ESM-Q: A consensus-based quality assessment tool for experience sampling method items

The experience sampling method (ESM) is increasingly used by researchers from various disciplines to answer novel questions about individuals’ daily lives. Measurement best practices have long been overlooked in ESM research, and recent reviews show that item quality is often not reported in ESM studies. The absence of information about item quality may be partly explained by the lack of consensus on how ESM item quality should be evaluated. As part of the ESM Item Repository project (esmitemrepository.com)—an international open science initiative that collects ESM items in an open item bank and evaluates their quality—we brought together 42 international ESM experts to develop an ESM item quality assessment tool. In four Delphi phases, experts suggested 57 item quality criteria, rated the criteria, provided arguments for and against the criteria, and rated the criteria again, considering reflections from other experts. The result of the Delphi process is ESM-Q: a quality assessment tool consisting of 10 core criteria, as well as an additional 15 supplementary criteria, to be used depending on the type of items being rated and the availability of supplementary information. The criteria cover topics ranging from construct validity to the optimal wording of items. ESM-Q can aid ESM researchers in selecting existing ESM items, developing new high-quality ESM items, and evaluating the quality of ESM items in systematic reviews. Expert reflections also highlight open research questions surrounding ESM item design that form a research agenda for ESM measurement

Mapping Developmental Precursors of Cyber-Aggression: Trajectories of Risk Predict Perpetration and Victimization

Technologically mediated contexts are social arenas in which adolescents can be both perpetrators and victims of aggression. Yet, there remains little understanding of the developmental etiology of cyber aggression, itself, as experienced by either perpetrators or victims. The current study examines 3-year latent within-person trajectories of known correlates of cyber-aggression: problem behavior, (low) self-esteem, and depressed mood, in a large and diverse sample of youth (N = 1,364; 54.6 % female; 12–14 years old at T1). Findings demonstrate that developmental increases in problem behavior across grades 8–10 predict both cyber-perpetration and victimization in grade 11. Developmental decreases in self-esteem also predicted both grade 11 perpetration and victimization. Finally, early depressed mood predicted both perpetration and victimization later on, regardless of developmental change in depressed mood in the interim. Our results reveal a clear link between risky developmental trajectories across the early high school years and later cyber-aggression and imply that mitigating trajectories of risk early on may lead to decreases in cyber-aggression at a later date

Adolescents’ Online Coping: When Less Is More but None Is Worse

Mobile technologies are omnipresent across adolescent life and require better characterization of their potential benefits. Adolescents also experience high rates of daily stress so that investigating youths’ technology use in relation to their stress response is of practical importance. We employed experience sampling data from a subset of 115 youths (n = 1,241 time points) who reported on their technology-based coping and assessed how these related to emotion change throughout the day and controlled for important covariates. Models testing for the benefits of moderate use (relative to no or heavy use; i.e., Goldilocks effect) showed a clear pattern of positive effects of moderate coping online, particularly in relation to support seeking and self-distraction. Moderate online coping was adaptive and often fostered declines in negative emotion.Full Tex

Mexican-Origin Youth Participation in Extracurricular Activities: Predicting Trajectories of Involvement from 7th to 12th Grade

The potential benefits of participation in extracurricular activities may be especially important for youth who are at risk for academic underachievement, such as low income Mexican-origin youth in the U.S. To advance understanding of factors that drive participation for this population, this study examined Mexican-origin youth’s trajectories of participation in extracurricular activities across Grades 7–12 and tested theoretically-derived predictors of these trajectories. Participants were 178 adolescents (53.9 % Female, Mage = 12.28) and their mothers who separately completed in-home interviews. Youth reported the frequency of their participation across a range of extracurricular activities. Latent growth curve models of overall extracurricular activities participation, sports participation, and fine arts participation were individually estimated via structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrated developmental declines in overall participation and in sports participation. For fine arts, declines in participation in middle school were followed by subsequent increases during high school (a curvilinear pattern). Motivationally-salient predictors of participation trajectories included youth’s traditional cultural values orientation (sports), the mothers’ educational aspirations for the youth (sports, fine arts, overall activity), and youth gender (sports, fine arts). Overall, the results suggest variability in participation trajectories based on program type, and highlight the need for additional research to enhance our understanding of the impact of culturally-relevant predictors on participation over time.No Full Tex

Participation in Organized Activities Protects Against Adolescents’ Risky Substance Use, Even Beyond Development in Conscientiousness

Adolescents are at a significant risk for binge drinking and illicit drug use. One way to protect against these behaviors is through participation in extracurricular activities. However, there is a debate about whether highly conscientious adolescents are more likely to participate in activities, which raises the concern of a confound. To disentangle these relationships, we tested the latent trajectories of substance use and personality across 3 years, with participation in activities and sports as time-varying predictors. We surveyed 687 adolescents (55 % female, 85.4 % Caucasian) in Western Australia schools across 3 years. At Time 1, the students were in Year 10 1 (mean age 15 years). The results showed that participation in activities and conscientiousness are related, but each uniquely predicts slower growth in substance use. Across waves, participation in activities predicted less risky substance use a year later, over and above conscientiousness development. These results suggest that there may be unique benefits of participation in activities that protect against risky substance use.Griffith Health, Behavioural Basis of HealthNo Full Tex