Congratulations to Dr. Michaeline Jensen and Dr. Jessica Dollar! Along with Dr. Laurie Wiedman Gold of the Department of Kinesiology, Drs. Jensen and Dollar have been awarded a Chancellor’s Initiative for Transformative Research Award. This seed funding program was developed to support high-impact research with the potential to attract external funding while benefiting communities at many levels.
Titled “Promise and Perils of Pre-Adolescent Technology Engagement: Scaffolding Self-Regulation in Serve of Health and Well-Being in the Digital Age,” Drs. Jensen and Dollar will examine how digital technology use affects self-regulation, health, and well-being in pre-adolescents. A goal of this work is to provide evidence-based strategies that will support healthy digital habits at home and at school.
When asked why this project aligned with the Chancellor’s Initiative, Dr. Jensen noted, “This work seeks to fill an important gap in our understanding about how technology engagement matters during the pre-adolescent (“tween”, ages 9-12) period. Tweens spend 4-5.5 hours online for entertainment daily, and new technologies like smart watches are enthusiastically marketed to this demographic. Our study examines self-regulation as a key mechanism through which tween technology engagement might be exerting harm (e.g., by undermining attentional capacity and response inhibition), but also through which technology might be able to yield benefits (e.g., digital tools for planning, reminders, and goal setting).”
Beyond the theoretical and practical impact of this project for pre-adolescents, this project will provide important research experiences to UNCG students. Dr. Jensen noted, “Students will be integral to this project’s success. Graduate students will be playing key roles on the ground helping recruit (both for our community advisory board and the study itself), collect data, and conduct analyses. Undergraduates will likewise play important roles in hosting community advisory board meetings, tabling at recruitment events, and coding/cleaning data as it comes in from daily ecological momentary assessment surveys and via objective device time logs.”
Congratulations!
