Rena D. Harold

Change in Children's Competence Beliefs and Subjective Task Values Across the Elementary School Years: A 3-Year Study

The authors assessed change over 3 years in elementary school childrens competence beliefs and subjective task value in the domains of math, reading, instrumental music, and sports. The longitudinal sample consisted of approximately 615 mostly White, lower middle to middle-class children. Stability correlations indicated moderate to strong stability in childrens beliefs, especially older childrens competence beliefs. The relation of childrens ratings of their competence in each domain to estimates of their competence in those domains provided by both parents and teachers increased over the early elementary grades. Childrens competence beliefs and ratings of the usefulness and importance of each activity decreased over time. Childrens interest in reading and instrumental music decreased, but their interest in sports and math did not. Gender differences in childrens competence beliefs and subjective task values did not change over time.

Race, Gender, and Information Technology Use: The New Digital Divide

This research examined race and gender differences in the intensity and nature of IT use and whether IT use predicted academic performance. A sample of 515 children (172 African Americans and 343 Caucasian Americans), average age 12 years old, completed surveys as part of their participation in the Children and Technology Project. Findings indicated race and gender differences in the intensity of IT use; African American males were the least intense users of computers and the Internet, and African American females were the most intense users of the Internet. Males, regardless of race, were the most intense videogame players, and females, regardless of race, were the most intense cell phone users. IT use predicted childrens academic performance. Length of time using computers and the Internet was a positive predictor of academic performance, whereas amount of time spent playing videogames was a negative predictor. Implications of the findings for bringing IT to African American males and bringing African American males to IT are discussed.

Parents' and teachers' beliefs about adolescents: Effects of sex and experience

Three studies examine beliefs that parents and teachers have about adolescents. A distinction is made between category-based beliefs (concerning adolescents as a group) and target-based beliefs (concerning individual adoles cents). In Study 1, 90 late elementary and junior high school teachers indicated degree of agreement with a set of category-based statements about adolescents. Parents of early adolescents in Study 2 (N=1272) responded to category- and target-based statements. Study 3 compares the responses of teachers in Study 1 and parents in Study 2. Both teachers and parents endorsed beliefs that adolescence is difficult, and that adults can have an impact. Compared to fathers, mothers believed more in difficulty and in the negative effects of biological change on behavior. Parents of daughters believed adolescence is more difficult than parents of sons. Among teachers, amount of experience with adolescents was positively associated with the belief that adolescence is a difficult period of life. For parents, the effect of amount of experience was mixed. Experience had a greater impact on the category-based beliefs of teachers than parents. Possible influences on the origins and modification of beliefs are discussed.

Awareness of LGBT Aging Issues Among Aging Services Network Providers

Very little research exists examining the interactions between community-based aging service providers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. It is unclear whether mainstream aging services acknowledge the needs of this community. We asked direct care providers and administrators in the Michigan aging services network to describe their work with LGBT older adults. We found there are very few services specific to the needs of older LGBT adults and very little outreach to this community. At the agency level, resistance to providing services was found.

What Am I Best At? Grade and Gender Differences in Children's Beliefs about Ability Improvement

The authors assessed age and gender variations in childrens beliefs regarding the kinds of activities (academics, sports, music and arts) at which they thought they were best and worst. Children also reported the extent to which they thought they could improve their abilities in these different activities. The authors interviewed 865 first-, second-, and fourth-grade children individually. Children in all three grades were very optimistic that increased effort and better strategy use could improve their ability to perform different activities, particularly academic and sports activities. However, by fourth grade, an increasing number of children began to doubt whether they could improve enough to become best at their current worst activity. There were gender stereotypic differences in childrens beliefs about their abilities. The implications of these findings for teachers and parents and for childrens future activity choice are discussed.

Culture, gender and information technology use: A comparison of Chinese and US children

This research addressed four basic questions about culture, gender and information technology (IT) use. First, are there differences between Chinese and US children in their computer and Internet use? Second, are there differences between Chinese and US children in their use of other technologies, namely, videogames and cell phones? Third, does gender moderate the influence of culture on the use of computers, the Internet and other technologies? Fourth, are there differences among subcultural groups within cultures in their IT use? Using samples of 600 Chinese and 600 US children whose average age was 12 years old, findings indicated cultural and gender differences in technology use as well as interactions between the two. US children used computers and the Internet more than did Chinese children, with Chinese females being the least intense users. Males played videogames more than did females, with US males playing more than did Chinese males. US females lead all other groups in cell phone use, whereas Chinese females were least likely to use them. Racial and ethnic group differences indicate that diversity within cultural groups among subcultures must be considered in understanding childrens IT use. Implications of cultural, gender and subcultural group differences in technology use for equity in access to technology and educational interventions for children in the use of technology are discussed.

Self-concept, self-esteem, gender, race, and information technology use.

This research addressed two fundamental questions regarding self-concept, self-esteem, gender, race, and information technology use. First, is technology use related to dimensions of self-concept and/or to self-esteem? Second, are there gender and/or race differences in self-concept, self-esteem, and technology use? Five hundred youth, average age 12 years old, one third African American and two thirds Caucasian American, completed multidimensional measures of self-concept, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, and measures of frequency of Internet use, Internet use for communication (e-mail and instant messaging), video game playing, and cell phone use. Findings indicated that technology use predicted dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem, with video game playing having a negative influence and Internet use having a positive influence on self-concept dimensions. Gender differences were observed on several self-concept dimensions, but contrary to expectations, girls did not score higher than boys in social self-concept. Only one race difference was observed: African Americans had lower behavioral self-concept than did Caucasian Americans. Implications of the benefits and liabilities of youths current and projected technology use are discussed.

Cultural differences in morality in the real and virtual worlds: a comparison of Chinese and U.S. youth

In this research, we examined cultural differences in morality in the real and virtual worlds and the relationship between the two. Approximately 600 Chinese and 600 U.S. youth, average age 12 years old, completed surveys assessing their moral attitudes and behavior in the real world and the acceptability of a diverse set of morally questionable online behaviors. Findings indicated that (a) Chinese youth considered good moral character to be more important than did U.S. youth, whereas U.S. youth considered exceptions to moral behavior that advanced individual goals to be more acceptable than did Chinese youth; (b) Chinese females had the highest level of moral behavior, followed by U.S. females and then Chinese and U.S. males, who did not differ; (c) Chinese youth found morally questionable online behaviors to be more acceptable than did U.S. youth, with the exception of videogame violence, which U.S. youth, especially males, found more acceptable; (d) moral attitudes and behavior in the real world predicted the acceptability of morally questionable online behaviors, whereas the importance of good moral character and the extent of Internet and other technology use did not. The more accepting youth were of exceptions to moral behavior that advanced individual goals, and the less moral their behavior in the real world, the more acceptable they found morally questionable online behaviors. Cultural differences are explained in terms of differences in perceptions of cyberspace as a venue for expressing individual autonomy.

Information technology (IT) use and children's psychological well-being.

The relationship between four types of information technology use and eight dimensions of psychological well-being were examined in a sample of 500 African American and Anglo-American girls and boys. Both parent and child ratings of well-being were considered. Findings indicated that greater IT use, but especially greater videogame use, was associated with lower psychological well-being, with one exception: greater Internet use for purposes other than communication was associated with greater psychological well-being. Greater Internet use for communication was associated with more social problems in real life. Gender and race differences in psychological well-being and IT use suggest that African American males may be at risk for the adverse effects of IT use because their videogame playing equals that of Anglo-American males, but their Internet use is the least of all groups.

What Adolescents Can Tell Us: Technology and the Future of Social Work Education

The use and usefulness of Information Technology (IT) is rapidly growing around the world, especially among the youth. IT has been shown to impact learning styles, communication, and social relationships in many ways. Recently, significant discussion has arisen around the importance of IT in higher education and more specifically, social work education. This study qualitatively assesses 128 youth aged 13–14 years to understand their access to and use of IT as well as the way it impacts their psychosocial development to provide clues that will help inform the design of social work education for the future. Youth in four school districts reported unanimous access to computers and television and a majority of students used other technologies. Adolescents reported increased ease of communication and ability to get information as well as enhanced social relationships connected to their use of IT. Discussion and implications suggest that in the future, social work education will have to implement IT into its curriculum in order to attract students and provide the best possible learning environment for the next generation, which has included technology in every aspect of their lives.