Abstract

While a robust literature exists regarding substance use patterns among adolescent athletes, no studies have examined substance use among adolescent sexual minority athletes; a subpopulation of adolescents that may experience greater rates of substance use due to their marginalized status within the context of sport. This study uses data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2009–2013). Adolescents (N = 26,940) from four states were included in the analyses that assessed past 30-day cigarette use, alcohol use, binge drinking and marijuana use among sexual minority athletes, heterosexual athletes, heterosexual non-athletes, and sexual minority non-athletes. Approximately 4% of the sample included athletes who identified as a sexual minority (3.7% males and 5.3% females). While the bivariate analyses found that sexual minority athletes had higher past 30-day prevalence rates of substance use when compared to heterosexual athletes and non-athletes, these rates were similar to sexual minority non-athletes. Moreover, when demographic characteristics and history of substance use were included in the multivariate analytic models, many of these differences were no longer statistically significant. These results were generally consistent for both males and females. The results of the study suggest that the context of sport may not be an additional site for stress among adolescent athletes who identify as a sexual minority, and subsequently may have little impact on substance use behaviors. However, participating in sport may not serve as a protective context for adolescent sexual minorities given that substance use behaviors may be learned and reinforced.

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Over the past twenty years, the high penetration of mobile phones as a means of interpersonal communication, especially among adolescents, has facilitated access to broader social environments outside their own family. Through the extension of their social environment, teenagers are able to establish new and more extensive relationships, while facing risks that may negatively affect their socialization process. The aim of this article was to find out how computer-mediated communication helps or obstructs the creation of social capital between teenagers, and what are the consequences of its use for this age group. To achieve this, an index of social capital was developed in the study, designed to determine the positive or negative impact of certain components of mobile mediated communication in the creation of this intangible resource. Questionnaires were distributed among Spanish adolescents of secondary and high school age, from different public and private schools of Navarre. Furthermore, the study considered the adolescents’ own perceptions about the incidence of the use of mobile phones in their social relationships. As reflected in the results, to identify the components of mediated communication that significantly affect social capital it is necessary to conduct an objective measurement of this resource.

Abstract

Teenagers inhabit a virtual universe with their own model of entertainment, learning and communication. This research work defines the consumption, creation and diffusion patterns of online audiovisual contents young students of Guipúzcoa have acquired in the fields of leisure and complementary information resources for school use, attending to three different variables: gender, grade (age) and type of educational institution (public or private). The research methodology focuses on a self-administered questionnaire filled out by 2,426 adolescents of secondary school (12 to 16 years old). The sample consists of a random selection of 120 student groups, which are distributed in 60 schools and 30 groups each course. The results verify the existence of monolithic and opposed male/female patterns in the way young people consume, create and diffuse leisure contents. Video games are the central backbone of male consumption and creation, as long as girls prefer to take pictures and videos of themselves using smartphones and to share them on social networks. These practices repeat gender stereotypes, transforming the education in equality into a relevant issue. Finally, sources of information that are complementary to formal education, especially Wikipedia, are the main references among adolescents. Consequently, it seems essential to guarantee their solvency for appropriate knowledge acquisition.

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