No abstract

Many new and important developmental issues are encountered during adolescence, which is also a time when Internet use becomes increasingly popular. Studies have shown that adolescents are using these online spaces to address developmental issues, especially needs for intimacy and connection to others. Online communication with its potential for interacting with unknown others, may put teens at increased risk. Two hundred and fifty-one high school students completed an in-person survey, and 126 of these completed an additional online questionnaire about how and why they use the Internet, their activities on social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace) and their reasons for participation, and how they perceive these online spaces to impact their friendships. To examine the extent of overlap between online and offline friends, participants were asked to list the names of their top interaction partners offline and online (Facebook and instant messaging). Results reveal that adolescents mainly use social networking sites to connect with others, in particular with people known from offline contexts. While adolescents report little monitoring by their parents, there was no evidence that teens are putting themselves at risk by interacting with unknown others. Instead, adolescents seem to use the Internet, especially social networking sites, to connect with known others. While the study found moderate overlap between teens' closest online and offline friends, the patterns suggest that adolescents use online contexts to strengthen offline relationships.

We explored adolescents' (12- to 18-year-olds; n = 51) awareness of their audience and subsequent self-presentation practices on Facebook and Instagram through focus group discussions. Findings suggest that teens, who are developmentally able to perceive a situation from the third-person perspective and who value peer approval, purposefully share content to appear interesting, well liked, and attractive. Some teens invested great effort into posting by these norms, even asking their friends to help; however, this was more common among girls. Older teens especially discussed taking the perspective of their audience when deciding what to post, which is consistent with the finding that perspective taking continues to develop throughout adolescence. These findings suggest that perspective taking skills and need for peer approval influence self-presentation online.

There is growing recognition of the need by funding agencies, universities, and research units for interdisciplinary research to tackle complex societal problems that cannot be adequately addressed by single disciplines alone. Interdisciplinary collaboration capitalizes on a diversity of perspectives and practices that each discipline offers in hopes of providing innovative solutions to multifaceted problems. However, for interdisciplinary work to be effective, members of the collaboration must recognize that cultural differences exist between and within disciplines. This paper conceptualizes disciplines as cultural groups and advocates for culturally competent practices to facilitate interdisciplinary research and practice. Specifically, each participant in interdisciplinary collaborations must value diversity, develop the capacity for self-assessment, work towards understanding one's own disciplinary culture, and be sensitive to the dynamics inherent when cultures interact. Additionally, members of any interdisciplinary endeavor must be cognizant of power dynamics at play and avoid such things as tokenism, informal hierarchies, and disciplinary policing. Through awareness of one's own disciplinary culture and sensitivity to others, interdisciplinary research and practice may provide creative solutions to important problems.

Maternal knowledge of child development has been shown to affect how mothers raise their children and the environments they provide. This study examines maternal knowledge of child development and whether level of knowledge varies by content area. Additionally, this study explored maternal characteristics that predict knowledge levels globally and by content area. Low-income women (N = 203) in the waiting room of an obstetric clinic (n = 97) and pediatric clinic (n = 106) in a southern state were asked to complete questionnaires on typical child development and demographic characteristics. Overall, women correctly answered 65% of the criterion-referenced knowledge questions. Mothers lacked the most knowledge about infant sleep patterns and developmental ability of 6-month-old infants. Maternal education, race, number of children, and assistance with childcare were significantly related to maternal knowledge. Identifying gaps in maternal knowledge and characteristics that correspond to knowledge deficits provides insight into how best to tailor educational interventions for mothers. ©2005 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.