with depression or anxiety. Moreover, media use acted as a protective factor for boys. Boys who spent relatively more time playing video games and watching television had the lowest levels of anxiety, especially those from alcoholic homes. The opposite pattern emerged for girls.     

Social networking site use: Linked to adolescents' social self‐concept,self‐esteem,and depressed mood

Adolescents spend a substantial amount of time using social networking sites (SNSs); however, little is known regarding whether such use is associated with indicators of adjustment. The present study employed a multidimensional measure of SNS use to investigate the link between Australian adolescent SNS use and indicators of adjustment. Youth (N = 1,819, 55% female) from 34 diverse high schools across Western Australia were surveyed. The results showed that frequency of SNS use was linked to higher social self‐concept while investment in SNSs was associated with lower self‐esteem and higher depressed mood. Furthermore, having an SNS was linked to more negative indicators for female adolescents compared with male adolescents, although the link between frequency of use and investment in SNSs to indicators of adjustment was not moderated by gender. The present study highlights the complexity of the relationship between adolescent SNS use and indicators of adjustment, and offers insight into the diverse types of adolescent use of SNSs.     

Social Consequences of the Internet for Adolescents: A Decade of Research

ABSTRACT— Adolescents are currently the defining users of the Internet. They spend more time online than adults do, and they use the Internet for social interaction more often than adults do. This article discusses the state of the literature on the consequences of online communication technologies (e.g., instant messaging) for adolescents' social connectedness and well-being. Whereas several studies in the 1990s suggested that Internet use is detrimental, recent studies tend to report opposite effects. We first explain why the results of more recent studies diverge from those of earlier studies. Then, we discuss a viable hypothesis to explain the recent findings: the Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. Finally, we discuss some contingent factors that may deserve special attention in future research.     

时间定价对亲社会行为的影响

时间定价就是将金钱价格赋予时间之上,用金钱来衡量时间的价值。已有研究表明,时间定价激活时间经济价值最大化的心理定势,使个体更看重时间的经济回报,花更少的时间帮助他人。但是,时间定价对亲社会行为的影响可能并不仅仅局限于时间利他。本研究通过三个实验,除了考察时间定价对时间利他的影响外,还进一步探讨时间定价对金钱利他的影响。结果显示,时间定价不仅影响个体的时间利他行为,也削弱了金钱利他行为。这表明,时间定价所激活的经济效用心理定势不仅仅局限于时间这一种资源的效用。     

College students' self-discrepancy on the Internet, from the perspectives of desktop practices, self-control, and academic training

The self-discrepancy theory argues that perceived discrepancy between one's actual self and ideal self may induce anxiety, and that this in turn may motivate people to reduce or eliminate this perceived discrepancy by changing their behaviors. Based on this theory, this study investigated how college students perceived discrepancies between their actual and their reported ideal uses of the Internet. Their Internet use was examined on three levels: the grand level (i.e., hours spent online per week), the activity level (i.e., hours spent engaging in certain online activities per week), and the tool level (i.e., hours spent using certain Internet tools per week). Three particular factors were also selected for investigation: the participants' different desktop practices, levels of academic training, and exertions of self-control. The results indicate that the participants' perceptions of actual versus ideal discrepancies were shaped by the different levels (i.e., grand, activity, tool) of their Internet use. Additionally, this study shows that perceived self-discrepancy relating to the time that college students spend on the Internet may not be a problem in itself, but it may symbolize more profound psychological or behavioral factors that need to be addressed.     

GENDER-RELATED PATTERNS OF HELPING AMONG FRIENDS

In this study, the social role theory of gender and helping (Eagly & Crowley, 1986) was applied to understand gender differences in helping behavior. Relationships among criterion variables of time spent helping and help quality; and key predictors of problem severity, empathic tendency, anger, sympathy, closeness, causal controllability, coping, and self-efficacy were applied. Participants from a large community sample ( N = 1,004) described situations in which they helped a friend and completed questionnaires describing factors that influenced their actions. Recipients of the help also filled out similar questionnaires. It was found that across many problem settings women spend more time helping, give higher quality help, and feel more empathy and sympathy in response to their friends' problems. Further, the presence of anger toward a friend is associated with more time spent helping but a lower quality of help. In contrast, men rate their friends' problems as more controllable/blameworthy and experience more anger. Further, controllability has a greater influence on a number of help-related variables. For both men and women, self-efficacy and perception of problem severity are the greatest direct predictors of helping.     

The Third Rail of Family Systems: Sibling Relationships, Mental and Behavioral Health, and Preventive Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence

Sibling relationships are an important context for development, but are often ignored in research and preventive interventions with youth and families. In childhood and adolescence, siblings spend considerable time together, and siblings’ characteristics and sibling dynamics substantially influence developmental trajectories and outcomes. This paper reviews research on sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, focusing on sibling dynamics as part of the family system and sibling influences on adjustment problems, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors and substance use. We present a theoretical model that describes three key pathways of sibling influence: one that extends through siblings’ experiences with peers and school, and two that operate largely through family relationships. We then describe the few existing preventive interventions that target sibling relationships and discuss the potential utility of integrating siblings into child and family programs.     

Sex-role differences in time use

Analysis of how men and women spend their time reveals much about patterns of underlying sex-role relationships. This article examines national sample data on time use by men and women in order to determine systematic sex differences in the division of work and leisure in society. Particular attention is directed to how time-use patterns shift as both paid work and marital and family burdens are added to the woman's role. To determine time use, subjects kept diaries of their activities for a particular day. In addition, attitude questions about time use were also analyzed. Paid employment was found to constrain the free time of women far more than any other single role factor, including marriage and parenthood. Consequently, employed married women have significantly less free time than do employed men or women not in the labor force. While the free time of a married woman with children decreases when she becomes employed, a husband's free time may actually increase with his wife's employment. Nevertheless, few women indicated that they would like more help with housework and child care from their husbands. Several explanations for women's resistance to more male help are examined. Implications of these results for the career development of employed women and for future changes in marital role relationships are discussed.     

The Roles of Social Media Use and Friendship Quality in Adolescents’ Internalizing Problems and Well-being

Journal of Happiness Studies - Adolescents spend increasing amounts of time using social media, but whether social media use has a beneficial or harmful role in internalizing problems and...     

Computer games,self-esteem and gratification of needs in adolescents

Playing computer games has become an increasingly popular leisure time activity amongst adolescents, but concerns have been expressed over possible associated consequences. One research area has investigated reasons for playing, and two prior explanations relate it to the functional concepts of ‘electronic friendship’ and ‘self-esteem’. A questionnaire study was conducted among 120 adolescents to obtain information on a number of measures including gratification of needs and self-esteem. Results showed that playing computer games is equally popular with males and females, but males spend more time on it. Positive correlations between playing and items on the needs scales were obtained. In particular males who were heavy players scored highly on the ‘preference to friends’ need, but interestingly they were also likely to see their friends more often outside school, thus providing no support for the theory that computer games are taking the place of normal social interaction. For females there was evidence of a negative relationship between self-esteem and need gratification through playing computer games. However more adolescents spend much more time watching television than playing computer games. These results are discussed in the context of previous research.     

Staff management procedures and changes in the distribution of nontargeted activities by residential staff members: A secondary analysis

Staff management procedures are increasingly used to improve quality of care in residential facilities for individuals with mental retardation. Typically, residential staff members are prompted to increase and then maintain their frequency of activities within one or more target categories of behavior (e. g., training residents) and are regularly fed back on their performance. There is, however, no evidence as to what are the effects of staff management procedures on other, nontargeted activities of residential staff. Six groups of residential staff members (n=49) and 58 individuals with severe and profound levels of mental retardation participated. Observational data on staff behaviors were collected within eight mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories. When a procedure of staff management was in effect, a statistically significant increase in the time spent on the target categories of stimulative custodial care and training was associated with a statistically significant (a) increase in time spent on organization, (b) decrease in time spent on routine custodial care, and (c) decrease in time being engaged in off-task behavior. There were no statistically significant differences found with respect to staff members' time spent on housekeeping, in offering individuals recreational activities, and in taking rest.