A new study by Sonya Negriff, a research assistant professor with the USC School of Social Work, will explore how online social technology such as Facebook influences the development of risk behaviors among maltreated youth.

Funded by a five-year, $667,852 career development grant from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Negriff will examine potential links between online social networks and risky activities by adolescents who have been maltreated.

“I’m particularly interested in interactions about risk behaviors, such as wall posts about alcohol use, partying, advocating for risky sexual behavior, and how they affect older adolescents,” she said.

Negriff will combine information gleaned from Facebook with data from an ongoing study by Professor Penelope Trickett on the relationship between child maltreatment and substance abuse.

One component of the study will focus on how the Internet can serve as a source of positive social support for maltreated adolescents who might struggle to form interpersonal relationships in face-to-face interactions.

“The Internet is a good way for them to have interactions that might be positive and supportive,” Negriff said. “At the same time, there is no information about how they could be affected by friends who are advocating risk behaviors.”

A second component will incorporate pubertal development. Early maturation has been associated with susceptibility to peer influence related to risk behaviors such as substance use, and Negriff is interested in exploring whether the characteristics of online social networks enhance that vulnerability and interact with early childhood adversities such as maltreatment.

Negriff earned a doctorate in psychology from USC in 2007 and has focused her research career on biopsychosocial models of adolescent development.

As her current study will delve into adolescent use of social media and social network analysis, she will work closely with mentors such as Trickett, an expert in child development, and Assistant Professor Eric Rice whose expertise is in social network theory and methodology.

“Given the proliferation of social media, it is critically important to understand how these online social networks and the personas these adolescents adopt online might impact their risk behaviors,” she said.

In addition to expanding Trickett’s longitudinal study and increasing knowledge on the long-term effects of child maltreatment, findings from Negriff’s study could be used to develop interventions that support positive aspects of online interaction on sites such as Facebook and reduce negative effects. Negriff hopes it will also expand understanding of the mechanisms that transmit risk behaviors via online interactions and highlight adolescents who may be particularly vulnerable.