Abstract

Adolescents are at particularly high risk for digital technology overuse, including in response to the COVID pandemic,and are therefore vulnerable for its potential harmful effects on mental health. Problematic usage of the internet (PUI) is thought torepresent a marker of disrupted self-management, with major consequences for individual and societal health and wellbeing. 

AIM: Bootstrap brings together a multidisciplinary consortium aiming to initiate health and social policy and practice change designed to reduce the harmful effects of digitalization on mental health, particularly for young people. 

APPROACH: We will co-create a digital screeningand assessment platform to understand which individuals are at-risk for developing PUI. Algorithm-based models will be used to predict which individual will benefit from which type of self-management intervention, and these preventative behavioral interventions will be tested for their (cost)effectiveness. Finally, we will develop a policy toolkit in co-design with stakeholders, to promote human digital rights accountability at the local, national, and European level. 

IMPACT: Bootstrap will provide unprecedented scientific knowledge on the psychological mechanisms underlying (risk for) PUI and potential interventions. Improved self-management and tools to optimize healthy internet usage will promote mental health and prevent mental ill health in adolescents, and contribute to reducing stigma. In addition, our policy toolkit will empower policy makers and private companies to (self)regulate with the intent to protect vulnerable groups. In the long run, Bootstrap will thus contribute to improving mental wellbeing across Europe and beyond.

Funding

European Commission

Team

Teresa Silva Dias

Partners

Institut Catala De La Salut (Instituição Proponente)
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Montpellier
Centro Di Neurologia, Psichiatria E Psicologia Clinica Srl
Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Euro Youth Mental Health Cic
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto
Fundacio Institut D'investigacio Biomedica De Bellvitge
Fundacion Para La Investigacion Biomedica Del Hospital Gregorio Maranon
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Am Main
Lietuvos Sveikatos Mokslu Universitetas
Medical Research Infrastructure Development And Health Services
Monash University
Reichman University
Talllinna Ülikool
The Chancellor Masters And Scholars Of The University Of Cambridge
Universitaet Duisburg-Essen
Universitaet Ulm
Universitaet Zu Luebeck
Universitat Zurich
Universitatsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein
University Of Gibraltar
University Of Hertfordshire
University Of Southampton
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam