Promoting Healthy Digital Habits

Dr. Lucía Magis Weinberg

(she/ella)

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Assistant Professor

PI: interACTlab

Department of Psychology

University of Washington, Seattle

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Adolescence is a window of opportunity

• Adolescence is a time of remarkable opportunity and growth.
• From around age 10 to about 25, we discover, learn from, and adapt to the world around us.
• We forge our sense of who we are and who we aspire to be.
• We learn to make decisions, manage our emotions, and create deeper connections with peers and others in our communities.
• We also build resilience, and develop interests, passions, and meaningful goals that shape our adult lives.
• Our developing brains are well suited to these tasks, but too often the systems that serve us are not.

Center for the Developing Adolescent & Framework Institute, 2020

Still, it is a time of vulnerability in terms �of mental health

Adolescent mental health vulnerability �is associated with (1 of 2)

• Bodily changes and brain remodeling
• Psychological transitions
• Autonomy
• Identity
• More sophisticated thinking and cognitive capacities
• Social transitions
• Elementary school 🡪 Secondary school
• Family 🡪 peers
• Developmental milestones
• A time of “firsts”
• Friendship transformations
• Break ups and fights
• Graduations, parties, trips, etc.

Adolescent mental health vulnerability �is associated with (2 of 2)

• Bodily changes and brain remodeling
• Psychological transitions
• Autonomy
• Identity
• More sophisticated thinking and cognitive capacities
• Social transitions
• Elementary school 🡪 Secondary school
• Family 🡪 peers
• Developmental milestones
• A time of “firsts”
• Friendship transformations
• Break ups and fights
• Graduations, parties, trips, etc.

Digital technologies interact with all these transitions

The digital world has (1 of 4)

Opportunities (potential benefits)

Citizenship/community

Education/information

Socializing/communication

Entertainment

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Fuente: Livingstone, S. et al. (2019). Is there a ladder of children’s online participation? (UNICEF Office of Research)

The digital world has (2 of 4)

Risks (potential harms)

• Content
• Not age-appropriate, misinformation, pornography, violence
• Contact
• Bad actors (adults), harrassment, grooming, exploitation
• Conduct
• Digital drama and cyberbullying
• Contract/comemercial
• Platforms that collect our personal data, target us with ads and try to get our attention

Fuente: Livingstone, S., & Stoilova, M. (2021). The 4Cs: Classifying Online Risk to Children. (CO:RE Short Report Series on Key Topics)

The digital world has (3 of 4)

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Risks (potential harms)

Opportunities (potential benefits)

The digital world has (4 of 4)

Risks (potential harms)

Opportunities (potential benefits)

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Even though youth today are very familiar with technology, they won’t magically extract all the benefits without scaffolding and support.

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We also can prevent online harms from happening.

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https://www.apa.org/topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media-use.pdf

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf

Youth and Social Media

1. Youth using social media should be encouraged to use functions that create opportunities for social support, online companionship, and emotional intimacy that can promote healthy socialization

Positive and Negative of Social Media

• Social media amplifies positive and negative experiences with peers and friends
• Social media contributes to
• Increased connection
• Peer and friend support
• Affirmation of identity
• Mental health resources
• Exposure to positive messages about mental health
• At the same time, also contributes to
• Digital drama
• Cyberbullying

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Nesi, J., Mann, S. and Robb, M. B. (2023). Teens and mental health: How girls really feel about social media. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense

Adolescents perceive their online interactions as predominantly positive

POSITIVE

• Feel better when upset
• Advice and counselling
• Feel better about my life
• Feel valued
• Connection when I am lonely

NEGATIVE

• Rejection
• Treated badly
• Exclusion
• Embarrassment
• Sadness when people don’t like my posts

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Social Media Use

2. Social media use, functionality, and permissions/consenting should be tailored to youths’ developmental capabilities; designs created for adults may not be appropriate for children.

Typical peer processes in adolescence

• Friendships
• Romantic relationships
• Peer influence
• Popularity/status
• Relational aggression and victimization

Social experiences

• More frequent and immediate
• Amplified demands
• Transformed
• New opportunities and risks now arise

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Nesi, Choukas-Bradley and Prinstein (2018)

Design features of social media transform social experiences

Child Rights

Digital Futures Commission/5Rights Foundation, 2023

Adult monitoring

3. In early adolescence, adult monitoring is advised for most youths’ social media use; autonomy may increase gradually as kids age and if they gain digital literacy skills. However, monitoring should be balanced with youths’ appropriate needs for privacy.

Monitoring

• Some degree of monitoring (not spying!) is encouraged
• Especially at an early age when youth start to get their phones
• Needs to be tailored as youth develop and grow a need for independence and autonomy
• Teens should be aware that monitoring is happening, how it is happening and why
• Limits because you care!
• Make youth aware that parents might monitor other chats but also be aware that all supervision is invasive
• Resist the tools for constant surveillance just because you can
• Only if they break curfew
• Special cases:
• Concerns of self-harm and suicidality

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Mentoring and modelling

• Today, less opportunity to observe our interactions (we do not share computers and phones)
• Try to be explicit about your behavior and decision making when online
• Ask about posting
• Respect boundaries (sharenting!)
• Let your kids share what they do on platforms and why they like them

Encourage the positive

• Get to know your teen's favorite social media platforms and enjoy them together.
• Keep the positives in mind when you feel the urge to cut off your teen's social media time completely.
• Seek out positive role models and fun or funny trends that you can enjoy together.

Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

Public vs private spaces

• Remind teens that people aren't always who they say they are in online spaces.
• Explain why it's risky to share personal information
• Teach how to
• block someone
• use the platform's reporting tools.
• If your child is only interacting with strangers online, try to understand if they're feeling lonely or left out

Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

exposure to maladaptive content

4. To reduce the risks of psychological harm, adolescents’ exposure to maladaptive content on social media should be minimized, reported, and removed; moreover, technology should not drive users to this content.

Social media particularly impacts �teens with mental health issues

• Importance of individual vulnerabilities and risks
• Adolescents with low-self esteem
• Poor body image
• Social struggles
• Underlying internalizing symptoms
• Teens with mental health issues are
• more likely to experience the negative impacts of social media
• but also, more likely to find the benefits of social media and turn there for support

Mental health content (1 of 2)

Positive

Helpful resources and information

• established organizations or authorities
• peers with lived experience of mental illness

Nesi, J., Mann, S. and Robb, M. B. (2023). Teens and mental health: How girls really feel about social media. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense

Mental health content (2 of 2)

Negative

• Problematic posts, videos, �and photos
• Upsetting
• Triggering
• Inaccurate information
• Amplified by algorithms
• Frequent
• Suicide & self harm
• Eating disorders

Minimize psychological harm

5. To minimize psychological harm, adolescents’ exposure to “cyberhate” including online discrimination, prejudice, hate, or cyberbullying especially directed toward a marginalized group should be minimized.

LGBTQ+ Adolescents

• Social media platforms offer an important source of connection and support for LGBTQ+ adolescents
• Especially when they cannot find this support in their local community
• LGBTQ+ adolescents more likely to seek mental health content
• Exposure to hate speech
• LGBTQ+ adolescents were also roughly twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ+ peers to encounter hate speech related to sexual and gender identity

Youth of Color

• Positive and racial/ethnic identity affirming content
• Racism and hate speech on social media

Talk about the -isms and promote healthy forms of resistance

• Ask
• Have you experienced racist or sexist comments on social media directed towards you, people like you, or someone you know?
• What did they say?
• How did it make you feel?
• What do you think is the best response in situations like this?
• (Report it, block it, call it out, fight it?)
• Share stories of resilience and nurture your teen's sense of activism.
• Explore how others use their voices to stand up against hateful messages online

Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

Routine screening

6. Adolescents should be routinely screened for signs of problematic social media use that can impair their ability to engage in daily roles and routines

Important to distinguish between

Bad habits (most of us)

Problematic use (a small % of youth)

*be careful with using the term addiction trivially

Problematic media use includes

• Withdrawal
• Tolerance
• Preoccupation
• Unsuccessful attempts to control use
• Loss of interest in activities
• Continued use despite psychosocial consequences of use
• Deceiving others
• Losing a significant relationship or educational career opportunities due to media use

DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association, 2013

Domoff et al. 2019

Interference

7. The use of social media should be limited so as to not interfere with adolescents’ sleep and physical activity.

When setting limits, focus on quality not quantity

Drastic increase in screen time during the pandemic

N = 1306 �(age 8 to 18) in the US

There are 24 hours in a day

Sleep: 9 hours

Commuting: 2 hours

School: 8 hours

Meals: 2 hours

Physical activity: 1 hours

Homework: 1 hours

How much free time do you really have?

Help them set boundaries and limits on tech

• Make sure social media does not interfere with sleep, exercise, homework, in person interactions and time to unwind
• Set limits that are individualized and work for your family
• Update these limits as kids grow older
• Ask
• What are some of our family's habits with devices like phones or TV?
• Do any of our habits get in the way of things like sleep, spending time with friends and family, or getting outside?
• Are there any habits we should try to change? Why or why not?
• Can you think of any specific times we could take breaks from our devices?

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Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

2000 CALORIES

FAST FOOD

BALANCED AND NUTRITIOUS

FAST FOOD

FAST FOOD

WHICH IS BETTER? �

200 MINUTES

PASSIVE USE, LOW QUALITY INFORMATION, ADVERTISING, AUTOPLAY

ACTIVE USE, CREATION, LEARNING, SOCIAL INTERACTION

A balanced media diet

Minimum use

• Screens before sleep
• Background TV
• Screens during family meals and time

Free use

• Family video calls
• Activities that promote digital �and creative skills
• Music, podcasts �and audiobooks

Occasional use

• YouTube
• Violent videogames
• Social media

Moderate use

• Interactive books
• Movies and positive TV shows

Help them set boundaries and limits on tech

• Make sure social media does not interfere with sleep, exercise, homework, in person interactions and time to unwind
• Set limits that are individualized and work for your family
• Update these limits as kids grow older

Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

8. Adolescents should limit use of social media for social comparison, particularly around beauty- or appearance-related content.

Social Comparison

• Social media promotes social comparison
• body dissatisfaction
• low self-esteem
• Youth of color encounter racist content and toxic content
• Youth encounter hypermasculinity and violence against women
• These experiences can be damaging to teens’ sense of self

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Nesi, J., Mann, S. and Robb, M. B. (2023). Teens and mental health: How girls really feel about social media. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense

Affirm identity and body with positive messages

• Pay attention to what you say about your own body
• Emphasize what bodies can do versus what they look like.
• Point out how social media, movies, ads send the message that only certain body types, skin tones, or hair textures are beautiful.
• Look for entertainment, online communities, and role models who embrace and uplift the beauty of true diversity.
• Play with filters or AI apps together to expose how unrealistic some online images can be

Bounds, D. 2023. How to Help Girls Have Healthier Social Media Experiences

9. Adolescents’ social media use should be preceded by training in social media literacy to ensure that users have developed psychologically-informed competencies and skills that will maximize the chances for balanced, safe, and meaningful social media use.

Skills and knowledge

Digital Citizenship: skills, support and resources necessary for a responsible, meaningful and intelligent use of digital media to learn, communicate, create and participate.

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Scaffolding and support

Systems and structures

Skills and knowledge

Digital Citizenship: skills, support and resources necessary for a responsible, meaningful and intelligent use of digital media to learn, communicate, create and participate.

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Scaffolding and support

Systems and structures

Skills and knowledge

Digital Citizenship: skills, support and resources necessary for a responsible, meaningful and intelligent use of digital media to learn, communicate, create and participate.

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Scaffolding and support

Systems and structures

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Schools can be powerful platforms to promote digital citizenship and healthy digital habits

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Common Sense Education, Digital Citizenship Curriculum, 2019

Social Media Test Drive

Social Media Test Drive (DiFranzo, Bazarova and Social Media Lab team, Cornell University)

• Interactive simulation that combines social media and educational components.
• In this safe environment, young adolescents get hands-on experience and guided reflections on the risks and benefits of social media.
• Like a driver simulation, this allows for learning to navigate the opportunities and vulnerabilities on the “digital highways,” building effective skills early on

https://socialmediatestrdrive.org

10. We need better data positive and negative effects of social media on adolescent development.

Challenges in conducting solid research

• Time-consuming nature of academic research and difficulties in recruiting minors
• Lack of shared data from tech companies to understand product impacts
• The need for future studies to address specific types of social media content and long-term effects
• Digital content is diverse and fragmented

The Screenome: 15 mins of use over approximately 2 hours of one day

Reeves, Robinson & Ram, 2020

Conclusion

The association of social media and mental health is complex

• Platforms play an incredibly central role in the lives of youth
• The landscape of social media is complicated
• Both opportunities and risks especially for those who are more vulnerable
• Some design features make a big difference

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However, benefits will not materialize without

• Equitable access, use and capacity to extract benefits and maximize risks
• Development of social media literacy and scaffolding from
• Parents
• Schools
• Platforms that have
• Age-appropriate design
• Safe and playful by design
• Effective regulation that takes into account youth globally

Resources

• Deborah Heirner, PHD
• Techo Sapiens
• InterACT Lab
• Sign up to receive more information about participating in research

Contact:

luciamw@uw.edu

Team in the USA

Lab coordinator

• Marissa Arreola Vargas

PhD students

• Daniela Muñoz Lopez
• Kimberly Nielsen

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RAs

• Sarrah Khan
• Adriana López
• Stephanie Orellana
• Caleb Lee
• Taylor Nishimoto

TeaGiovanna Abrahão

m in Peru

• Camila Quispe Martijena
• Camila Bossano

Collaborator:

• Dr. Kate Foster (PEARL lab, UW)

Muchas gracias

@luciamawe

https://tuciudadania.digital/

@inter_act_lab

Team in Mexico

• Dra. Blanca Barcelata Eguiarte
• Dra. Raquel Rodríguez Alcántara
• Víctor Omar Ortega Montiel
• Mauricio Asael Rosas Orozco

@Amistades team (Bolivia, Uruguay)

• Dra. Alexia Carrizales
• Dra. Gabriela Fernandez Theodoluz
• Ana Maria Montenegro Pintos