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Issue 89

February 2009

Welcome to the 89th edition of Flash, our bi-weekly alert for science, health and medical journalists. Flash is a courtesy service with access to ScienceDirect, Elsevier’s online platform, providing full text access to some 2,000 scientific, technical and medical journals.

If you report a story, we would ask that you credit Elsevier’s journal as the source.

Please use your Flash login and password to access each article’s full text on ScienceDirect. For a new password, forgotten passwords or if you have any feedback, please contact Anna Hogrebe at newsroom@elsevier.com or at +31 20 485 3269.

ARTICLES

1. COLLEGE STUDENTS UNVEIL THEIR HABITS AND FASCINATIONS WITH FACEBOOK

In today’s era of social networking, being a college student and having a Facebook page is pretty much a given. Still, little is known about how much, why and how they use these sites.

To learn more about this growing trend, researchers detail their findings in Elsevier’s latest Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, focusing on 92 undergraduate students who completed a diary-like measure each day for a week to report their daily time use and how they engaged with the website. A follow-up survey was also presented and filled out.

Results indicated students use Facebook approximately 30 minutes a day, largely in the evening hours. Younger, more so than older students, used Facebook to keep in touch with friends not at their university. Keeping up with friends was the main reason for using the popular networking site, and more than 75 percent of students reported that none of their Facebook friendships originated online. Most students reported having a large number of friends – women averaging 401 friends and men 269. Offline, individuals typically report an average of 150 friends. In terms of communication style, students used a one-to-many style in which they were the creators disseminating content to their friends. Most also noted that they spend a large percentage of their time observing content on Facebook, also referenced as “lurking.” Finally, Facebook was shown to be a tool in which the students could present their identities – revealing details about their religion, political affiliation, work and media preferences (favourite books, music, movies, etc.).

Overall, the researchers say sites such as Facebook provide new avenues for young adults to express themselves and interact with one another. While friendships, romantic relationships and ideology remain key facets of adolescent development, it is only fitting in this digital age that individuals’ media preferences have emerged as playing an important role in students’ self expression.

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2. MATERNITY LEAVE IN NINTH MONTH OF PREGNANCY COULD BENEFIT MOTHER AND BABY

Nine months of pregnancy is hard work – in fact some might call it the labour before the labour. But for many women – more than 60 percent of first-time moms in the United States – they also hold down a job in the workforce during their pregnancy. Few take antenatal leave, defined as time off before delivery, despite their growing bumps and tired bodies. But for those women who do break away from their jobs in the final month of pregnancy, do they and their babies reap some health benefits?

In Elsevier’s Women’s Health Issues, researchers zeroed in on 447 full-time working women in California (eligible for the state’s antenatal leave benefit after 35 weeks of gestation) who had not yet delivered or taken leave as of 35 weeks and six days of gestation. Of the group, 62 elected to take some antenatal leave and the remaining 385 worked throughout their pregnancy. Telephone interviews were conducted on average four and half months after delivery for both groups to assess gestational age, birth weight and delivery by primary caesarean.

Results revealed leave-takers were similar to non-leave-takers on demographic and health characteristics, except that more clerical workers took leave. Compared with non-leave-takers, leave-takers had almost four times lower odds of caesarean delivery after adjusting for covariates. There were no significant differences in length of gestation or mean birth weight for the sample as a whole. But for the subgroup of women who had jobs where the effort exceeded the rewards (i.e. high strain jobs) leave-takers exhibited prolonged gestation.

This research, the authors say, should be considered as governments and companies consider their maternity leave policies. Taking leave late in pregnancy does show promise for reducing caesarean deliveries and prolonging gestation in occupationally strained women.

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3. CHILDREN AND THE INTERNET – DO THEY GET IT?

Reading, writing and maths are obviously hot subjects for children, but make way for the internet too. Not only is this tool a rich learning resource, but also a place for children to build social skills and learn how to protect themselves from lurking predators. Yes … the internet is here to stay, and now we must discover how our children stand in terms of understanding this complex system.

In Elsevier’s Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 105 adults and 681 nine- to 17-year olds were assessed for their understanding of the technical and social complexity of the internet, as well as how they develop this understanding. Information was captured on duration of internet use, frequency of use, whether or not informal courses have been taken, and if they understand the technical and social complexities.

Overall, the children and adolescents were found to have a limited understanding of the technical and social complexity of the internet, showing perception-bounded knowledge rather than conceptually correct understanding. The research also showed these children have limited resources to develop their understanding, relying predominantly on one domain-general source rather than on various developmental sources of good quality. As the Children Internet Protection Act is further implemented, these findings should help guide the individuals leading this legislation to better protect children on the internet. An internet safety programme should provide students with deep understanding of the Internet, thoughtful learning experience, and quality online experience. Children should also learn to understand the key differences between the internet and other channels such as personal computers, television and telephones. The internet is a virtual gigantic universe hidden behind a small computer screen, and it is particularly challenging for children to sense or imagine the invisible complex universe merely through daily interactions with a computer screen.

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1. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.010
2. doi:10.1016/j.whi.2008.07.007
3. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.10.012