Understanding youth's development in a digitalized society

In spite of the academic interest in the question of whether and how social media affect adolescents’ psychosocial well-being, meta-reviews found highly conflicting results. Although some studies argue that social media offer opportunities for connection and self-presentation, they might also worsen one’s psychosocial well-being. This project aims to move this field forward by introducing two new perspectives: a surveillance and individual difference perspective. Through the use of qualitative go-along interviews and a daily diary study with measurement burst design, this project aims to provide an in depth insight in (1) how adolescents monitor themselves and others continuously through social media, (2) the daily dynamics and long term associations between online self and social surveillance practices and psychosocial well-being, and (3) whether specific subgroups of adolescents (those with Autism, and those with low socio-economic status) are at greater risk compared to their peers.

More information: https://research.kuleuven.be/portal/en/project/3H240215

PhD researcher on this project: Fé Verelst
Promotor: Prof. Dr. Kathleen Beullens
Co-Promotor: Prof. Dr. Jolien Trekels

Funder: Internal Funds KU Leuven (C14/24/035)

The sharp rise in mental health symptoms among adolescents has raised concerns about potential causes, with social media use receiving significant public attention. While numerous studies have explored links between adolescent social media use and mental health, most rely on self-report and cross-sectional designs, which limit accuracy and overlook temporal relationships. Additionally, few studies focus on early adolescence (ages 10–12), a critical period when many youths first enter the digital world. This research aims to examine social media use among early adolescents, with a specific focus on body image concerns, a known risk factor for later mental health issues. In this project, a longitudinal study will follow 200 early adolescents and their parents at two points: entry into 6th grade and entry into 7th grade. Adolescents and parents will report on social media use, experiences, and body image concerns, complemented by smartphone app data. Adolescents will also complete eye-tracking tasks to assess their visual attention to self and idealized images. This approach allows us to compare those who initiate social media use between grades, offering a natural experiment on its potential impacts. Findings aim to identify early risk factors for unhealthy social media use, informing prevention and intervention efforts before problematic patterns become entrenched.

Principal Investigators: Prof. Dr. Kaitlyn Burnell, Prof. Dr. Eva Telzer

Collaborators: Prof. Dr. Annie Maheux, Prof. Dr. Jolien Trekels

Funder: NIH Exploratory/Developmental research grant award (R21)

In this project, we seek to examine how adolescents’ exposure to specific online content and features (i.e., posts with many “likes”) conveying or rewarding character building traits (i.e., generosity, selfcontrol, and prosocial norms) may be associated with the development of character among adolescents over time. While exposure to peers’ behaviors and attitudes on social media has the potential to influence adolescents’ own behaviors and attitudes, this effect likely varies substantially based on biological sensitivities. We propose a differential susceptibility model, by which greater neural sensitivity to social media content determines whether social media experiences predict positive or negative effects.

Principal Investigators: Prof. Dr. Eva Telzer, Prof. Dr. Kaitlyn Burnell, Prof. Dr. Mitch Prinstein, Prof. Dr. Kristen Lindquist, Prof. Dr. Dan Bauer

Collaborator: Prof. Dr. Jolien Trekels

Funder: Templeton Research Foundation