For Immediate Release March 27, 2012 Contact: Kathleen Hall Jamieson (info@flackcheck.org) Jamieson is Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, home of FlackCheck.org, a site whose “They said WHAT?” page flags extreme rhetoric of both the left and right and includes a video illustrating these findings. Background: When the
Research Findings
Annenberg Research Helps Explain Early Sexual Initiation in Adolescents
Findings point to lack of self-control but not sensation seeking Cognitive training could reduce the risk FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 6 March 2012 CONTACT: Dan Romer, 215-898-6776 (office); 610-202-7315 (cell) In a study published in Developmental Psychology, researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have identified two components
Dan Romer Testifies at House Subcommittee Hearing on Internet Gaming
On Tuesday the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trades met to discuss the need for regulation to protect consumers from the risks associated with online gambling. Dan Romer, director of APPC’s Adolescent Communication Institution, shared research findings from the National Annenberg Survey of Youth on the adverse effects of gambling on
APPC’s Jessica Taylor Piotrowski and Shonna Kydd present research at annual meeting of The Obesity Society
APPC Research Associate Jessica Taylor Piotrowski and Research Coordinator Shonna Kydd gave a poster presentation, “Developing Media Interventions to Reduce Household Sugar-sweetened Beverage Consumption,” at the 29th annual scientific meeting of The Obesity Society in October. Authors of the work are Amy B. Jordan, Michael Hennessy, Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, Amy Bleakley, and Shonna Kydd of
112th at Risk of Spike in Incivility, 5th Annenberg ’Civility in Congress’ Report Warns
The Annenberg Public Policy Center has updated the work that it produced for the 1997, 1999, and 2001 House Bipartisan Retreats. The new report’s analysis of the taking down processes from 1935-2011 identifies five parallels between the 112th and earlier “combustible” Congresses: The 112th is a turnover Congress. Incivility increased in the first sessions
New Annenberg Survey Asks: “How Well Do Americans Understand the Constitution?”
At a press conference at the National Constitution Center on Friday, September 16, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor will release an Annenberg Public Policy Center sponsored report titled “The Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools,” recommending actions that the federal, state, and local governments, as well as families
Participating in Online Web Discussions Associated With Rise in Suicidal Risk in Young People, APPC Study Finds
A 24-year-old told readers of Reddit (www.reddit.com/r/suicidewatch) of his intention to end his life, a forecast that proved accurate (see http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/31/reddit-suicide-how-the-internet-can-help-and-hurt.html). A log of the comments posted to him between the time of his announcement and his death revealed that although many offered help, some openly encouraged him to go through with the act.
Popular PG-13 Movies Increasingly Portray Suicidal Behavior; No Difference in Highly Explicit Suicide Between R- AND PG-13-Rated Films
Annenberg Public Policy Center research analyzing 855 top box- office films from 1950 to 2006 shows that the portrayal of explicit and graphic suicide has tripled over that time. It also found no difference in the most explicit portrayals in films rated PG-13 versus those rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
Former APPC Postdoctoral Fellow published in the Journal of Family Issues
Former APPC Postdoctoral Fellow Cortney Evans, Ph.D., is the lead author of a forthcoming article, “Only Two Hours? A Qualitative Study of the Challenges Parents Perceive in Restricting Child Television Time,” which will appear in the Journal of Family Issues (September 2011). Dr. Evans’ co-authors are APPC Media and Developing Child Area Director Amy Jordan,
APPC Adolescent Health Communication Scholars Published in Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology
APPC Senior Research Analyst Michael Hennessy, Ph.D., and Adolescent Communication Institute Director Dan Romer, Ph.D., were among the authors of a paper, “Multiple Method Contraception Use Among African American Adolescents in Four US Cities,” published in the journal Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2011). Their research is part of a project designed to test