Recent Research Articles
Meldrum, Ryan C., Partin, Raymond D., Lehmann, Peter S., and Salpi S. Kevorkian. 2025. Crying out in the dark? Exploring the mental health vulnerabilities of dark web users. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 28, 794-800.
Despite the emergence of the dark web more than 20 years ago, little scholarly attention has focused on identifying potential mental health differences between dark web users and surface web users. Yet, given the pseudo-anonymous nature of the dark web and the purported privacy it provides, individuals with mental health vulnerabilities may be inclined to use the dark web. In the present study, we investigate this matter by drawing on survey data collected in 2024 from a national sample of 2,000 U.S. adults. The results of both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that dark web users exhibit greater depressive symptoms and have more paranoid thoughts than surface web users. Likewise, dark web users are more likely than surface web users to report suicidal thoughts, nonsuicidal self-injury, and engagement in digital self-harm. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for practice as well as avenues for future research.
Despite the emergence of the dark web more than 20 years ago, little scholarly attention has focused on identifying potential mental health differences between dark web users and surface web users. Yet, given the pseudo-anonymous nature of the dark web and the purported privacy it provides, individuals with mental health vulnerabilities may be inclined to use the dark web. In the present study, we investigate this matter by drawing on survey data collected in 2024 from a national sample of 2,000 U.S. adults. The results of both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that dark web users exhibit greater depressive symptoms and have more paranoid thoughts than surface web users. Likewise, dark web users are more likely than surface web users to report suicidal thoughts, nonsuicidal self-injury, and engagement in digital self-harm. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for practice as well as avenues for future research.
Meldrum, Ryan C., Mindthoff, Amelia, Evans, Jacqueline R., and Alex R. Piquero. 2024. Experimental evidence that alcohol intoxication diminishes the inhibitory effect of self-control on reactive aggression. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 20, 635-660.
Objectives: Past research has investigated factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior. Absent from consideration has been the possible moderating effect of alcohol intoxication.
Methods: Using a placebo-controlled experimental design, we explore whether alcohol intoxication moderates the association between self-control and two vignette-based measures of reactive aggression. Results: Self-control is negatively associated with reactive aggression among sober participants, but the association is no different from zero among participants assigned to intoxicated and placebo conditions. For the vignette revealing stronger evidence of a moderating effect of alcohol intoxication, the negative effect of self-control on reactive aggression becomes non-significant starting at a breath alcohol concentration that amounts to approximately one alcoholic beverage. Conclusions: This study provides initial evidence that alcohol intoxication diminishes the association between self-control and reactive aggression, adding to existing research focused on factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior.
Objectives: Past research has investigated factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior. Absent from consideration has been the possible moderating effect of alcohol intoxication.
Methods: Using a placebo-controlled experimental design, we explore whether alcohol intoxication moderates the association between self-control and two vignette-based measures of reactive aggression. Results: Self-control is negatively associated with reactive aggression among sober participants, but the association is no different from zero among participants assigned to intoxicated and placebo conditions. For the vignette revealing stronger evidence of a moderating effect of alcohol intoxication, the negative effect of self-control on reactive aggression becomes non-significant starting at a breath alcohol concentration that amounts to approximately one alcoholic beverage. Conclusions: This study provides initial evidence that alcohol intoxication diminishes the association between self-control and reactive aggression, adding to existing research focused on factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior.
Meldrum, Ryan C., Stults, Brian J., Hay, Carter, Kernsmith, Poco D., and Joanne P. Smith-Darden. 2022. Adverse childhood experiences, developmental differences in impulse control and sensation seeking, and delinquency: A prospective multi-cohort study. Journal of Criminal Justice, 82, 101993.
Purpose: Developmental trajectories of low impulse control coupled with high sensation seeking are associated
with greater adolescent delinquency. In addition, several studies link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to
lower self-control and increases in delinquency. Herein, we develop and test an integrated model which synthesizes these two strands of research. Methods: Using four waves of panel data from the Supporting Healthy Adolescent Relationships and Environments (SHARE) study, we estimate latent classes representing dual trajectories of impulse control and sensation seeking to investigate if the association between ACEs and delinquency operates indirectly via class membership among two cohorts of youth. Results: Greater exposure to ACEs is associated with membership in latent classes characterized by greater sensation seeking and lower impulse control. In addition, membership in such classes is positively associated with delinquency, and the association between ACEs and delinquency is partially mediated by class membership in each cohort of youth.
Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the utility of integrating insights from multiple fields to study the cascading
effects of ACEs. Still, there appear to be additional avenues through which ACEs shape later involvement in
delinquency that extend beyond the dual systems framework, necessitating additional research on other
potentially relevant mechanisms.
Purpose: Developmental trajectories of low impulse control coupled with high sensation seeking are associated
with greater adolescent delinquency. In addition, several studies link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to
lower self-control and increases in delinquency. Herein, we develop and test an integrated model which synthesizes these two strands of research. Methods: Using four waves of panel data from the Supporting Healthy Adolescent Relationships and Environments (SHARE) study, we estimate latent classes representing dual trajectories of impulse control and sensation seeking to investigate if the association between ACEs and delinquency operates indirectly via class membership among two cohorts of youth. Results: Greater exposure to ACEs is associated with membership in latent classes characterized by greater sensation seeking and lower impulse control. In addition, membership in such classes is positively associated with delinquency, and the association between ACEs and delinquency is partially mediated by class membership in each cohort of youth.
Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the utility of integrating insights from multiple fields to study the cascading
effects of ACEs. Still, there appear to be additional avenues through which ACEs shape later involvement in
delinquency that extend beyond the dual systems framework, necessitating additional research on other
potentially relevant mechanisms.
Meldrum, Ryan C., Patchin, Justin W., Young, Jacob T.N., and Sameer Hinduja. 2022. Bullying victimization, negative emotions, and digital self-harm: Testing a theoretical model of indirect effects. Deviant Behavior, 43, 303-321.
Abstract: Research on digital self-harm – the anonymous or pseudonymous posting of hurtful or negative information about oneself on the internet and social media platforms – is in the early stages of development. While scholars have started to focus on the correlates of this behavior, there remains a need to anchor the study of digital self-harm within established theoretical frameworks. Herein, we draw on Agnew’s general strain theory to examine whether negative emotions mediate the association between bullying victimization and digital self-harm. Using data collected from adolescents participating in the 2019 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (N = 9,469; M grade level = 8.78; 47% Male; 32% White, non-Hispanic), a strong, positive association between bullying victimization and digital self-harm is observed, as well as an indirect association operating through negative emotions. Discussion centers on the implications of the findings for theory and policy, as well as future directions for research on digital self-harm.
Abstract: Research on digital self-harm – the anonymous or pseudonymous posting of hurtful or negative information about oneself on the internet and social media platforms – is in the early stages of development. While scholars have started to focus on the correlates of this behavior, there remains a need to anchor the study of digital self-harm within established theoretical frameworks. Herein, we draw on Agnew’s general strain theory to examine whether negative emotions mediate the association between bullying victimization and digital self-harm. Using data collected from adolescents participating in the 2019 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (N = 9,469; M grade level = 8.78; 47% Male; 32% White, non-Hispanic), a strong, positive association between bullying victimization and digital self-harm is observed, as well as an indirect association operating through negative emotions. Discussion centers on the implications of the findings for theory and policy, as well as future directions for research on digital self-harm.