Digital and In-Person Interactions and Adolescent Mental Health: (Re)theorizing Bronfenbrenner’s Mesosystem Linkages in the Digital Age

• In Event: Supporting Adolescent and Young Adult Development and Well-Being

Abstract

The U.S. Surgeon General (2023) has encouraged scholars to identify differences in the effects of in-person and digital social interactions on mental health. Responding to the U.S. Surgeon General’s call requires a conceptual framework that captures the ecology of virtual, in-person, and contextual interactions shaping adolescent development and mental health in the digital age. Drawing on findings from 19 qualitative focus groups with 71 parents and school staff from four Connecticut school districts, we build on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) bioecological model as adapted by (Navarro & Tudge, 2023) to further conceptualize how digital and in-person microsystems interact to directly and indirectly shape adolescent development and well-being.

Authors

• Kathy Chau Rohn, University of New Hampshire

• Adam M. McCready, University of Connecticut

• Kelly Farrell, UConn