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A national mail survey of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 ( n = 876) was conducted immediately before the U.S. presidential election (October 2012) to investigate socialization agents that may correlate with political and civic engagement. The relative importance of potential correlates of engagement including demographics, parents, peers, schools, religion, traditional media, social networks, and digital communication were evaluated. Regression analysis revealed that civically engaged youth identify with a religion, participate in civic education activities at school and extracurricular activities, take action (e.g., boycotting or buycotting), develop attitudes about citizenship, and engage in online/social media political activities. Politically engaged youth come from higher income households, discuss news and politics, take action, and are very prone to engage in online/social media political activities. While a wider range of activities appear to be related to civic engagement, those who are politically engaged appear to have a strong interest in online media usage. Implications are discussed.

In 2005, after criticism of the U.S. food industry for advertising's role in childhood obesity, national advertisers announced new policies to reduce children's exposure to ads for unhealthy foods. However, limits on these policies suggested that the food advertisements viewed by children would not change significantly. Content analysis was conducted on television food advertisements aired just before and one year after these announcements. The advertisements were coded for product type, persuasive appeals, and production techniques. The results suggest few changes in food advertising seen by children.