Research
Research
The Social Environments and Adolescence (SEA) Lab investigates adolescent development, mental health, and adjustment in the digital era. Our research integrates cutting-edge methods, including passive sensing, data donation protocols, advanced quantitative models, and data synthesis efforts that contribute to a more cumulative science of teens and tech. Ultimately, our goal is to generate nuanced, developmentally grounded insights that help us better understand—and support—all adolescents growing up in a digitally connected world.
We strive to move beyond broad measures like screen time to capture the quality, context, and meaning of adolescents’ digital lives. This includes understanding how platform features, algorithmic content exposure, and the nature of online interactions shape youth experiences in diverse ways.
A central focus of our research is on bidirectional associations between digital media use and mental health. We use longitudinal and intensive repeated-measures designs to explore how technology use and well-being influence one another over time, providing insight into potential causal processes.
Recognizing that digital media does not affect all adolescents equally, we also examine heterogeneity in social media effects—asking for whom, under what conditions, and in what combinations digital experiences contribute to risk or resilience. This includes identifying profiles of media use and co-occurring factors that influence outcomes. We pay particular attention to differences across gender, including the distinct opportunities and challenges digital spaces pose for boys, girls, and gender-diverse youth.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux, Co-I: Benjamin Buck (UNC Psychiatry)
The ADAPT Study will investigate generative artificial intelligence (genAI) use among young adults, focusing on frequency of use, motivations for use, and attitudes towards genAI technology. We will explore links with mental health symptoms, including loneliness and prodromal psychosis symptoms, and investigate demographic differences in genAI. Data will be collected online in Summer 2025.
Co-Principal Investigators: Anne Maheux, Kaitlyn Burnell (UNC Winston Center)
Project BRAINSTEM integrated multiple methodologies--including eye-tracking, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), data donation packages, screen use digital trace data, surveys, experimental paradigms, and focus groups--in a middle and high school setting during Spring 2025. Additional focus groups, surveys, and data analysis are ongoing.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux; Co-I: Judith Kotiuga (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)
The purpose of the STRIVE study is to understand how young adults' sexual and relational experiences are related to their well-being and health. Data Collection with young adult participants in the USA between ages 18-21 occurred in Spring 2024 and Spring 2025.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux
The purpose of the WAVE study is to move beyond “screen time” to address the specific online social experiences that promote character development and well-being. Data collection with high school students occurred in Spring 2024. Students and school administrators selected the WAVE study in a school-led matching experiment through the Character Lab Research Network.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux; Co-I: Sophia Choukas-Bradley (University of Pittsburgh)
The purpose of the AMASE study, involving two cohorts and multiple waves of data collection, is to understand early adolescents' endorsement of gendered math stereotypes, social media use, appearance concerns, and academic engagement. Data collection for AMASE finished in Spring 2021 and data analyses are ongoing.
Principal Investigators: Anne Maheux, Savannah Roberts (University of Pittsburgh); Co-I: Sophia Choukas-Bradley (University of Pittsburgh)
Project DAISY is a cross-sectional, self-report, anonymous online survey among emerging adults ages 18-25. The study examines a broad ranges of sociocultural experiences and beliefs, identity characteristics, mental health outcomes and behaviors, and relational experiences relevant to the developmental period of emerging adulthood. Data collection was completed in Spring 2021 and analyses are ongoing.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux; Co-I: Sophia Choukas-Bradley (University of Pittsburgh)
In the BALSAM study, we investigate STEM attitudes and experiences among racially/ethnically diverse 6th, 7th, and 8th grade adolescents. The purpose of the BALSAM study is to understand factors unique to the STEM engagement of Girls of Color, including STEM belonging, gendered racial microaggressions, and intersectional STEM stereotypes. BALSAM involves three waves of data collection across a one-year period; data collection completed in Spring 2022. Analyses are ongoing.
Principal Investigator: Anne Maheux; Co-I: Sophia Choukas-Bradley (University of Pittsburgh)
The purpose of the PAGE study is to investigate the unique contributions of gender typicality and gendered traits (i.e., stereotypically gender-typed behaviors) in the prosocial behavior and empathy development of adolescents in 7th and 11th grade. PAGE involves three waves of data collection across a one-year period; data collection completed in Spring 2022. Analyses are ongoing.