“I Am So Bored!”: Prevalence Rates and Sociodemographic and Contextual Correlates of High Boredom Among American Adolescents

Adolescent boredom is associated with maladaptation and negative developmental outcomes, yet little is known about the prevalence and correlates of high boredom. Drawing from a broad psychosocial framework, the present study examined rates of high boredom and sociodemographic and contextual correlates among nationally representative samples of 8th and 10th graders ( N = 21,173; 51.8% female) from the Monitoring the Future survey. Results indicate that approximately 20% of adolescents reported high levels of boredom. Those who were more likely to report high boredom were eighth graders; females; youth who identified as Black, Biracial, or Native American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; rural youth; and youth of lower socioeconomic status. Results of multivariable logistic regression analyses show significant associations between high boredom and many elements of school, parent, peer, and extracurricular contexts, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Findings highlight the pervasiveness of high boredom among American youth and may benefit prevention and intervention efforts by identifying multiple contextual associations with adolescent boredom.

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Why Do the Nation's Students Use Drugs and Alcohol? Self-Reported Reasons from Nine National Surveys

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204268601600103 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 29-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 118

Author(s):

Lloyd D. Johnston ◽

Patrick M. O'Malley

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

School Students ◽

Drugs And Alcohol ◽

Limited Degree ◽

Monitoring The Future ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Reasons For Use ◽

Modest Degree ◽

Representative Samples

The reasons that high school students give for their use of each of nine classes of licit and illicit substances are examined cross sectionally and over time. The data derive from the Monitoring the Future project, which involves annual surveys of large, nationally representative samples of American high school seniors. Reasons for use are found to vary substantially by drug, and also by degree of involvement with the drug; but reasons vary only to a rather limited degree by sex. An analysis of trends between 1976 and 1984 shows only a modest degree of change in the reasons given for using the various substances, despite the fact that prevalence rates for some drugs have changed substantially. Among the most commonly mentioned reasons for substance use are experimentation, social/recreational reasons, and relaxation.

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The Effects of Retirement on Sense of Purpose in Life: Crisis or Opportunity?

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/09567976211024248 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095679762110242

Author(s):

Ayse Yemiscigil ◽

Nattavudh Powdthavee ◽

Ashley V. Whillans

Keyword(s):

Purpose In Life ◽

The United States ◽

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽

Lower Socioeconomic Status ◽

Instrumental Variable Analysis ◽

Sense Of Purpose ◽

Existential Crisis ◽

Retirement Incentives ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Nationally Representative

Does retirement lead to an existential crisis or present an opportunity to experience a renewed sense of purpose in life? Prior research has documented a negative association between retirement and sense of purpose in life, suggesting that retirement could lead people to feel aimless and lost. We revisited these findings using a quasiexperimental approach and identified the causal impact of retirement on purpose in life. In a nationally representative panel of American adults ( N = 8,113), we applied an instrumental-variable analysis to assess how Social Security retirement incentives in the United States drove differences in the likelihood of retirement. Results showed a sizable increase in purpose in life as an outcome of retirement. These improvements were driven by individuals with lower socioeconomic status who retired from dissatisfying jobs. The findings suggest that retirement may provide an opportunity to experience a renewed sense of purpose, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

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The thick skin bias in judgments about people in poverty

Behavioural Public Policy ◽

10.1017/bpp.2020.33 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-26

Author(s):

NATHAN N. CHEEK ◽

ELDAR SHAFIR

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Life Events ◽

Representative Sample ◽

Lower Socioeconomic Status ◽

Negative Experiences ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Wide Range ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Thick Skin ◽

People’S Perceptions

Abstract We present a series of studies documenting what we call a ‘thick skin bias’ in people's perceptions of those living in poverty. Across a wide range of life events, from major to minor, people of lower socioeconomic status (SES) are systematically perceived as being less harmed by negative experiences than higher-SES people, even when this is patently false. In 18 studies, including a pre-registered survey of a nationally representative sample, we find that laypeople and professionals show the thick skin bias. We distinguish the bias from a tendency to dehumanize those in poverty and argue it cannot be attributed to the belief that the mere expectation that bad things will happen buffers people in poverty from suffering. The thick skin bias has potentially profound implications for the institutional and interpersonal neglect of those most in need of greater care and resources.

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Psychiatric symptoms and behavioral adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from two population-representative cohorts

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-021-01279-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wai Kai Hou ◽

Tatia Mei-chun Lee ◽

Li Liang ◽

Tsz Wai Li ◽

Huinan Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

The Novel ◽

Lower Socioeconomic Status ◽

Daily Routines ◽

Random Digit Dialing ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

High Incidence ◽

Psychiatric Conditions ◽

Representative Samples

AbstractThis study examined prevalences of anxiety and depression and their correlations with daily routines among Hong Kong Chinese during the COVID-19 pandemic. Random digit dialing recruited two population-representative samples of 6029 residents during a period of low infection and limited intervention (survey 1: n = 4021) and high incidence and intensive measures (survey 2: n = 2008). Prevalence of anxiety for survey 1 and survey 2 were 14.9% and 14% and depression were 19.6% and 15.3%, respectively. Increased odds of anxiety and depression were associated with disrupted routines and lower socioeconomic status in both surveys, whereas depression was inversely related to the novel preventive routine of avoiding going to crowded places in survey 1. The prevalences of anxiety and depression were higher than preceding public health/social crises. A heavier burden of psychiatric conditions was evidenced amongst people experiencing disrupted daily routines across different phases of the pandemic and without novel preventive routines in the early phase.

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Which Substance and What Community? Differences in Juvenile Disposition Severity

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128705277034 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 548-572 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath ◽

Duane C. McBride ◽

Erin Ruel ◽

Eileen M. Harwood ◽

Curtis J. Vanderwaal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Exploratory Study ◽

National Sample ◽

Community Context ◽

Specific Drug ◽

Community Characteristics ◽

Case Load ◽

Survey Results ◽

Monitoring The Future ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Drug And Alcohol

There is a need in the literature for research describing disposition severity differences between specific drug and alcohol law violations within the context of community characteristics. We conducted an exploratory study of prosecutor-reported juvenile disposition severity by both specific drug charge and community context using a national sample of prosecutors from communities surrounding schools participating in the nationally representative Monitoring the Future survey. Results indicated (a) strong within- and between-substance disposition severity variance as well as (b) evidence for differential effects of both prosecutor case load and community characteristics, including community income, ethnicity, and region.

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Survey Bias on the Front Porch

American Politics Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1532673x99027004005 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 468-487 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

DAVID L. LEAL ◽

FREDERICK M. HESS

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Political Information ◽

Human Interaction ◽

Lower Socioeconomic Status ◽

Face To Face ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Survey Bias ◽

Unbiased Manner ◽

Survey Results ◽

And Gender

We examine whether survey interviewers are biased in their views of certain classes of respondents, thereby introducing unobserved bias into survey results. There has been a great deal of previous research on how racial and gender dynamics affect the responses given by respondents during face-to-face surveys. In this article, we turn this issue around and ask whether human interaction affects how the interviewer views the respondents, and if so, how this may systematically bias surveys. If interviewers are biased, this may impede their ability to conduct interviews in a consistent, nonjudgmental, and unbiased manner. Using three surveys that required the interviewer to evaluate how informed and intelligent the respondents appeared, we found that interviewers were more likely to evaluate respondents of lower socioeconomic status as less informed and less intelligent, even after controlling for objective levels of political information. There is also evidence that Blacks may be negatively evaluated.

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Examining the Correlates of Aggression Among Male and Female Vietnam Veterans

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.24.5.639 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (5) ◽

pp. 639-652 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Casey T. Taft ◽

Candice M. Monson ◽

Claire L. Hebenstreit ◽

Daniel W. King ◽

Lynda A. King

Keyword(s):

Vietnam Veterans ◽

Major Depressive Episode ◽

Perceived Threat ◽

Minority Status ◽

Lower Socioeconomic Status ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Male And Female ◽

War Zone ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Nationally Representative

This study examined the correlates of general aggression among a nationally representative sample of male and female Vietnam veterans (N = 1,632). Findings indicated that the rates of aggression for men and women were 41% and 32%, respectively, and men appeared to perpetrate relatively more acts of severe aggression. Correlates of aggression for men included lower socioeconomic status and age, minority status, unemployment, degree of exposure to the malevolent war-zone environment and perceived threat in the war zone, posttraumatic stress disorder, antisocial personality disorder, major depressive episode, alcohol abuse/dependence, and drug abuse/dependence. For women, only lower age and unemployment were associated with aggression. Findings highlight the importance of developing models for aggression among those experiencing military deployments.

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