In the SNAP Lab, we utilize tools from social neuroscience to better understand the experiences and abilities that make us human, with the ultimate goal of improving mental health and wellbeing. Currently, our three overarching research themes are as follows:
Psychological factors involved in social media use and links to mental health and wellbeing
Links between emotion regulation abilities and mental health and wellbeing
Socio-emotional processes involved in naturalistic social media use and their neural correlates
Current and forthcoming research projects are tackling questions such as:
Which kinds of interventions can be developed to alter a person’s self-worth so it is less affected by feedback on social media, and which brain regions and networks help support these changes?
How can we identify problematic aspects of social media use and break links between problematic use and poor mental health?
How do different facets of cognitive reappraisal, including reframing situations and reorienting our goals within situations, promote mental health and psychological resilience?
