In this first expert interview of our mini-series on teens and tech, we are jumping right in to the issue that is on everyone’s minds: social media use and adolescent wellbeing. If you want rigid rules and prescriptive guidelines, this may not be the episode for you. But if you are hoping for thoughtful and evidence-based insights, Dr. Linda Charmaraman is the perfect guide.

Erin talks to Linda about:

• Why adolescence is a time brimming with possibility – not just risk
• Why research on the “average adolescent” may not always be the most helpful for you and the teens in your life
• The power of near peers in changing digital habits
• The surprising thing that bubbles to the top of the concerns list for this leading expert.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Youth, Media, and Wellbeing Research Lab @ Wellesley Centers for Women
• Promoting Adolescent Wellbeing through Social Media: Digital Wellbeing Workshops (Free Summer Workshops)
• Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence, American Psychological Association (APA)
• Potential risks of content, features, and functions: The science of how social media affects youth (APA follow-up report)
• A Mindset for Teens That Embraces (Some) Stress, Erin Walsh

Dr. Linda Charmaraman

Dr. Linda Charmaraman is a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) at Wellesley College and received her PhD in Human Development and Education from University of California Berkeley. She is founder and director of the Youth, Media, & Wellbeing Research Lab. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NICHD), Children & Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, among others. Linda’s research interests include social media and adolescent health, digital citizenship, methodologies to target hard-to-reach populations, and how social identities (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, political) affect wellbeing. Her mixed-method NICHD-funded longitudinal study on adolescent social technology use and psychosocial health follows middle schoolers into high school as well as a subset of their parent/caregivers. In 2023, Dr. Charmaraman provided written testimony for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing regarding Protecting Our Children Online. She is a social media expert consultant with the Jed Foundation and a co-author of the 2023 American Psychological Association’s health advisory on social media use in adolescence.Along with the Child-Mind Institute, she is featured in a PBS Learning online series on adolescent social media use. Media mentions include New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Good Morning America, ABC News, NBC News, Discover Magazine, The Conversation, and others. Together with a youth advisory board, she co-organizes a free Digital Wellbeing workshop series that prioritizes middle school youth (wcwonline.org/summerworkshops).