Youth Culture in a Digital World
2024/2025
Utrecht University
Summary of all articles
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Index
Lecture 1 – Introduction...............................................................................4
Gentile, D. A., & Sesma, A. (2003). Developmental approaches to
understanding media effects on individuals. Media Violence and
Children, 19-37.........................................................................................4
Subrahmanyam, K., & Smahel, D. (2011) Digital youth: The role of media
in development (pp. 27-40). New York, NY: Springer. only chapter 4:
Identity pp. 59-77.....................................................................................6
Lecture 2 – Media effects...........................................................................10
Valkenburg, P.M. & Oliver, M. B. (2019). Media effects: An overview. In J.
Bryant, A. Raney, & M. B. Oliver. Media effects: Advances in Theory and
Research, 4th edition (pp. 16-35) New York: Routledge..........................10
Lecture 3 – Online Gaming Culture............................................................12
Pirrone, D., van den Eijnden, R. J., & Peeters, M. (2023).Why we can’t
stop: The impact of rewarding elements in videogames on adolescents’
problematic gaming behavior. Media Psychology, 1-22..........................12
Sirola, A., Savela, N., Savolainen, I., Kaakinen, M., & Oksanen, A. (2021).
The role of virtual communities in gambling and gaming behaviors: A
systematic review. Journal of Gambling Studies, 37(1), 165-187............15
Sawyer, S. (2020). Oh me, oh my! Identity development through video
games. Video Games and Well-being: Press Start...................................19
Lecture 4 – Misinformation.........................................................................20
Altay, S., Berriche, M., Heuer, H., Farkas, J., & Rathje, S. (2023). A survey
of expert views on misinformation: Definitions, determinants, solutions,
and future of the field. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review,
4(4), 1-34................................................................................................20
Tay, L. Q., Lewandowsky, S., Hurlstone, M. J., Kurz, T., & Ecker, U. K.
(2024). Thinking clearly about misinformation. Communications
Psychology, 2(1), 4.................................................................................23
Breakstone, J., Smith, M., Wineburg, S., Rapaport, A., Carle, J., Garland,
M., & Saavedra, A. (2021). Students’ civic online reasoning: A national
portrait. Educational researcher, 50(8), 505- 515...................................25
Lecture 5 – Parenting.................................................................................26
Geurts, S., Koning, I.M., Van den Eijnden, R.J.J.M., Vossen, H.G.M. (2023).
Predicting Adolescents’ Problematic Social Media Use From Profiles of
Internet -Specific Parenting Practices and General Parenting Dimensions.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(9), 1829- 1843. DOI:
10.1007/s10964-023-01816-4................................................................26
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Vossen, H., Van den Eijnden, R., Visser, I., Koning, I.M. (2024). Parenting
and problematic social media use: a systematic review. Current
Addiction Reports....................................................................................30
Lecture 6 – Mental Health..........................................................................33
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Sheppes, G., Costello, C. K., Jonides, J., & Ybarra,
O. (2021). Social media and well-being: Pitfalls, progress, and next steps.
Trends in cognitive sciences, 25(1), 55-66..............................................33
Valkenburg, P. M., Meier, A., & Beyens, I. (2022). Social media use and its
impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the
evidence. Current opinion in Psychology, 44, 58-68...............................35
Lecture 7 – Substance Use.........................................................................37
Savolainen, I., Oksanen, A., Kaakinen, M., Sirola, A., Miller, B. L., Paek, H.
J., & Zych, I. (2020). The association between social media use and
hazardous alcohol use among youths: A fourcountry study. Alcohol and
alcoholism, 55(1), 86-95.........................................................................37
Kurten, S., Vanherle, R., Beullens, K., Gebhardt, W. A., van den Putte, B.,
& Hendriks, H. (2022). Like to drink: Dynamics of liking alcohol posts and
effects on alcohol use. Computers in Human Behavior, 129, 107145.. . .40
Lecture 8 – Policy.......................................................................................43
Grgurina, N., Tolboom, J. (2025). K-8 Digital Literacy Curriculum in the
Netherlands. In: Pluhár, Z., Gaál, B. (eds) Informatics in Schools.
Innovative Approaches to Computer Science Teaching and Learning.
ISSEP 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15228. Springer,
Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73474-8_3.............................43
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Lecture 1 – Introduction
Gentile, D. A., & Sesma, A. (2003). Developmental approaches to
understanding media effects on individuals. Media Violence and Children,
19-37.
Seven myths about media effects
Myth 1 – media effects are simple and direct
Media effects are mostly cumulative and subtle. These effects usually happen at a level where
we are not consciously aware of them. Example: advertisements. Are presented as
entertainment, can sway one’s opinion after watching the add as little as 2/3 times.
Myth 2 – the effects of media violence are severe
People assume it is severe (examples of children killing each other), but most effects are not
severe (verbal abuse, aggression, physical conflict leading to injury etc.). Also, positive and
negative emotional and physiological reactions to violent media are media effects.
We may be missing opportunities to see the more typical effects of media, when we expect
those effects to be atrocities.
Myth 3 – media effects are obvious
We expect direct and obvious links between media and violence, and when it is not clear, we
assume there is no media influence on behaviour. But media effects are subtle and cumulative,
thus cause effect relationship can still be significant, even if it is not obvious.
Myth 4 – violent media affect everyone in the same way
Multiple effects have been found of watching a lot of violent media:
1. Aggressor effect: people tend to become meaner, more aggressive and violent
2. Victim effect: people become more scared of the world and initiate self-protective
behaviours (like carrying a gun)
3. Bystander effect: people become desensitized, more callous and less sympathetic to
victims of violence
4. Appetite effect: people want to watch more violent media
People can be affected in many ways. Family, societal norms and communities are also part of
how violent media effects people.
Myth 5 – Causality means ‘necessary and sufficient’
Just because media violence was maybe not necessary or sufficient in causing aggression in
violence (meaning, violence have existed for ages, why does media now affect behaviour so
much?), does not mean that watching violent media can not instigate violence. Many
behaviours are multicausal, thus watching violent media can be one of the many causes, but it
is still a cause.
