# Social Media, Violence, and Social Isolation Among At-Risk Adolescents: Exploring Ground Truth

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $727,697

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Concurrent with a dramatic rise in social media use, youth in the United States are reporting high rates of peer
victimization and mental distress. Treatment-modifiable elements of the relationship between online social
messaging, mental distress, and peer victimization are unclear. This lack of clarity is partly because prior work
relies primarily on “snapshots” of these social connections, in which youth self-report on their social media use
and related experiences at a single point in time. More intensive sampling and real-time characterization of
adolescents’ social worlds is needed to develop better interventions and guidance for clinicians, youth, and
parents. This work is particularly urgent among youth with high rates of online and in-person victimization. We
have previously recruited and retained high-risk samples of youth from the emergency department (ED), who
report high cross-sectional and longitudinal rates of peer victimization, mental distress, and social media use,
for both intervention and cohort studies. This research project, developed in response to PA 19-373, proposes
an innovative combination of methods from our prior work. We will enroll 240 adolescents (age 13-17)
presenting to the ED for any medical or injury complaint in a 6-month cohort study. Using recruitment,
sampling, and follow-up methods similar to our prior work, we will intensively collect online social messaging
(“OSM”), in-person interactions (using the Electronically Activated Recorder, or “EAR”, which collects snippets
of codable audio), and self-perceived mood, loneliness, and peer victimization (using ecological momentary
assessments, or “EMA”) for 1 month. We will administer validated self-report surveys at 0, 1, 3, and 6 months.
Finally, we will collect continuous OSM data from 2 weeks prior to recruitment to the end of the 6-month study.
We will use advanced computational modeling, as previously piloted by our group, to align and integrate OSM,
EAR, and EMA data, and develop nuanced descriptions of at-risk youth’s social connection and isolation. We
will then examine the relationship between their social connectedness, peer victimization, and future
psychological well-being, and will explore how demographic and other vulnerability factors influence this
relationship. SIGNIFICANCE: Consistent with the NICHD strategic plan, our methodology as well as the unique
composition of our research team ensures that our research is aimed at identification of “targets for behavioral
intervention.” Our findings will inform future in-person and population-level interventions to improve patterns of
social connectedness, reduce peer victimization, and improve well-being among at-risk adolescents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10129523
- **Project number:** 1R01HD104187-01
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** NICOLE R NUGENT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $727,697
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-18 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10129523

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10129523, Social Media, Violence, and Social Isolation Among At-Risk Adolescents: Exploring Ground Truth (1R01HD104187-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10129523. Licensed CC0.

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