Screen Deep

Children and Screens

Screen Deep takes aim at decoding young brains and behavior in a digital world.
Host Kris Perry dives deep with a leading expert in each episode to explore how children and adolescents are affected mentally, physically, and developmentally by digital media use, bringing research and evidence-based perspectives to the essential questions on how to help children thrive today.

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Adolescent Brain Development and Social Media Use with Eva Telzer, PhD
Sep 25 2024
Adolescent Brain Development and Social Media Use with Eva Telzer, PhD
Adolescence  is an exciting period of life shaped by risks, rewards, and rapid changes in the brain. On this episode of Screen Deep, we explore how adolescent brains affect and are affected by their digital media use with Eva Telzer, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and  Co-Director of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development.An expert on adolescent neuroscience, behavior, and media use, Telzer discusses insights from her large and growing body of research, including multi-year projects investigating the dynamic relationship between teens’ social media use and the makeup of their brain. How does social media trigger the reward system of the brain? Can teens’ habitual smartphone behaviors impact their developing brains? Are some teens more prone to problematic smartphone use than others? Tune in to hear how Telzer’s research helps answer these questions. In this episode you will learn:Why social reward cues (likes, comments, etc) have a unique impact on the developing adolescent brainHow research utilizing functional MRI is expanding our knowledge about changes in the brains of adolescents habitually engaging in social media use What neurological factors put some teens at a higher risk for problematic social media use than othersHow research dispels popular stereotypes of adolescents as high risk takers and dependent on peer influenceHow the reward system in the brain works and ways it can be redirected for positive social behaviors and connections online by adolescentsFor more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)-------------- Follow Children and Screens on: Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentInstagram: @childrenandscreensLinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentTwitter: @childrenscreens---------------Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Episodes

Adolescent Brain Development and Social Media Use with Eva Telzer, PhD
Sep 25 2024
Adolescent Brain Development and Social Media Use with Eva Telzer, PhD
Adolescence  is an exciting period of life shaped by risks, rewards, and rapid changes in the brain. On this episode of Screen Deep, we explore how adolescent brains affect and are affected by their digital media use with Eva Telzer, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and  Co-Director of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development.An expert on adolescent neuroscience, behavior, and media use, Telzer discusses insights from her large and growing body of research, including multi-year projects investigating the dynamic relationship between teens’ social media use and the makeup of their brain. How does social media trigger the reward system of the brain? Can teens’ habitual smartphone behaviors impact their developing brains? Are some teens more prone to problematic smartphone use than others? Tune in to hear how Telzer’s research helps answer these questions. In this episode you will learn:Why social reward cues (likes, comments, etc) have a unique impact on the developing adolescent brainHow research utilizing functional MRI is expanding our knowledge about changes in the brains of adolescents habitually engaging in social media use What neurological factors put some teens at a higher risk for problematic social media use than othersHow research dispels popular stereotypes of adolescents as high risk takers and dependent on peer influenceHow the reward system in the brain works and ways it can be redirected for positive social behaviors and connections online by adolescentsFor more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)-------------- Follow Children and Screens on: Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentInstagram: @childrenandscreensLinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentTwitter: @childrenscreens---------------Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Screen Time and Sleep - Quality, Quantity, and Context with Lauren Hale, PhD
Sep 24 2024
Screen Time and Sleep - Quality, Quantity, and Context with Lauren Hale, PhD
Sleep is an essential part of life, and the quality and quantity of a person’s nightly sleep has wide-ranging impacts on cognition, behavior, and health. On this episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry discusses children and teens’ sleep and its relationship to digital media with Dr. Lauren Hale, Professor of Family, Population, and Preventative Medicine at Stony Brook University and Founding Editor in Chief of the Sleep Health Journal. Dr. Hale provides an overview of research into the impacts of digital media on teens’ sleep, including insights from a 2024 scientific consensus panel that evaluated how different aspects of digital device use influence sleep. She also discusses the societal implications of teens’ poor sleep health, and the policy changes that could improve them.In this episode you'll learn:Why sleep is important for cognitive and overall health - and why sleep regularity may be as important as durationWhich populations are getting less sleep and possible consequencesWhat the latest research tells us about technology use and sleep - delayed sleep, sleep duration, impaired sleep quality, digital sleep interruption, and blue light What types of screen use and media content are associated with poorer sleep quality for youthWhy abolishing Daylight Savings Time and changing school start times may positively impact youth sleep healthFor more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)-------------- Follow Children and Screens on: Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentInstagram: @childrenandscreensLinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentTwitter: @childrenscreens---------------Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Early Childhood Development and Screen Use with Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH
Sep 24 2024
Early Childhood Development and Screen Use with Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH
On this inaugural episode of Screen Deep, host Kris Perry interviews Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, about his decades of experience investigating the impact of screens in early childhood, from baby videos to tablet apps. Drawing on his experience as a leading researcher, pediatrician, and parent, Dimitri shares both historical and recent findings on screen use among very young children, particularly its possible uses for early learning and its relationship to cognitive and language development. He emphasizes the importance of caregiver-child interactions, and the risk that digital media can displace this important facet of development. He also suggests that more can be done to hold tech companies accountable and make it easier for parents to make decisions about what media to choose for their children.In this episode you will learn:How brains develop in early childhood and what the research says on media use for infants under 18 monthsWhy introducing “learning” technology in early childhood may negatively affect cognitive and language development The importance of “joint attention” in infant development - and why caregiver interaction is crucial during this timeHow engaging apps make it more difficult to command young children’s attentionFor more resources and research on this topic visit the Learn and Explore section of the Children and Screens website (https://www.childrenandscreens.org)-------------- Follow Children and Screens on: Facebook: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentInstagram: @childrenandscreensLinkedIn: Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child DevelopmentTwitter: @childrenscreens---------------Music: 'Life in Silico' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au