Recommendations for studying the impact of AI on young people's mental health proposed by Oxford researchers
A new peer-reviewed paper from experts at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, highlights the need for a clear framework when it comes to AI research, given the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by children and adolescents using digital devices to access the internet and social media.
Its recommendations are based on a critical appraisal of current shortcomings in the research on how digital technologies’ impact young people’s mental health, and an in-depth analysis of the challenges underlying those shortcomings.
The paper, “From Social Media to Artificial Intelligence: Improving Research on Digital Harms in Youth,” published 21 January in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, calls for a “critical re-evaluation” of how we study the impact of internet-based technologies on young people’s mental health, and outlines where future AI research can learn from several pitfalls of social media research. Existing limitations include inconsistent findings and a lack of longitudinal, causal studies.
The analysis and recommendations by the Oxford researchers are divided into four sections:
- A brief review of recent research on the effects of technology on children’s and adolescents’ mental health, highlighting key limitations to the evidence.
- An analysis of the challenges in the design and interpretation of research that they believe underlie these limitations.
- Proposals for improving research methods to address these challenges, with a focus on how they can apply to the study of AI and children’s wellbeing.
- Concrete steps for collaboration between researchers, policymakers, big tech, caregivers and young people.
“Research on the effects of AI, as well as evidence for policymakers and advice for caregivers, must learn from the issues that have faced social media research,” said Dr Karen Mansfield, postdoctoral researcher at the OII and lead author of the paper. “Young people are already adopting new ways of interacting with AI, and without a solid framework for collaboration between stakeholders, evidence-based policy on AI will lag behind, as it did for social media.”
The paper describes how the impact of social media is often interpreted as one isolated causal factor, which neglects different types of social media use, as well as contextual factors that influence both technology use and mental health. Without rethinking this approach, future research on AI risks getting caught up in a new media panic, as it did for social media. Other challenges include measures of social media use that are quickly outdated, and data that frequently excludes the most vulnerable young people.
The authors propose that effective research on AI will ask questions that don’t implicitly problematise AI, ensure causal designs, and prioritise the most relevant exposures and outcomes.
The paper concludes that as young people adopt new ways of interacting with AI, research and evidence-based policy will struggle to keep up. However, by ensuring our approach to investigating the impact of AI on young people reflects the learnings of past research’s shortcomings, we can more effectively regulate the integration of AI into online platforms, and how they are used.
“We are calling for a collaborative evidence-based framework that will hold big tech firms accountable in a proactive, incremental, and informative way,” said Professor Andrew Przybylski, OII Professor of Human Behaviour and Technology and contributing author to the paper. “Without building on past lessons, in ten years we could be back to square one, viewing the place of AI in much the same way we feel helpless about social media and smartphones. We have to take active steps now so that AI can be safe and beneficial for children and adolescents.”
Notes for Editors
For more information and interview requests, please contact: Sara Spinks / Veena McCoole, Media and Communications Manager. T: 01865 280528 E: press@oii.ox.ac.uk
The full paper, “From Social Media to Artificial Intelligence: Improving Research on Digital Harms in Youth,” will be published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health at 23:30 GMT / 18:30 ET Tuesday 21 January 2025 at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(24)00332-8/fulltext
To view a copy of the paper before this under embargo, contact Sara Spinks / Veena McCoole, Media and Communications Manager. T: 01865 280528 E: press@oii.ox.ac.uk
About the Research
The authors would like to thank Thomas McGrath for help with extraction of details from the reviewed papers, who was supported by a small grant to KLM from the National Institute for Health Research - Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre – Mental Health in Development theme. TH is supported by the Oxford Internet Institute Research Programme on AI, Government and Politics, funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation. Funders of the Jme of individual authors had no role in the content of the manuscript or the decision to submit for publication to Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. All authors had full access to the manuscript and any data relevant to the review and accept responsibility to submit for publication.
KLM, AKP and SG are supported by a grant from the Huo Family Foundation. AKP, NB, MV, and TH are supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [ES/W012626/1]. AKP is also supported by an additional ESRC grant [ES/T008709/1] and receives funding as a consultant scientific advisor to the Sync Digital Wellbeing Program. AKP and MV are contributing to an ongoing collaboration between the Center for Open Science and Meta. These contributions were solicited by the Center for Open Science and were not subject to approval of Meta. No promises of funding, professional or personal opportunities have been made in exchange for lending Jme and expertise to this project. MV has served as a non-paid panel member for Meta and K-Games.
About the Oxford Internet Institute (OII)
The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. Drawing from many different disciplines, the OII works to understand how individual and collective behaviour online shapes our social, economic and political world. Since its founding in 2001, research from the OII has had a significant impact on policy debate, formulation and implementation around the globe, as well as a secondary impact on people’s wellbeing, safety and understanding. Drawing on many different disciplines, the OII takes a combined approach to tackling society’s big questions, with the aim of positively shaping the development of the digital world for the public good. https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/
About the University of Oxford
Oxford University has been placed number one in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the ninth year running, and number two in the QS World Rankings 2022. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer. Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe.
Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.
Through its research commercialisation arm, Oxford University Innovation, Oxford is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked first in the UK for university spinouts, having created more than 300 new companies since 1988. Over a third of these companies have been created in the past five years. The university is a catalyst for prosperity in Oxfordshire and the United Kingdom, contributing £15.7 billion to the UK economy in 2018/19, and supports more than 28,000 full time jobs.
Journal
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
Article Title
From Social Media to Artificial Intelligence: Improving Research on Digital Harms in Youth
