Adolescence: Work, Leisure, Media, and Peer Relationships

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering adolescent work, leisure time, screen and social media, youth development models, and peer group structures.

Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

A research method of collecting data about adolescents' emotional states, in which individuals are signaled at random intervals and asked to report on their mood and activity.

Routine Activity Theory

A perspective on adolescence viewing unstructured, unsupervised time with peers as a primary cause of misbehaviour, delinquency, and substance use.

Positive Youth Development

The goal and framework of youth programs designed to facilitate healthy psychosocial development and build strengths rather than solely deterring problem behaviour.

Five Cs of Positive Youth Development

A model of adolescent development emphasizing five core psychological strengths: Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring/Compassion.

Competence

A positive view of one's actions in domain-specific areas, including social, academic, cognitive, and vocational skills.

Confidence

An internal sense of overall positive self-worth and self-efficacy representing an individual's global self-regard.

Connection

Positive bonds with people and institutions reflected in bidirectional exchanges between the individual and peers, family, school, and community.

Character

Respect for societal and cultural rules, possession of standards for correct behaviours, integrity, and a sense of right and wrong (morality).

Caring/Compassion

A developmental asset characterized by a sense of sympathy and empathy for others.

EPOCH Model

A positive youth development model that stresses five key psychological factors: Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness.

Screen Media

Any form of digital media that is viewed on a display screen, such as a smartphone, tablet, computer, or television.

Cultivation Theory

A perspective on media use that emphasizes the impact direct media exposure has on shaping individuals' attitudes, worldviews, and behaviours.

Uses and Gratifications Approach

A perspective on media use that emphasizes the active role consumers play in deliberately choosing and selecting the media to which they are exposed.

Media Practice Model

A perspective on media use emphasizing that adolescents not only choose which media they are exposed to but also interpret that media in ways that shape its impact.

Correlation

The extent to which two variables vary systematically in relation to each other.

Causation

A relationship in which a correlation between two variables is directly attributable to the effect that one variable has on the other.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

An excessive worry that other people are having rewarding experiences from which an individual is excluded.

Social Media Addiction

A problematic behavioural pattern defined by six diagnostic symptoms: salience, mood change, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse and reinstatement.

Cyberbullying

Intentional, repeated harm inflicted through digital technologies, typically occurring within peer groups rather than anonymously.

Sexting

The digital exchange—either consensual or non-consensual—of sexually explicit text messages, photos, or video recordings.

Cyberdating Violence (CDV)

Abusive behaviours in adolescent romantic relationships via digital technology, including sexual coercion, harassment, and monitoring or controlling a partner's online activities.

Self-Care Children

Adolescents or children who care for themselves without adult supervision during after-school hours.

Cliques

Small, friendship-based peer groups that provide the primary setting for social interaction, typically evolving from same-gender to mixed-gender during adolescence.

Crowds

Large, reputation-based or stereotype-based adolescent groups that serve as reference groups and become less rigid and less influential by late adolescence.

Sociometric Popularity

A dimension of popularity defined by how well-liked an adolescent is by their peers, typically associated with positive social competence.

Perceived Popularity

A dimension of popularity defined by status, prestige, and visibility in the peer group, which can coexist with aggressive behaviours.

Relational Aggression

Non-physical behaviours intended to harm others by manipulating social standing or interpersonal relationships (such as exclusion or gossip), which can coexist with perceived popularity.

Postfigurative Culture

A culture where socialization is primarily adult-led, with knowledge, norms, and traditions transmitted from older generations to younger generations.

Configurative/Prefigurative Culture

A culture in which socialization has shifted toward significant peer influence, and younger generations may teach or socialise older generations due to rapid change.