Project Name
Leveraging Interactive Media to Support Adolescents’ Social-Emotional Development
Areas of Focus
Social, Emotional, and Mental Health
Duration
Six months (2025)
Collaborators
Faculty Leads
Additional Colleagues
- Cori Stott, MBA, EdM, Digital Wellness Lab
- Kaitlin Tiches, MLIS, Digital Wellness Lab
- Brinleigh Murphy-Reuter, EdM, Digital Wellness Lab
- Athi Myint-U, EdM, Education Development Center
- Akira Gutierrez Renzulli, MS, MA, Education Development Center
- Shari Kessel Schneider, MSPH, Education Development Center
Disclosure
Commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation
Overview
In the fast-paced developmental stage of adolescence, young people’s ongoing identity formation and quality of social connectedness greatly influence whether they go on to thrive or struggle in adulthood.
The set of skills developed through social-emotional learning (SEL) serve as the key foundation for empathy, a strong sense of identity, and healthy emotional management, all critical ingredients to establishing and maintaining supportive relationships.
This project aims to develop an understanding of the opportunities for scaling SEL development through integration into interactive media spaces.
Objectives
To identify what is currently being implemented within interactive media platforms to promote SEL core competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, empathy, and responsible decision-making;
To identify opportunities to support teens’ SEL skills development within the platforms they are already using; and
To make recommendations for leveraging these opportunities through specific design changes and interventions (e.g., utilizing AI technologies and algorithms to identify users who lack SEL skills and provide interventions to teach these skills).
Our takeaways will ultimately illuminate paths for deeper investigation and will identify opportunities, strategies, and interventions for integrating SEL skill-building into youth’s online experiences for promoting positive development and mental health.
Methodology
This project will include inputs from subject matter experts, technology leaders and product/policy developers, educators, and young adults (ages 18-22), and result in a white paper detailing the findings.
Preliminary Findings
Please check back in mid-2025 for more updates.
Publications
Please check back in mid-2025 for more updates.
For more information about this study, please contact dwl@childrens.harvard.edu.
