Project 1: Youth and Digital Media Research Lab

Adolescent smartphone use and mental well-being
We utilize high-frequency screenshot data (or screenomics) to better understand and identify the different types and quality of smartphone use among youths. In addition, we are also investigating if differences in the type and quality of smartphone use can affect various facets of young people’s mental well-being. To do this, our team at SUTD developed an open-source and freely available software called ScreenLife Capture to unobtrusively capture high-frequency screenshots (every 5 seconds) on smartphones, providing rich behavioral smartphone use data which can be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The video above provides a participants’ screenshots from around 1 hour of use, collected using the ScreenLife Capture app. The manuscript and code for our open-source software is currently under review, and will be shared when it is published. This project is supported by the SUTD Kickstarter Initiative (SGD288,280).

Quality of media consumption among young children
We are also investigating what constitutes healthy forms of media consumption among younger children. Specifically, we look at the context (social interaction with parents during and around media consumption), technological affordances (interactive versus non-interactive), and content surrounding media consumption which may be developmentally suitable for children. We use a blend of qualitative and quantitative techniques to understand this. This project is funded by the National Institute of Education Office of Education Research Tier 2 grant (SGD244,004).