This study of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab aims to better understand the contexts and characteristics that influence how social media use connects with mental health and wellbeing for young adolescents. It capitalizes and expands upon an existing longitudinal study and, for a subset of young users (13- to 14-year-olds), utilizes data that assesses adolescents moment-by-moment.

The study’s primary aim is to determine the specific characteristics (e.g., demographics) and social contexts (e.g., COVID pandemic, family media rules) of adolescents’ online social interactions (e.g., relationship of the people interacting, content of interaction, total amount of use) that are associated with indicators of mental wellbeing.

The study’s significance lies in 1) furthering scientific understanding about standardized data collection methods and innovative technology to systematically document early adolescent digital interactions at a more timely, contextualized level, and 2) identifying contextual variables and individual characteristics that are associated with risky and resilient social media use. In the long term, findings will be applicable to interventions designed to encourage online behaviors linked to positive mental health outcomes and discourage others.