Written by: Meisi Li
The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) is a professional organization dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals who work with adolescents through clinical practice, care delivery, research, advocacy, and professional development. Guided by four core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, and collaboration, the organization believes that scientific research provides the evidence base for effective health promotion and prevention and treatment of illness and injury. Every year, SAHM hosts a meeting that provides a platform for diverse disciplines from around the world to share innovative research, clinical workshops, and discussion forums.
The Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT), presents at SAHM to align their mission of advancing society’s understanding of the relationship between media and adolescent health with SAHM’s mission of promoting the optimal health and well-being of all adolescents and young adults. Previous SMAHRT projects presented at SAHM include, bullying, body positivity, and substance use.
This year, SMAHRTeam member Dr. Angie Calvin and alumna Dr. Erin Kelleher successfully submitted projects to SAHM 2023 . Learn more about Drs. Calvin and Kelleher and their projects below.
- Angie Calvin
Angie Calvin, PhD, is a SMAHRTeam member and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Pediatrics at University of Wisconsin–Madison. She has a PhD in Educational Psychology from UW–Madison, and also serves as a member of the Learning More From Adolescents Online Lab (LMFAO). Currently, Dr. Calvin is involved in the AAP Friends of Children project and the AAP Center of Excellence project.
Dr. Calvin’s SAHM presentation “Parent and Adolescent Reporting of Adolescent Problematic Internet Use: Comparative Associations with Adolescent Well-Being and Stress” explores the correlation between the problematic internet use of adolescents and their parents’ reports. The survey asked questions such as “Do you choose to socialize online instead of in-person?” and “How often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do?” to both parents and adolescents.
When asked about the inspiration and importance of this project, Dr. Calvin said: “My collaborators (Chelsea Olson, Felice Resnik, and Megan Moreno) and I, were genuinely curious about whether parents’ reports of their adolescents’ problematic internet use matched adolescents’ own ratings of problematic internet use. Past research has yet to make this comparison. There are some studies where researchers may only have access to parents’ survey responses and knowing this information will be helpful for future studies. ”
- Erin Kelleher
Erin Kelleher, MD, MS, is a SMAHRT alumina and a pediatric resident in the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Kelleher was a member of SMAHRT during her sophomore year as an undergraduate student at UW–Madison and kept in touch with the team throughout medical school.
At this year’s SAHM meeting, Dr. Kelleher will present a research project named “Newly Diagnosed Restrictive Eating Disorders in the Outpatient Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Chart Review,” which aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on eating disorder behaviors and symptoms in young people. By analyzing patient charts from a clinic specializing in adolescent medicine, Dr. Kelleher collected data on eating disorder onset, behaviors, symptoms, and physical well-being from two groups of patients: those diagnosed before the pandemic and those diagnosed during the pandemic. The study was inspired by the increase in eating disorder diagnoses among young people during the pandemic, and the researcher’s interest in exploring the differences between pre-COVID and COVID presentations of eating disorders. Dr. Kelleher chose the outpatient setting to contribute to the literature, which has focused primarily on inpatient populations. Her interest in adolescent medicine is motivated by a desire to advocate for a vulnerable and often overlooked population.
When asked about the specific reasons for wanting to present this research project at the SAHM Annual Meeting, Dr. Kelleher said: “I wanted to present at SAHM because it is a conference focused on adolescent wellbeing. There are a lot of different projects about adolescents and young adults with eating disorders at this conference. I wanted to share my knowledge from this project and get feedback and ideas for future projects.”
- Hot Topics Talk by Dr. Megan Moreno
In addition to presenting individual research projects, SAHM provides a platform for experts and researchers to share their insights on hot topics. Dr. Megan Moreno, the principal investigator (PI) of SMAHRTeam and interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics, is going to hold a hot topics presentation named “Resetting the Narrative: Teens, Tech and Mental Health” at SAHM.
Research has revealed the importance of the quality of social media experiences and parents’ social media engagement in adolescent mental health, along with new tools to support teens and their families in navigating the digital world. This new evidence challenges the previous fear-based narrative and offers an opportunity for adolescent health providers, researchers, and advocates to create a new narrative that reflects current evidence and empowers teens and their families to manage their technology interactions.
On the Hot Topics presentation, Dr. Moreno will discuss how the newest evidence on key factors in adolescent mental wellbeing and technology informs the work of the new American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence, and why resetting the narrative is a top priority for this work. Opportunities information for involvement in the nest steps of research, patient education and center engagement will be shared as well.
The SAHM 2023 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7-Friday, March 10, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. The theme of this year’s meeting is: “Collaborations in Adolescents Health: Improving Clinical Care Through Transactional Science”. Learn more details on the SAHM website and stay stunned for SMAHRT updates!