NEWS & EVENTS

Professor Dominic Yeo, Associate Head of the Department of Communication Studies, has been awarded a General Research Fund (GRF) grant of HK$522,980 from the Research Grants Council (RGC) for his project examining the long-term effects of social media on young people.

The research addresses a significant knowledge gap in understanding the impact of social media on youth mental health. Despite widespread concerns, scientific evidence on this topic remains inconsistent and inconclusive, creating challenges for parents, educators, and policymakers seeking effective responses.

The project will investigate a fundamental question about causality: whether heavy social media use leads to declining well-being, or if young people with existing challenges tend to increase their social media usage. Methodological constraints have limited previous research aimed at answering this question.

Professor Yeo's study will employ continuous time meta-analysis, an advanced statistical method, to synthesise existing global research. This approach will allow researchers to develop a comprehensive understanding of how the relationship between social media use and well-being develops over various timeframes.

"As a society, we are deeply concerned about our young people's digital lives, but we're operating on a lot of assumptions," Professor Yeo explained. "The conversation is often polarised, and the scientific evidence has been frustratingly mixed. Our goal is to cut through that noise. By using a novel meta-analytic approach, we can finally harness the power of hundreds of existing studies to provide a clear, evidence-based understanding of the long-term effects."

The research results are expected to establish an empirical foundation for future theoretical work, enhance research methodologies, and inform the development of interventions and policies that support youth well-being in digital environments.