Christia Spears Brown

As many people in the U.S. have navigated a tempestuous and brutal sociopolitical context over the last decade, we have seen a growing sense of urgency to address racism and anti-immigrant sentimen...

Although there is a rich literature on parents’ discussion of sexual behavior broadly, little is known regarding how parents communicate to adolescents about pornography and experiences of peer sexual harassment. This knowledge is particularly crucial as parental communication is an important part of adolescents’ sexual socialization. In the current study we sought to investigate adolescents’ perception of parental communication about pornography and sexual harassment, through a mixed methods approach. The current study consisted of recent high school graduates ( N = 247; 78.9% adolescent women, 17.4% adolescent men) currently in their first semester of college ( M_age = 19.16, Mode_age = 18). Results suggested that viewing pornography and experiencing sexual harassment was common. However, qualitative content analyses suggest that conversations with caregivers about these topics are not common. When these conversations did occur, the content often reflected heteronormative ideals and sexual double standards. Our findings suggest that parents’ messages may be perpetuating gender norms and stereotypes that minimize the harm of sexual violence (including harassment) as well as promote victim blaming and the sexual double standard. Therefore, parents may be a key target that violence prevention groups should consider focusing on when aiming to reduce harmful gender norms predictive of sexual harassment.

This cross‐sectional study explored the moderating role of self‐perceived same gender typicality in the relationship between risky technology use and disordered eating outcomes among adolescents. The sample consisted of early adolescents (N = 147; M_age = 14.54, SD_age = .57; 75 boys, 69 girls, and 3 missing) who completed a written survey at their public high school. Participants identified as 68% White, 14.3% mixed‐race/more than one race, 4.1% Black/African American, 4.8% Hispanic/Latinx, .7% Asian, 1.4% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and .7% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (eight missing). The study found that higher risky technology use was associated with higher eating disorder risk and behavior regardless of gender. Results also indicated that the relationship between risky technology use and disordered eating outcomes was the strongest among adolescents with low self‐perceived same gender typicality compared to peers. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents who feel less gender typical than their peers may be more vulnerable to the impact of technology on body‐related outcomes. Findings, limitations, and implications are discussed.

We investigated first‐and second‐generation Latine immigrant children's attributions for cultural and structural discrimination, and how this differed based on their own neighborhood composition. Participants were recruited from 19 elementary schools (N = 101 girls, 101 boys), and ranged in age from 8 to 12 years old (M = 9.22; SD = 11.98 months). All children were either first‐generation (40%) or second‐generation (60%) immigrants from Mexico, South America, and Central America. Mixed ANCOVAs analyzed how attributions of structural and cultural discrimination differed based on children's perceptions of ethnic residential composition. The findings indicated that elementary school‐aged Latine children, regardless of neighborhood composition, were aware of the biased cultural narrative that Latine immigrants are “criminals.” This seems to be the most salient form of cultural discrimination for children in middle childhood and echoes much of the political rhetoric around immigration reform. Children's own neighborhood composition predicted their understanding of residential segregation. Children who lived in predominantly White neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to White people's biases, whereas children who lived in predominantly Latine neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to Latine families’ economic disadvantage or both groups’ mutual preferences. These findings suggest that Latine children, by middle childhood, are aware of biased cultural narratives in the U.S., and their understanding of structural inequalities are related to the neighborhood context in which they live.

The sexual harassment of girls and women is a common occurrence that begins in early adolescence and continues into adulthood. Not only is experiencing sexual harassment common, but it is also widely accepted and tolerated. In the current article, we use the bioecological theory of sexual harassment of girls to explain why this may be. Specifically, we discuss that the perpetration and tolerance of sexual harassment is built on a foundation of gendered socialization, media consumption, peer interactions, and permissive school environments that encourages passivity and objectification in girls and aggressiveness and dominance in boys. We outline how this process begins in infancy and continues throughout development, ultimately fostering an environment in which the sexual harassment of girls and women flourishes. Important implications for preventing sexual harassment are also discussed.