Ethics & Equity: Studying Social Media’s Impact Through Youth-Centered Participatory Research

Watch the Child Mind Institute’s Yuki Kotani, MBA, interview Amy Green, PhD, the director of research at Hopelab. They talk about how including youth in research on tech and mental health can improve access to care by making digital care solutions fit the needs of more diverse populations. This conversation is part of our webinar series on Technology and Youth Mental Health, which asks how tech can improve mental health outcomes for all young people.

Dr. Green and Kotani echo our recent conversation with Christa Studzinski of the Ontario Brain Institute by discussing the value in engaging youth at all stages of research for the utilization of digital mental health supports. Unfortunately, any research study involving participants under the age of 18 is rare because it is difficult to ethically do. “We’re missing data,” says Dr. Green. That data is vital for understanding how to culturally adapt interventions to make them “enjoyable and effective” and fit the needs of all youth. “Access,” Dr. Green explains, “is making sure the services available do not further alienate groups like Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ youth.”

Click here for more on “Getting Help Online”, the 2024 survey from Hopelab and Common Sense Media mentioned in the interview.

This video is part of a series of discussions on the ethical and equity challenges to accessing and leveraging real world data in youth mental health research. View more videos on this topic:

• Christa Studzinski, PhD, of the Ontario Brain Institute
• Stephen Scheuller, PhD, University of California, Irvine
• Casey Pick, JD, the Trevor Project

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