SRI Fellow Fiona Baker: Longitudinal research like the SRI-supported ABCD study is crucial for understanding how modern life shapes developing brains.
Families with adolescent children are confronting difficult questions about digital technology. When is social media safe and when is it problematic? How can teenagers use AI at school? Does screen time impact brain development?
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study is providing answers.
Launched in 2015 by the National Institutes of Health, the ABCD study is following more than 10,000 participants from pre-adolescence into adulthood. The goal is to understand how sleep, attention, substance use, physical activity, sports injuries, and other factors impact the growing brain.
Speaking to an audience of parents, students, and educators at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park, SRI Fellow Fiona Baker recently unpacked how emerging research from the ABCD study and similar efforts can help adolescents and their families navigate the current digital landscape.
“If families can change one thing, it would be to not allow phones in the bedroom when it is bedtime.” — Fiona Baker
“Dr. Baker’s research is timely and impactful for families,” commented Los Lomitas Superintendent Erik Burmeister after the event. “Many parents are hungry for scientifically valid information about this generation of adolescents. Research like the ABCD study gives parents clear, practical ideas to encourage healthy sleep while navigating the challenges of social media.”
As the director of SRI’s Center for Health Sciences and its Human Sleep Research Program, Baker manages a team that runs one of four California-based ABCD research sites. She is also a co-author on more than 100 papers leveraging ABCD study data. (All told, ABCD has provided data for more than 1,600 research studies.)
Baker’s remarks at La Entrada Middle School focused on findings from both ABCD and other recent research on adolescents. One takeaway from the research, she explained, is that there is a strong association between problematic social media use and adolescent mental health challenges. She also connected the dots between screen use and sleep, pointing out that not only are kids consuming digital media before sleep, but they are being woken up throughout the night by the sound of notifications.
“Phone use before bedtime can delay sleep by increasing arousal and quickly becomes a habit that is difficult for kids to break as they have a fear of missing out,” Baker pointed out. “If families can change one thing, it would be to not allow phones in the bedroom when it is bedtime.”
In addition to unpacking the findings of individual studies, Baker pointed to a collection of ABCD infographics designed with non-experts in mind. These infographics aim to capture high-level insights from the ABCD study in a user-friendly format that’s appropriate for parents, educators, and students, zeroing in on themes like substance use, sleep, and screens.
“Making the latest research easy to understand is so important, not only for parents, but for kids too, so they can make good mental health and sleep hygiene decisions,” said Baker.
Interested in learning more about SRI’s research in sleep and digital health, or bringing this conversation to your community? Contact us today.
