2023-2024 Psychology Department
Colloquium Speaker Series co-sponsored by the School of Education
and Human Development and the UVA Grand Challenge
presents
Candice Odgers
Associate Dean for Research and Professor of
Psychological Science and Informatics
University of California, Irvine
The Science behind the Story of Teen Mental
Health and Digital Technology Use
Adolescents spend much of their lives online and fears are high that digital technology use, and social media in particular, is harming their social and emotional development. The narrative around social media and adolescent development has been negative, but, surprisingly, the empirical support for the story of increased deficits and disconnection is limited. This talk will synthesize findings from large-scale reviews of the associations between digital technology use and adolescent well-being and present new findings from our large-scale longitudinal study of adolescents followed daily via their mobile devices. Recommendations for next steps for improving science and practice for young people growing up in an increasingly digital and uncertain age will be provided.
Monday, January 29, 2024
12:30-1:45pm
390 Gilmer Hall
Candice Odgers is Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Psychological Science and Informatics at the University of California Irvine. She currently Co-directs the Child & Brain Development Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and CERES, an international network working to enhance evidence-based and developmentally informed design and evaluation of new technologies for children and adolescents. Her team has been capturing the daily lives and mental health of adolescents using mobile phones and sensors for more than a decade. Odgers is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications and her research has been disseminated widely outside of academia. More information about her work can be found on adaptlab.org.