Amy Orben
@orbenamy.bsky.social
tech + teens + better science @ http://digitalmentalhealth.group // Group Leader, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge // Fellow + Director of Studies, St. John's College // 📸 marcus ginns
Delighted to share the first published paper from my PhD project! We studied the relationships between online connection/internet use and mental health among adolescents in 12 countries in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa 🧵 Now out in @springernature.com SPPE 👉 rdcu.be/fxNgP
With the UK government’s announcement of a social media ban for under-16s, watch our recent lecture from @orbenamy.bsky.social, a leading expert in the field, discussing the experiences of young people online and the wider policy landscape. ▶️ youtu.be/vDMkaJSX3iw
Professor Amy Orben: Advising policymakers on young people and digital technologies
In a rapidly evolving digital world, there is growing interest in the impact of digital technologies, including social media, on the mental health of young people, and researchers are under…
youtu.be
🎉 Now published in Nature Communications! 🧠 We develop a novel computational reinforcement learning & habit model of Twitter data, and show that younger people & women are more behaviourally sensitive to 'Likes'. Read the paper: bit.ly/4f1vsKS
A computational model of reward learning and habits on social media - Nature Communications
The cognitive processes driving social media use could be key to understanding social media’s impact. Here, the authors develop a computational model of real-world social media behaviour, identifying ...
bit.ly
Georgia Turner @georgiaturner.bsky.social · 2y ago🚨New preprint 🚨 **A computational model of reward learning and habits on social media** 🧵 We develop a computational reward learning model of real-world social media data, which infers the separate goal-directed and habitual cognitive processes driving posting...
🎉 Congratulations to @georgiaturner.bsky.social on receiving a 2026 Psychology of Technology Institute Dissertation Award! 🎓🏆 A fantastic and well-deserved recognition of her outstanding PhD research on psychology and technology. 👏✨ www.linkedin.com/posts/digita...
🎉 Congratulations to Georgia Turner on receiving a 2026 Psychology of Technology Institute Dissertation Award! 🎓🏆 The annual awards recognise exceptional doctoral research that advances our… | Digita...
🎉 Congratulations to Georgia Turner on receiving a 2026 Psychology of Technology Institute Dissertation Award! 🎓🏆 The annual awards recognise exceptional doctoral research that advances our understan...
linkedin.com
The UK government says under-16s will be banned from social media by spring 2027. @orbenamy.bsky.social from @mrccbu.bsky.social gives her reaction to today's announcement, and measures it against the evidence we already have about social media restrictions. More expert reactions 👉 bit.ly/3Qq453H
🚨New preprint🚨 Available here: osf.io/preprints/ps... Do adolescents who report feeling addicted to social media share a single behavioural-emotional profile? We analysed data from >7,000 UK adolescents and found, strikingly, that **47%** feel addicted to social media.
Join our workshop on measuring adolescent digital engagement in cohorts. In this session, you’ll: 🔎 Learn insights from a new social media measures report 🤝 Contribute to shaping the future of research in this field 🌐 Connect with a community focused on evolving UK policy shorturl.at/8l1H6
So glad to see this work out! Well done @sakshighai.bsky.social
Sakshi Ghai@sakshighai.bsky.social · 2mo agoHonoured to share our new paper in @nature.com today. Across 12 countries in eastern and southern Africa and Southeast Asia, 1 in 6 internet-using children had experienced technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse. A thread 🧵
Excited to see @sakshighai.bsky.social work started when a PhD in the Cambridge team published in Nature!
Nature@nature.com · 2mo agoOne in six Internet-using adolescents in parts of Africa and Asia faced technology-facilitated sexual abuse in 2020–21. As digital access expands globally, better protection is crucial. go.nature.com/430fJFd
🚨 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 🚨 1/ We invite proposals for posters and symposia for the New Directions in Social Media Research conference at St John’s College, University of Cambridge (7–8 Dec 2026). We especially welcome future-facing research on how the social world is changing in the digital age.
🎉 Congrats to our RAs & Placement Student on a brilliant month! 🌍 Ioanna Fokas joined panels at Oxford University and Save the Children on social media bans. 🏆 Jamil Adjallah received a travel grant to present at the BAP Meeting. 🎓 @bcdavidson.bsky.social will begin a PhD with us this October. 🚀
🚨 Does social media use show established neurocognitive signatures of addiction? Concerns about social media addiction are widespread, yet whether platforms' design features actually engage the same neurocognitive pathways as established addictions has remained untested. doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Since January, Prof @orbenamy.bsky.social has given evidence to three UK Parliament select committees (Culture, Media & Sport; Science, Innovation & Technology; Education), helping bring research into policy debates on social media and young people. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Since January, Professor Amy Orben Buckley has contributed oral evidence… | Digital Mental Health Group - Cambridge
Since January, Professor Amy Orben Buckley has contributed oral evidence to three House of Commons Select Committee inquiries: · Culture, Media and Sport Committee (13 Jan 2026) · Science, I...
linkedin.com
New from @orbenamy.bsky.social on BOLD (Jacobs Foundation): “What is the recommended screen limit for young children - and why?” “Many parents feel they are making high-stakes decisions with very little clear guidance" A look at the evidence & its limits. 🔗 boldscience.org/whats-the-re...
What’s the recommended screen limit for young children – and why?
Potential screen time benefits for children must be weighed against the risks
boldscience.org
🚨New Preprint Announcement🚨 Social Media Reward Sensitivity and Depressive Symptoms Over Time 🧵 Social media platforms are designed to maximise engagement by amplifying social rewards such as “likes”, and there is widespread concern that these digital designs contribute to mental health declines.
Great report by @orbenamy.bsky.social, @georgiaturner.bsky.social et al on the current evidence base of social media bans/reductions on adolescent mental heath.
Digital Mental Health Group, Cambridge@dmh-group.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew report from the Digital Mental Health Group @MRC CBU on social media bans. As UK debate grows, we review current evidence, key gaps, and what’s coming next to inform decision-making. 🔗 www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/d0b4c5...
New report from the Digital Mental Health Group @MRC CBU on social media bans. As UK debate grows, we review current evidence, key gaps, and what’s coming next to inform decision-making. 🔗 www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/d0b4c5...
Social Media Bans: Overview of Key Studies
This report reviews key studies and meta-analyses that are directly relevant to those interested in the quality of evidence underlying current policy proposals for an under-16s social media ban. It outlines a review of keystone studies, and is not an exhaustive evaluation of the potential policy options available. This report also focuses specifically on mental health and well-being outcomes, as this is our team’s area of expertise. As such, other developmental or health outcomes that may be affected by social media restrictions are not reviewed here.
repository.cam.ac.uk
🇦🇺 Report from Australia on under-16 social media ban compliance: • Kids (8–15, parent-report) with accounts dropped from 50% → 31% • Closures came from platforms (43.6%), kids (36%), and parents (26%) Conclusion: some platforms aren’t doing enough to comply. www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/ind...
esafety.gov.au
UKgov publishes new screen time guidance for under 5s 👨🍼 <2s: Avoid screens except shared activities 👶 2-5s: Try for less than 1hr a day 📱 Choose safe, slow-paced content 🧑🧒🧒 Lead by example 🛌 Have screen-free areas/times Glad to have contributed. Parent guidance and research report linked below.
This verdict seemed very likely the moment that TikTok and Snap settled rather than go to trial. A landmark moment for Big Tech www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/t...
Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Case
nytimes.com
Hiring! 🙌 Communications and Operations Coordinator to help share mu team's research and support a fast-moving, high-impact group. Major rebrand ahead + real chance to build things from scratch in an area where there is high media interest ⬇️. Closes 14 April. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/communi...
UK teenagers to trial social media bans and digital curfews
The government will interview the young people and their parents before and after they try the limits to assess their impact.
bbc.co.uk
Glad to see this study is being conducted by @orbenamy.bsky.social to try and get more evidence for policy in this area www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK teenagers to trial social media bans and digital curfews
The government will interview the young people and their parents before and after they try the limits to assess their impact.
bbc.co.uk
🎉 Congratulations to Georgia Turner on successfully passing her PhD viva! Her work brought together cognitive neuroscience and social media research using reinforcement learning, network modelling and ML. We’re delighted she’s staying with the Digital Mental Health Group as a Research Associate. 👏
🎉 Congratulations to @georgiaturner.bsky.social for passing her PhD with flying colours today! A meticulous and truly interdisciplinary piece of work. Thank you also to @lorenzspreen.eurosky.social and Paul Fletcher for acting as examiners 🙌
🚨New pre-print🚨 osf.io/preprints/ps... What if the relationship between smartphone use and mental health depends not just on specific harmful or beneficial activities, but also on how users transition between activities?
Last year after @orbenamy.bsky.social & I wrote about traffic jams in the science of tech safety, Alan reached out because he'd been seeing something similar. You might know Alan for his role on the team that exposed Instacart price discrimination in Dec www.consumerreports.org/money/questi...
Instacart’s AI-Enabled Pricing Experiments May Be Inflating Your Grocery Bill, CR and Groundwork Collaborative Investigation Finds - Consumer Reports
Exclusive: Instacart’s AI pricing may be inflating your grocery bill.
consumerreports.org
Professor @orbenamy.bsky.social from @mrccbu.bsky.social will co-lead the world’s first major trial to test whether reducing social media use can improve teen mental health. Find out more about the IRL Trial: https://bit.ly/4a2FZmB #socialmedia #research
Thousands of UK schoolchildren to take part in major study of social media use and teen mental health
A trial that will put a daily limit on the social media use of thousands of Bradford teenagers is set to begin this year. It will be the largest study yet to investigate whether use of these online pl...
bit.ly
A new article provides evidence that Miles Hewstone was engaging in sexual harassment/assault at Oxford and other universities for 30 years. More women have bravely come forward to describe his behavior. This is the tip of the iceberg since I know other women. www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Oxford University ‘withheld information about harassment claims’
Miles Hewstone, who quit in 2019 but retained his emeritus titles for years, is accused of making unwanted advances towards students and researchers
thetimes.com
“We requested information about the case to at least protect attendees of our future events and potentially act against Hewstone, however, Oxford University never provided any information.” Open Access: archive.is/ue5k8#select... Paywall: www.thetimes.com/uk/education... #SocialPsyc #AcademicSky
Oxford University ‘withheld information about harassment claims’
Miles Hewstone, who quit in 2019 but retained his emeritus titles for years, is accused of making unwanted advances towards students and researchers
thetimes.com
