Loneliness in the digital world: Co-developing smartphone-based research to examine how online social experiences impact adolescent mental health

如今的年轻人是“数字原住民”。对年轻人来说，使用智能手机等数字技术是司空见惯的事，也是他们的第二天性。年轻人越来越多地在网上交流，加强现有的联系并找到新的联系。然而，许多人担心年轻人在线时间的增加可能会损害他们的心理健康，特别是在线互动可能不会提供与线下互动相同的情感成长和支持机会，从而导致孤独感。我们的研究旨在使用新的数据收集和分析方法来调查线上和线下社交互动对孤独感的影响，同时为未来的研究制定最佳实践指南，这些方法适合年轻人的需求并适合他们的日常生活。我们将建立一种新的研究方法，称为生态瞬时评估(EMA)。尽管数字技术在年轻人中被大量接受，但研究人员在将这些技术纳入研究中的速度一直很慢，研究通常仍使用长问卷进行，并不总是对年轻人有吸引力，而且很少提供机会在发生时收集经验数据。EMA是不同的-它每天通过智能手机应用程序收集几次数据的简短快照。我们将使用这项技术在多个时间点收集丰富的实时数据，同时确保所使用的工具对年轻人具有吸引力。目前还没有足够的工作来确保环境管理适应年轻人的需要，或确保所使用的措施是可靠和适当的。对于年轻人如何看待EMA研究，以及它如何适应他们忙碌的生活，尤其是在青少年(12-15岁)--这是出现精神疾病的重要发育期--方面，人们仍然知之甚少。我们将成立一个年轻人咨询小组(YPAG)，由来自不同背景的约10名12-15岁的年轻人组成，通过现有的大型研究参与者小组(称为“苏格兰一代”)以及Share和YouthLink Scotland等组织招募。与这些年轻人合作，我们将建立在这个年龄段开展EMA的最佳实践指导。我们还将共同为EMA的一项新研究制定一项研究方案，该研究涉及线上和线下社会接受和拒绝如何影响年轻人的孤独和幸福感。我们将与家长和教育工作者等其他利益相关者进行磋商，以确保这项研究是可行的、适当的，并且不会与学校或家庭生活发生冲突。这项工作将作为正式科学论文发表，与青年团成员共同撰写。我们也会就使用数码工具进行精神健康治疗和干预征询青年心理健康小组的意见，为将来在临床实践中使用这些方法提供信息。然后，我们将使用这个方案进行一项全面的研究(N=200名年轻人，从苏格兰一代开始，年龄在12-15岁之间)。虽然研究的最终细节将通过YPAG咨询决定，但我们预计参与者将参与14天，每天完成3-4次简短调查，考虑到他们自上次调查以来最引人注目的社交活动。他们将回答这样的问题：这是社会接受还是拒绝；是在线上还是线下；以及他们与这个人的关系(例如，同龄人、老师、家庭成员、陌生人)。然后，他们会回答有关他们的情绪和孤独感的问题。通过这些，我们将阐明线上和线下社交如何影响年轻人的孤独感、幸福感和心理健康。在项目结束时，这些数据将成为苏格兰一代研究的一部分，这意味着它将被安全地长期存储，并允许将我们的数据与这些年轻人的其他现有和未来信息联系起来，例如健康记录或基因数据。最后，其他研究人员将能够通过苏格兰世代建立的访问路线访问和使用数据

Young people today are 'digital natives'. Using digital technologies like smartphones is commonplace and 'second nature' for young people. Young people increasingly communicate online, strengthening existing bonds and finding new ones. However, many fear the increasing time young people spend online may harm their mental health, particularly that online interactions may not offer the same opportunities for emotional growth and support as offline interactions, contributing to feelings of loneliness. Our study aims to investigate the impact of online and offline social interactions on feelings of loneliness using new methods of data collection and analysis, and at the same time develop best-practice guidelines for future research using these methods that suits the needs of young people and fits within their daily lives. We will build on a new research method called Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Despite mass take-up of digital technologies in young people, researchers have been slow to embed these into research, which is often still conducted using long questionnaires, are not always appealing to young people, and rarely offer opportunities to collect data on experiences as they happen. EMA is different - it collects brief snapshots of data several times a day through smartphone apps. We will use this technology to collect rich, real-time data over many time-points, while also making sure the tools used are appealing to young people. There is currently insufficient work to ensure EMA suits the needs of young people, or that measures used are reliable and appropriate. There is still little understanding of what young people think about EMA research and how it can fit into their busy lives, especially in younger adolescents (12-15yrs); an important developmental period for the emergence of mental ill health. We will form a Young Person's Advisory Group (YPAG) of ~10 young people 12-15yrs from diverse backgrounds, recruited through an existing large group of research participants called 'Generation Scotland' and organisations such as SHINE and YouthLink Scotland. Working with these young people, we will establish best practice guidance for conducting EMA in this age group. We will also co-produce a research protocol for a new EMA study on how online and offline social acceptance and rejection impacts loneliness and wellbeing in young people. We will consult with other stakeholders, e.g. parents and educators, to ensure that this study is feasible, appropriate and doesn't conflict with school or family life. This work will be published as a formal scientific paper, co-written with members of the YPAG. We will also seek the YPAGs views on using digital tools for mental health treatments and interventions, informing future use of these methods in clinical practice. We will then conduct a full study (N=200 young people, 12-15 years from Generation Scotland) using this protocol. While final details of the study will be decided through YPAG consultations, we anticipate participants will take part over 14 days, completing short surveys 3-4 times a day, considering their most notable social interaction since the last survey. They will answer questions like whether this was social acceptance or rejection; whether it was online or offline; and their relationship with this person (e.g., a peer, teacher, family member, stranger). They will then answer questions about their mood and feelings of loneliness. Through this, we will illuminate how online and offline social interaction impact loneliness, well-being, and mental health in young people. At the end of the project, the data will become part of the Generation Scotland study, meaning it will be safely stored long-term and allow linkage of our data to other existing and future information on these young people, such as health records or genetic data. Finally, other researchers will be able to access and use the data through Generation Scotland's established access route