Thriving Youth in a Digital World: Understanding the Role of Digital Technology in Positive Youth Development
Youth-Nex 9th Conference was in partnership with UVA's Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Grand Challenge!
When you picture a teenager in 2024, the chances are good that you picture them with a cell phone. From TikTok to text threads, we hear a lot about young people’s uses of digital technology. At the same time, we know that young people have been experiencing increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health struggles. Often these two trends are talked about collectively and assumed to be joined at the hip. Yet the research is more complicated than often presented. Social media, cell phones, and other emerging technologies are a context in which youth are developing. It is important for adults to understand how youth are engaging technologies in terms of not only technology’s impact but also its potential, both positive and negative. At this conference, attendees heard from youth, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers about how youth are using technology in their day-to-day lives, digital technologies’ potential role in youth mental health equity, and how policy makers are thinking about digital technology in relation to supporting healthy youth development.
Conference Chairs: Zaharra C. (youth), Nancy Deutsch, Mike Lyons, Channing Mathews, & Stefanie Sequeira.
This conference took place on October 8th & 9th, 2024 in Charlottesville, VA.
Throughout this conference, participants had the opportunity to engage in panel discussion, research poster session, facilitated discussions, and calls to action. The agenda included:
Tuesday, October 8th
- Welcome
- Panel 1 - Youth Voices on Mental Health, Digital Technology & Positive Youth Development
- Moderator: Zaharra C. (Conference Co-Chair)
- Reanna V. (Youth Presenter)
- Aarya K. (Youth Presenter)
- Susitna V. (Youth Presenter)
- Gael Aitor (Astro Studios)
- Panel 2 - Digital Spaces and Youth Identity Development: What is the Role of Digital Technology in the Lives of Teenage Youth?
- Moderator: Ashleigh Greene Wade, Ph.D (University of Virginia)
- Vanessa V. Volpe, Ph.D (North Carolina State University)
- Henry Willis, Ph.D (University of Maryland, College Park)
- Alisha J. Hines, Ph.D (Center for Scholars & Storytellers @ UCLA)
- Susitna V. (Youth Presenter)
- Panel 2 discussion
- Research poster presentations & reflections
- Facilitated discussion with Haidt & Odgers
- Moderator: Bethany Teachman, Ph.D (University of Virginia)
- Candice Odgers, Ph.D (University of California, Irvine)
- Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D (The Anxious Generation)
- Questions from teens for Haidt & Odgers
- Moderator: Nancy Deutsch, Ph.D (University of Virginia)
- Documentary produced by teens
Wednesday, October 9th
- Panel 3 & Discussion - Leveraging Digital Technology to Advance Youth Mental Health Equity
- Moderator: Stef Sequeira, Ph.D (University of Virginia)
- Riana Elyse Anderson, Ph.D, LCP (Columbia University)
- Jessica Schleider, Ph.D (Northwestern University)
- Gael Aitor (Astro Studios)
- Panel 4 - Leveraging Public Policy to Promote Youth Mental Health in a Digital Environment, Challenges & Opportunities
- Moderator: Brooke Lehman, MSW, JD (Capitolworks, LLC)
- Vaile Wright, Ph.D (American Psychological Association)
- Lakeisha Steele (CASEL)
- Rachel Deane, JD (Voices for Virginia's Children)
- Reanna V. (Youth Presenter)
- Panel 4 Discussion
- Discussant: Delegate Laura Jane Cohen (Virginia General Assembly)
- Closing & Call to Action
The videos from the panels and sessions will be available soon. Teens who attended the conference are also preparing summaries and reflections to accompany each session video which will be released. Please check back here for updates!
The livestreamed conversation with Candice Odgers & Jon Haidt is available about "Making Sense of the Research on Social Media & Youth Mental Health." Additionally, the conference welcome video is available.
The Youth Digital Future blog series:
- Dr. Stef Sequeira introduces this series in a blog post asking "Are Youth Thriving in a Digital World?". Brief conference introduction video is included.
- Panel 1 Summary: UVA student Sheilla Addison reflects on this all-youth panel discussing the opportunities & challenges of digital technology. Session video.
- Panel 2 Summary: UVA student Isabel Ohakamma discusses the second session focusing on how social media shapes youth identity, connection & growth. Session video.
- Facilitated Discussion Summary: Teen blogger Reanna V. summarizes the Odgers & Haidt debate with research-based reflections on social media & mental health.
Select Photos from the Conference
Youth-Nex is a trans-disciplinary center with a translational approach to scholarship and innovation that is central to its work. We focus on three core domains: a) Out-of-School Time; b) Educational Systems: Middle School; and c) Community Engagement: Civic and Political. We aim to expand and apply the science of Positive Youth Development to enhance the strengths of youth and to prevent developmental risk such as violence; physical and mental health issues; substance abuse and school failure.
Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) is a pan-university research initiative supported by UVA’s Grand Challenge Research Investments. The Grand Challenges catalyze and expand UVA’s research strengths and expertise to address major societal challenges and opportunities, including the relationship between society and technology. The goal of TYDE is to shift the narrative Fear to Facts to Fixes. It supports research that can illuminate how youth (aged 11-25) use digital technologies and fosters the development of evidence-based interventions to support youth healthy development.
Youth-Nex is supported by a grant from Altria Group. We gratefully acknowledge this important support. The work of Youth-Nex is solely determined by the center and is not meant to represent the official views of the sponsor.