Our researchers
Sonia Livingstone (LSE), Edmund Sonuga-Barke (KCL), Mariya Stoilova (LSE ), Peiyao Tang (KCL), Jake Bourgaize (KCL), Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne (QMUL), Aja Murray (University of Edinburgh)
Dynamic Interplay of Online Risk and Resilience in Adolescence (DIORA)
A multi-method study of the mental health risks and benefits of digital technology use
This project explores young people’s online experiences and their relationship to changes in mental health.
Research highlights adolescent digital engagement either as a mental health risk or as a source of support or resilience. However, the ways in which digital engagement has its effects during adolescence, either positive or negative, remain poorly understood.
Many questions remain. Do different mental health conditions lead to different patterns of digital engagement or exposure to risks or benefits? What aspects of digital engagement contribute to different mental health outcomes?
To address these issues, in DIORA we examine whether digital activity predicts an increase in depression symptoms over a 12-month period in middle adolescence (i.e., age 13-14 years), the developmental period when depression risk is beginning to increase.
The study will explore:
- The two-way relationship between depression and risky digital activity. We will also test if there is a relationship between digital activity and wellbeing;
- Whether adolescents’ emotional reactions explain the relationship between digital activity and depression, and what the role of personal resilience, as well as other risk and protective factors, is;
- Whether adolescents are concerned about how their digital activity affects their mental health and if they change their digital activity as a result.
The popular media is full of claims about the way adolescents use the internet and how this impacts their mental health, seemingly backed up by research evidence. However, a lot of that evidence is cross-sectional in nature which means that we can’t say whether it is the internet use that drives mental health or mental health states that drive internet use. This makes sensible intervention to improve mental health impossible. DIORA will answer this vital question!
KCL
It is time to understand the role played by “digital engagement” in the emotional lives and mental health of adolescents, so that policymakers and practitioners can tailor their support effectively. Our project will pay close attention to the interplay between mood and digital activities among young people struggling with eating disorders and self-harm. Does going online help or hinder – and when and why? We aim to find out.
LSE
Find out more about this project
Find out more about the pilot stage.
Project partners
