Go Get Some Sleep!

 By: Hunter Doiron

    I will be the first to admit that I struggle sleeping when I should. Research from Rusnac et al. (2019) looked at the voluntary and involuntary origins of sleep loss for adolescents as it relates to risky behavior. They clarify the risky behaviors they are interested in are drinking and reckless driving because of their prevalence and severity (Rusnac et al., 2019). Surveying 536 late adolescent university students ages 19-25, they found those with voluntary sleep loss reported a higher quantity of drinking and riskier driving (Rusnac et al., 2019). They see personality and the sleep loss itself contributing to this higher risk taking, so there is a way for you and me to steer away from risky behavior; just get more sleep!

References

Rusnac, N., Spitzenstetter, F., & Tassi, P. (2019). Chronic sleep loss and risk-taking behavior:

Does the origin of sleep loss matter? Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 17(6), 729–739. https://doi-org.ezproxy.franu.edu/10.1080/15402002.2018.1483368

For Image:

Steinberg, Laurence D. Adolescence. McGraw-Hill Education, 2020.

Social Media Use in the Time of COVID-19

 By Taylor Decuir 

Building Social and Emotional Skills via Music and Visual Art

By: Catherine Blanchard

    Behavioral problems happen in adolescence, but helping adolescents build social and emotional skills has been found to improve their ability to cope with their situations. In a recent study, researchers found that employing music and visual arts aided in student’s acquisition of those skills like “identifying and controlling emotions, creating and completing goals...” (Mogro-Wilson et al., 2020) etc. This quasi-experimentally designed study observed students in two urban high schools where one school was given the resources to teach the curriculum. Their research found that the program did aid students in building social and emotional skills. So, the next time you think about helping others build social and emotional skills, consider employing music and visual arts to aid in your presentation. 

Mogro-Wilson, C., & Tredinnick, L. (2020). Influencing Social and Emotional Awareness and Empathy with a Visual Arts and Music Intervention for Adolescents. Children & Schools, 42(2), 111–119. https://doi-org.ezproxy.franu.edu/10.1093/cs/cdaa008