The Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) is the largest study of its kind investigating the impact of mobile phones and social media on young people’s physical and mental health, and brain function.
Mental health issues do not discriminate – they impact people from all walks of life. They often develop during adolescence and are carried into our adult lives. This is a burden on us as individuals and wider society. Understanding what the key causes of mental health issues are means we can investigate how to improve mental health in young people and adults.
No single study has been able to understand what is so significant about teenage years in terms of the development of mental health issues, especially in combination with the prolific use of digital technologies and brain function. However, the way we conduct our research means we are uniquely placed to answer this question.
We started our study in 2014, currently working with over 11000 young people from 55 schools across greater London, and where possible, have followed up with them every 2 years since. We collect information on mental and physical health, brain function, digital technology use, demographic, socio-economic status, lifestyle and environment.
This allows us to look at how all these factors may be related to mental health, and ultimately, what can be done to improve current provisions and policy recommendations accordingly.
To read more about the research areas we are currently exploring take a look at our ongoing sub-studies. For our full list of published studies, here you will find our list of publications to date.