Written by: Isabel Garlough-Shah
Annually, the Pediatric Academic Society (PAS) Conference brings like-minded pediatric researchers together from around the world. In this space, attendees get the chance to build connections and explore innovative research that impacts the world of pediatrics. The chance for all these experts to collaborate and hear each other’s work can push the understanding of adolescent health to new depths.
At this year’s PAS, SMAHRTeam members Jacqueline Sii, Dr. Angie Calvin, Amrutha Garimella, and Brad Kerr will be presenting their innovative research on a range of topics.
Sii, an undergraduate student at UW-Madison, will be presenting on persuasion methods in e-cigarette prevention campaigns on YouTube. One aspect she is examining is representation within these campaigns.
“It is important to analyze this representation to determine if these videos are reaching the right audience with the diversity of actor representation in these videos. The types of actors such as what role they play (student vs teacher/marketing) and how they dress and appear may influence how the audience perceives vaping cessation or if prevention is applicable to them based on whether they can relate to the actors in the videos.” said Sii.
Sii is excited to share her work and connect with fellow presenters at PAS. She hopes to learn from those with diverse backgrounds in pediatric research to further her understanding about adolescent health. Her poster, “Content and Persuasion Elements in Electronic Cigarette Cessation/Prevention Videos” will be presented on Saturday, April 29th.
Dr. Calvin is presenting timely research that aimed to understand parents’ support in legislation that protects transgender youth. The study compared support differences between parents who knew a transgender person vs. those who didn’t. These significant findings will be presented in her poster “Who You Know Matters: Knowing Someone Who is Trans & Agreement with Education & Athletic Legislation Impacting Trans Youth” on Saturday, April 29th.
Garimella, an undergraduate student at UW-Madison, is presenting a content analysis on hallucinogens content on TikTok. She is examining the frequency of this content on the popular platform. Garimella is presenting her poster on, “Longitudinal Content Analysis of Popular Hallucinogens Content on TikTok” on Monday, May 1st.
Finally, Kerr will be presenting two projects at PAS this year. The first is a study on adolescents’ use of TikTok. This study stemmed from his work with SMAHRT’s Youth Advisory board (YAB). In meetings, YAB members conveyed to Kerr that TikTok was an extremely important aspect of adolescent’s health and everyday lives. On Monday, May 1st Kerr will further explain his finding in his poster “Engagement with TikTok Content and Mental Health Among Adolescents.”
His second project is a systematic review on research studies examining adolescent social media use and anxiety. Systematic reviews are quite rare at PAS and Kerr is thrilled to be able to present this work to his fellow colleagues.
“The systematic review project has been a great learning experience and one where we’ve learned some interesting things about studies of social media and anxiety. I’m excited to hear others’ feedback on this work and to learn if there are ways pediatricians feel it will change their practice.” said Kerr.
Kerr will present “Associations between social media use and anxiety among adolescents: A systematic review study” on Monday, May 1st.
The PAS 2023 conference will be held in Washington, D.C. from April 27th to May 1st. We’re extremely proud of all the SMAHRTies presenting at PAS this year. It’s an honor to be able to expand adolescent health knowledge further.