The main aim of AWeSome I is to unravel individual differences in the effects of social media use on various aspects of the well-being of Dutch youth. AWeSome’s person-specific paradigm shows how the effects of social media use differ from adolescent to adolescent. A key article of the AWeSome I project has been published in the Journal of Communication.

Project AWeSome's data collection ran from November 2019 to June 2020. During this period, 388 middle adolescents were investigated using different research methods, including online surveys, ESM surveys, digital trace data collection, and Instagram archive downloads.

In the ESM studies, adolescents completed six ESM surveys per day for three weeks, resulting in 126 measurement moments per adolescent. They utilized the Ethica Data App on their smartphones to complete the surveys. We meticulously measured adolescents’ social media activities, such as messaging and scrolling, as well as various outcomes, including self-esteem, loneliness, well-being, task delay, and closeness to their friends.

• Amber van der Wal, Amber, Loes Janssen, Tim Verbeij, Nadia Bij de Vaate, Ine Beyens, & Patti Valkenburg (2024). Through Teens’ Eyes: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Social Media, Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CcaM), University of Amsterdam.

• Valkenburg, P.M., van der Wal, A., Beyens, I. (2024). The impact of social media on adolescents’ mental health. In Van ’t Hof, S., Pijpers, R., Liefaard, T., UNICEF Essay Collection Children’s rights in the digital world.(pp.40-55). UNICEF, Leiden University and Kennisnet.

• Valkenburg, P.M., van der Wal, A., Beyens, I. (2024). Schermgeluk en schermverdriet: De invloed van social media op de mentale gezondheid van jongeren. In Van ’t Hof, S., Pijpers, R., Liefaard, T., UNICEF Essayreeks Kinderrechten en digitale technologie. UNICEF, Universiteit Leiden en Kennisnet.

• Van der Wal, A., Janssen, L. H. C., Bij de Vaate, A. J. D., Beyens, I., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2023). De plussen en minnen van social media. Jongeren aan het woord, Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CcaM), Universiteit van Amsterdam.

• Van Driel, I.I., Pouwels, J.L., Beyens, I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P.M. (2019). ‘Posten, scrollen, appen en snappen’: Jongeren (14-15 jaar) en social media in 2019, Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CcaM), Universiteit van Amsterdam.

•  van Driel, I. I., Pouwels, J. L., Beyens, I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2019).‘Posting, scrolling, chatting and snapping’: Youth (14-15 jaar) and social media in 2019, Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CcaM), Universiteit van Amsterdam.

• Uhls, Y.T., van der Wal, A., Ellison, N., Collier, A. , Subrahmanyam, K., Valkenburg, P.M. (2025). Adolescents' online communication practices in a digital world. In: Christakis, D.A., Hale, L. (Eds.) Handbook of Children and Screens. (pp121-127). Springer

• Coyne, S. M., Escobar-Viera, C., Bekalu, M. A., Charmaraman, L., Primack, B., Shafi, R., Valkenburg, P., Williams, K. (in press). Social media and mental health: A departure from the status quo. In: Christakis, D.A., Hale, L. (Eds.) Handbook of Children and Screens.(pp.215-221). Springer.

• Beyens, I., Valkenburg, P. M., Janssen, L.H.C. (2025). Parental Monitoring in the Digital Age. In J. Smetana (Ed.), Handbook of Parental Monitoring and Adolescent Information Management. Cambridge University Press.