PROMISE
Promoting Well-Being in Preteens, Adolescents, and Young Adults - Toward Improved Social average Policies.
PROMISE is an international and interdisciplinary project that goal toimprove the mental health of young people in digital environments, through the development of effective and culturally adapted public policies on the use of social networks.
The project starts from a worrying reality: in the last decade, numerous programs of study have documented a decline in psychological well-being among young people, especially in groups between 10 and 25 years of age. This decline has coincided with the exponential growth in the use of platforms such as Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat, which has generated an intense discussion about the risks of the design and algorithmic logic of these social networks.
Against this backdrop, PROMISE proposes an innovative and participatory approach: it combines empirical research , experiments, computational simulations and direct dialogue with adolescents and young people. The project brings together an international consortium of researchers from Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States in the areas of communication, psychology, sociology, computer science and public policy.
In addition, PROMISE is based on a youth-centered participatory research approach . Through focus groups, co-creation workshops and a Youth Advisoryboard , young people are not only the object of study, but also active agents in the design of solutions and recommendations.
PROMISE ultimately seeks written request contribute to the development of public policies based on scientific evidence that promote a healthier and more balanced use of social networks, protecting psychological well-being without limiting freedom of expression and digital creativity.
PROMISE seeks to promote a healthier and more balanced use of social networks, protecting psychological well-being without limiting freedom of expression and digital creativity.
Project's goals
To analyze the current landscape of public policies related to social networks, youth and mental health in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. The goal is to understand existing policy approaches, their rationale and limitations.
Directly listen to young people between 10 and 25 years old in five countries, through focus groups. We will explore their experiences, concerns, digital habits and perceptions of what subject of interventions they would find useful, safe and respectful of their autonomy.
Develop and test design interventions that could be implemented on the platforms themselves (e.g., time limits, wellness messages, changes in the display of "likes"). These interventions will be evaluated in controlled experiments with young users.
Simulate the impact of policies on a large scale, using computational models. This will make it possible to anticipate systemic effects before implementing widespread changes and will help to identify unforeseen positive or adverse effects.
Co-create effective, feasible and culturally adapted policy recommendations for governments, educational institutions, technology companies and mental health organizations. These recommendations will be based on evidence generated by the project, and will be developed in partnership with youth, experts and core topic stakeholders.
Team
