United States: Grants on Impact of Technology and Digital Media Exposure/Usage on Child and Adolescent Development

Deadline: 29-Nov-21

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and National Institutes of Health is accepting applications for the Impact of Technology and Digital Media (TDM) Exposure/Usage on Child and Adolescent Development to support integrated, multi-project research programs to create a locus of research examining the pathways by which TDM exposure and usage impact developmental trajectories and health outcomes in early childhood (ages birth-8) or adolescence (ages 9-17).

Areas of Interest

The areas of interest for early childhood (ages birth to 8) include but are not limited to:
- Interdisciplinary studies of TDM exposure and usage in infancy through early childhood employing multi-level assessments of neurodevelopment to examine interrelated developmental changes in brain structure and function and complex behavior and cognition, including the identification of typical/atypical neurodevelopmental trajectories for multiple developmental domains (e.g., attention, perception, motor function, executive function, social and emotional processing) associated with early and sustained high and low usage of TDM.
- Research using converging methodologies to assess the relationship between TDM exposure/usage and sensitive periods in brain development from infancy through early childhood, including the pathways by which risk and protective factors mediate/moderate these relationships and differentiate typical developmental trajectory variations during sensitive periods from potential delays or impairments for populations at risk for poor health outcomes.
- Research to identify the mechanisms by which TDM exposure/usage interacts with social and environmental risk factors in infancy through early childhood to impact trajectories across multiple developmental domains (e.g., neurocognitive, behavioral, linguistic, social-emotional, and physical) and health outcomes in children and adolescents from diverse backgrounds and subpopulations.
- Apply advances in neuroimaging to explore how digital media (information and/or stimuli) are processed in the developing brain, documenting individual differences and variations associated with amount and type or format of exposure and usage in the home. For example, are spatial relationships presented via TDM perceived and processed in the same way throughout development as those with multi-dimensional and/or -sensory cues, and does early exposure to TDM alter the neurodevelopmental trajectory of this processing
- Explore proximal and distal transfer of skill development/learning from TDM and non-digital media (e.g., books, manipulatives) over short and long time periods. How do children learn from multiple sources, including their environments and parents, and how do they integrate this information and knowledge and apply it to different settings and situations. How do varying levels of engagement and interactive elements in TDM differentially impact learning (e.g., use of avatars, level of interactiveness, user interface components, ease of use, kinesthetic features)
- Examine real-time measures of TDM exposure and usage in home settings, including family members’ use of TDM and parental efforts to regulate TDM exposure and usage. Explore how family TDM usage and regulation affect children’s development of social skills, self-concept, and internalizing/externalizing behaviors.
- Examine real-time measures of TDM usage in home settings for virtual learning associated with COVID-19 pandemic school closures, including how TDM usage for this purpose affects children’s learning loss, development of social skills, and internalizing/externalizing behaviors.
- Evaluate effects of early TDM exposure and usage on physical development and health, including musculoskeletal and ophthalmologic problems (e.g., myopia, digital eye strain, dry eye, meibomian gland dysfunction)
The areas of interest for adolescence (ages birth 9-17) include but are not limited to:
- Interdisciplinary studies of TDM usage across adolescence employing multi-level assessments of neurodevelopment to examine interrelated developmental changes in brain structure and function and complex behavior and cognition, including the identification of typical/atypical neurodevelopmental trajectories associated with early and sustained high and low usage of TDM.
- Research using converging methodologies to assess the relationship between TDM exposure and usage and sensitive periods in brain development across adolescence, including the pathways by which risk and protective factors mediate/moderate these relationships and differentiate typical developmental trajectory variations during sensitive periods from potential delays or impairments for adolescents at risk for poor health outcomes, including those from diverse backgrounds and subpopulations with other co-occurring conditions.
- Research to identify the mechanisms by which TDM exposure/usage interacts with social and environmental risk factors across adolescence to negatively impact trajectories across multiple developmental domains (e.g., neurocognitive, behavioral, linguistic, social-emotional, and physical) and health outcomes in children and adolescents from diverse backgrounds and subpopulations.
- Examine real-time measures of TDM exposure and usage in home settings, including family members use of TDM and parental efforts to regulate TDM exposure and usage. Explore how family TDM usage and regulation affect adolescent’s social skills, self-concept, and internalizing/externalizing behaviors.
- Examine real-time measures of TDM usage in home settings for virtual learning associated with COVID-19 pandemic school closures, including how TDM usage for this purpose affects adolescent’s learning loss, development of social skills, and internalizing/externalizing behaviors.
- Evaluate effects of early TDM exposure and usage on physical/pubertal development and health, including musculoskeletal and ophthalmologic problems (e.g., myopia, digital eye strain, dry eye, meibomian gland dysfunction)
- Explore TDM approaches to promote safe adolescent media engagement and use, such as techniques to reduce cyber-bullying and peer victimization experiences and promote healthy friendships and intimate relationships.
- Explore TDM approaches to promote positive healthy development, such as those that focus on positive risky behaviors, identity exploration, health literacy, positive health behaviors, healthy relationships, positive body image and healthy sexual behaviors.
- Investigate how adolescent understanding and perceptions of TDM impact their usage and ability to critically evaluate various types of content.
- Examine potential benefit of assistive technologies to enhance learning and social-emotional development in neurodiverse populations, including examining the optimal balance and timing of explicit instruction in core language, literacy and mathematics domains and usage (hybrid or sole) of assistive technologies in neurodiverse populations to enhance developmental outcomes
- Examine the impact of adolescent prolonged or excessive TDM usage on social isolation or connectedness and identify when use may either replace or enhance opportunities for in-person connection and social activity as well as family communication patterns and conflict level.

Funding Information

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to commit up to $3 Million in FY 2022 to fund up to 2 awards.
Award Budget: Application budgets need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project and are limited to no more than $1 Million/year in direct costs excluding consortium/contractual F&A costs.
Award Project Period: The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years.

Eligibility Criteria

Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
- The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
  - Hispanic-serving Institutions
  - Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
  - Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
  - Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
  - Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Federal Governments
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession.