Recent Coverage
May 12, 2023
Senior Research Scientist Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., co-authored this "Health advisory on social media use in adolescence", released by the American Psychological Association. The advisory examines potential beneficial and harmful effects of social media use on adolescents’ social, educational, psychological, and neurological development, and provides recommendations based on the scientific evidence to date.
March 16, 2023
March 16, 2023
In this collaboration with the Metrowest Women’s Fund, panelists share their insights and expertise in a discussion on middle school girls' mental health and social media use.
March 8, 2023
March 8, 2023
In this virtual parallel event of the 2023 UN Commission on the Status of Women, panelists share the innovative ways they are using technology to advance gender equality and human wellbeing.
March 8, 2023
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses how beauty filters can be detrimental to teens and young people.
March 2, 2023
March 2, 2023
Senior Research Scientist Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., submitted this statement for the record in connection with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's February 14, 2023 hearing, "Protecting Our Children Online." In the statement, she notes some important policy directions and research findings that apply to youth, social media, and mental health, and urges the Committee to recognize that social media can have positive as well as negative effects on youth mental health.
February 20, 2023
White teens and teens of color do not have identical online experiences, explains Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.
February 7, 2023
Research from our Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab is cited in an article on tips to minimize social media risk.
January 19, 2023
January 19, 2023
The interdisciplinary course is focused on social technologies and adolescent development.
January 9, 2023
For families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to explore how both youth and parents view their roles with regard to the shared caretaking of pets. We present findings from a U.S. based study of adolescents and parents regarding pet care responsibility. As part of a broader longitudinal study, we analyzed survey data from 567 pet-owning adolescents and a subset of 356 dog owning adolescents aged 10–17. We also conducted 31 in-depth interviews with parents of adolescents from the same study. Adolescents who reported more pet caretaking responsibilities were more likely to spend time with pets to cope with stress and to have improved family relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. For dog owners only, increased levels of responsibility for the pet was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of identifying as a pet owner. Qualitative findings showcase the range of parental expectations and adolescent initiative around pet caretaking. Our study highlights the continued importance of pet companionship during the adolescent years as they develop their identities as responsible pet owners.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers 5R03HD101060-02 and 1R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
January 9, 2023
During a summit hosted by Meta, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., give a deep dive into the latest research on social media and teen wellbeing.
January 5, 2023
January 5, 2023
In a summit hosted by Meta, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses the latest research on youth social media use and wellbeing.
December 16, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., comments on a TikTok trend and Gen Z's ideas around aging and beauty.
December 7, 2022
Robin Stevens, Associate Professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Linda Charmaraman, and Earl Turner, Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, served as experts on the Well-being Creator Collective pilot program.Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., was invited to join an expert steering committee to advise Instagram content creators on creating supportive online content.
October 27, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses the positive and negative impacts of teen social media use.
October 16, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses her research on the positive impacts of social media use for sexual minority teens.
October 4, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., spoke on a panel hosted by the Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children's Mental Health.
August 29, 2022
August 28, 2022
The five-day program allowed students to co-design an app to promote positive social media use and featured Wellesley College students and expert speakers on STEM.
August 29, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses a collaboration to educate creators to help them produce responsible content on social media.
August 16, 2022
On ADDitude's ADHD Experts podcast, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses the unique ways that social media use can offer positives and negatives for neurodivergent youth.
August 15, 2022
In a podcast interview, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses her research on social media use and youth development.
August 7, 2022
This study aims to introduce the concept of communities of social media practice, where more experienced users provide guidance to female novice users, “onboarding” newcomers.
Through surveys with 968 early adolescents (average age was 13), the authors quantitatively explored sources and types of guidance for young social media users, popularity of conversation themes related to this guidance, and how these conversations are associated with positive social media engagement. The authors qualitatively documented a case study of how a summer workshop of 17 students promotes positive social media use through a community of practice.
Although early adolescent girls reported that they more frequently talked to their parents about a wider range of social media topics, same-age peers and younger family members (e.g., siblings, cousins) were also frequent sources. Surprisingly, the authors also found that the source most strongly associated with positive social media use was the peer group. This case study of an intentional community of practice demonstrated how peers go from “peripheral” to “centered” in socializing each other for more positive social media use.
Unlike most prior scholarship on mediating social technology use, this study focuses on a critical developmental period (e.g., early adolescents), sources of guidance other than exclusively parents, explores the specific conversation topics that offer guidance, and documents an informal community of practice for girls that provides the training ground for peers and adult facilitators to codesign more positive social media spaces.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
August 1, 2022
Despite the pervasive use of social technology among minority youth, digital media research has been primarily based on white samples of older adolescents and emerging adults. It is critical to understand how overlooked populations—including racial-ethnic, sexual and gender, and other minorities—use digital media for purposes associated with their marginalized backgrounds. As social media adopters are becoming younger, we must explore how the pervasiveness of constant exposure and use affects marginalized identity development in early adolescence.
This book chapter provides an overview of how understudied subgroups of adolescents, namely racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, economically disadvantaged, and neurodiverse individuals, are influenced by online representations affecting their identity development, and inherent opportunities for risk and resilience. Social media research needs a) to begin at earlier developmental stages to capture critical identity development online and offline, and b) more nuanced research beyond digital access to examine online connections for healthy identity exploration of marginalized adolescents.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
July 21, 2022
Dr. Linda Charmaraman shares insights from her research on youth social media use and wellbeing.
July 19, 2022
In a podcast interview, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses the resilience of teens and tweens in a digital world.
June 29, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares research findings on LGBTQ teens' social media use.
June 22, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares research findings on LGBTQ teens' social media use.
June 17, 2022
Positive youth development has been extensively documented in contexts such as the family, school, and afterschool programs. Emerging theory and research indicate that digital contexts such as social media may also be venues through which young people develop skills and attributes associated with the 5 Cs model (competence, confidence, connection, caring, and character) of positive youth development and thriving.
This study strives to understand if and how middle school youth’s in-person and online networks connect, and if they do connect, whether these connections relate to engaging in beliefs and behaviors associated with positive youth development.
The results suggest that in this sample, middle school youth included peers from afterschool programs in their online networks, and those who had friends from afterschool programs and school engaged in social media behaviors related to positive youth development at higher rates than those who were not connected to in-person networks. No association was found between the amount of time spent in afterschool contexts and any of the positive or problematic social media outcomes in this study.
The authors discuss implications for youth development professionals considering the influence of social media on youth, and next steps for research on afterschool activities and social media use.
This research is supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R15HD094281. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
This paper was a collaboration between the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) and the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab at the Wellesley Centers for Women.
June 9, 2022
Asian American adolescents are facing unprecedented risks to their mental health. They are living with high levels of anti-Asian hate and violence fueled by references to COVID-19 as “the China virus.” Physical assaults against Asian Americans skyrocketed by 145% in 2020, and 80% of youth report being bullied or verbally harassed.
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., is involved in the BOBA Project, a study that will fill a critical gap in the science of how discrimination affects Asian American adolescent mental health. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Dr. Cindy Liu, director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Dr. Tiffany Yip of Fordham University.
Charmaraman and her colleagues are following 350 Chinese American adolescents, their Chinese heritage parent, and a peer to investigate the effects of discrimination experiences, discrimination responses, and racial socialization processes on adolescent mental health and chronic stress. The long-term objective is to develop evidence on how parents, peers, and social media can be leveraged to mitigate the negative health consequences of discrimination. Charmaraman and her Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab are focused on understanding the racial socialization processes that take place within peer relationships, particularly on social media.
This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health: R01MH129360.
June 9, 2022
The long-term aim of the study is to develop evidence on how parents, peers, and social media can mitigate the negative health consequences of discrimination.
June 8, 2022
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.
June 1, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses her research on youth wellbeing and social media use. (Article in Portuguese.)
May 23, 2022
May 23, 2022
Adolescents’ relationships with their pets can be very important, since adolescents are at a developmental stage when they’re relying less on their families and more on other relationships in their lives—both human and animal.
May 23, 2022
Adolescents’ relationships with their pets can be very important, since adolescents are at a developmental stage when they’re relying less on their families and more on other relationships in their lives—both human and animal. Yet most research on pet companionship focuses on adults and young children. Moreover, lived experiences around having pets in households with adolescents are underexplored, particularly from parents’ perspectives.
The research team interviewed 31 parents/guardians in the Northeast U.S. to explore their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of having pets for their adolescent’s wellbeing as well as how adolescents affected their pet’s wellbeing.
The three main themes for perceived benefits of pets included social (e.g., reducing anxiety), physical (e.g., screen time companionship), and emotional (e.g., regulation of difficult emotions such as anger and loneliness). Challenges to adolescent wellbeing included such social topics as family tension around unevenly shared responsibilities, physical themes such as problematic animal behaviors, and emotional themes related to grieving the passing of pets.
Dr. Charmaraman and her coauthors offer a developmental systems approach to understanding pets within adolescent families, noting future directions for developing family interventions to improve pet-adolescent interactions given the demands of child and pet upbringing during adolescence.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R03HD101060-02 and R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
May 18, 2022
The authors of this study led a synchronous virtual workshop centered on social media innovation, collaboration, and computational design for 17 ethnically diverse, geographically dispersed middle school girls (ages 11-14). In this paper, they present the culminating design ideas of novel online social spaces, focused on positive experiences for adolescent girls and produced in small groups, as well as a thematic analysis of the idea generation and collaboration processes.
The authors reflect on the strengths of utilizing social media as a domain for computing exploration with diverse adolescent girls, the role of facilitators in a synchronous virtual design workshop, and the technical infrastructure that can enable active participation and use of participatory design principles in educational workshops with this population.
This study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
May 16, 2022
Research on body image from Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., is cited in an article on teen wellbeing.
April 21, 2022
April 21, 2022
Researchers are looking for middle school girls to participate in a free workshop on designing healthier social media experiences.
April 1, 2022
April 1, 2022
The Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab recently created a Youth Advisory Board to inform the development of its virtual digital wellbeing workshops.
March 16, 2022
There is a popular assumption that teens’ wellbeing is intricately linked to their social media use. The thinking goes that if they’re spending a lot of time online, and they’re unhappy, it must be because they’re spending a lot of time online.
But a new study from Dr. Charmaraman and her colleagues found that although teens were using social technologies more during COVID-19 lockdowns, and experiencing increases in social anxiety, loneliness, and depression, there was no evidence that one caused the other.
The aims of this longitudinal survey study of 586 middle school students in the Northeast U.S. were to examine (a) changes in positive and negative social technology behaviors prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (fall 2019) compared to during the pandemic (fall 2020), and (b) whether changes in social technology behaviors were associated with wellbeing outcomes.
Dr. Charmaraman and her co-authors found that during this time period, there were significant increases in frequency of checking social media, social technology use before bedtime, problematic internet use, and positive social media use, such as providing support to others and online civic engagement. Students also experienced significant increases in social anxiety, loneliness, and depressive symptoms (and on the bright side, increased strategies of coping when stressed).
The researchers did not find any strong evidence, however, that the changes in wellbeing that teens experienced were meaningfully related to their social technology use. Interestingly, although there were significant increases in time spent on social media, there were no increases in negative online interactions such as harassment—which may provide some relief to parents and educators that this increased time did not necessarily expose youth to more harmful social interactions.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
March 14, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses her research on teens' social media use during the pandemic.
January 31, 2022
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares her expertise on the minimum age for joining social media.
December 7, 2021
Linda Charmaraman, PhD., contributes an expert opinion on Instagram's impact on teens.
November 14, 2021
Research from our Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab explores the impacts of using social media at a young age.
November 10, 2021
Charmaraman (center) and her former Wellesley College student interns Huiying B. Chan ’16 (left) and Budnampet Ramanudom ’18 (right) co-authored a book chapter on how and why women of color use social media to create virtual communities.Through the lens of her work on youth, media, and wellbeing, Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., explains how diverse data samples can help to better support underserved populations.
November 10, 2021
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares her expertise on the mental health benefits and drawbacks of social media.
November 6, 2021
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., discusses a new social media trend.
October 29, 2021
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares findings from her research on social media use in younger children.
October 27, 2021
October 27, 2021
A new study finds that limiting access lessens some negative effects of social media use among younger users.
October 6, 2021
This article examines how sexual minority middle schoolers use social media, who they are connected to and for what purposes, and the associations between these behaviors and mental wellbeing, compared to their heterosexual peers.
Dr. Charmaraman, Hodes, and Richer surveyed 1,033 early adolescents aged 10-16 from four middle schools in the Northeast U.S., comparing the responses of sexual minorities (24.3% of the sample with known sexual orientation) to their heterosexual peers.
The researchers found that sexual minorities reported having smaller networks on their favorite social media site, and less often responded positively when friends shared good news or tried to make friends feel better when they shared bad news. However, unlike heterosexual youth, sexual minorities more often reported joining a group or online community to make themselves feel less alone. They had higher averages of loneliness and social isolation than heterosexual students, and were also twice as likely to have tried to harm themselves in the past and more likely to have symptoms of depression. About 39.1% of sexual minorities had no one to talk to about their sexual orientation. They were 1.5 times more likely to have joined a social media site their parents would disapprove of and they were more likely to report seeing online videos related to self-harm.
Given previous reports of supportive and safe online spaces for sexual minority youth, these findings demonstrate that these youth prefer to maintain small, close-knit online communities (apart from their families) to express themselves, particularly when reaching out to online communities to reduce loneliness.
Findings from this study have been featured in ABC News, The Conversation, Academic Minute, Actively Learn, Let's Go There podcast, and the Women Change Worlds blog.
This study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Support was also provided by the Wellesley Centers for Women Class of 1967 Internship Program and by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, which provided pilot seed funds before the National Institutes of Health award.
October 6, 2021
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., shares her expertise on leaked research studies about Instagram’s impact on teens.
