Understanding how teens’ social media words relate to mood over time
Official title: #EverythingSucks: Understanding the bidirectional relations between vulnerability to internalizing symptoms in youth (13-20) and social mediacontent
Funded at Trustees of Indiana University · NIH-11416393 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A long-term study of teens and young adults will look at how the language they use on their phones relates to anxiety and other internalizing symptoms, using real-time surveys and phone data.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Trustees of Indiana University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Bloomington, United States) |
| Project start | September 3, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $595,079 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH135502-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11416393 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Teens and young adults aged 13–20 who own a smartphone and are willing to participate in daily surveys and data collection.
✕Less likely to help
Participants not experiencing internalizing symptoms or not engaging with social media may derive less direct benefit.
What this research studies
We will follow 1,000 participants aged 13–20 for several years to collect real-time mood information and smartphone text data. The study combines daily self-reports with passive data from phones to see how language patterns and mood influence each other over time. This work builds on previous large studies and uses a diverse sample to improve our understanding of adolescent mental health in the digital age.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could help families and clinicians understand how online language relates to mood, potentially guiding early support for youth.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier SOCIAL studies showed meaningful links between language and internalizing symptoms, supporting this extended adolescent-focused effort.
Where this research is happening
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Trustees of Indiana University
Bloomington, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lorenzo Luaces, Lorenzo — Trustees of Indiana University
- Study coordinator: Lorenzo Luaces, Lorenzo
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.