The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications for research on the impact of technology and digital media on children and adolescents. Technology and digital media (TDM) encompasses social media, applications, websites, television, motion pictures, artificial intelligence, mobile devices, computers, video games, virtual and augmented reality, and other content, networks, or platforms disseminated through the internet, broadcasted, or other media technologies, as applicable. Collectively, they have become an integral part of our children’s and families’ daily lives. Most children and adolescents now engage with TDM starting from an early age, often with high levels of exposure across multiple devices and contexts and involving a wide range of content. There is therefore an urgent need to understand how TDM use and exposure impacts children’s health and development, as well as how it alters the very nature of interactions between children and their family members, peers, and society at large. As TDM has evolved with breathtaking speed, our understanding of its impacts – whether positive, neutral, or negative – on children’s health and development has not kept pace. This initiative intends to address this expanding gap by inviting research proposals on the impact of TDM on children and adolescents, including potential broader effects on their families and communities. Please note that applications are not being solicited at this time. This notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. This NOFO will utilize a phased R61/R33 mechanism. Investigators with interests at the intersection of TDM and child/adolescent development are encouraged to apply. In addition, collaborative teams that combine expertise across domains such as behavioral sciences, cognition and learning, computational and statistical modeling, computer science, geographic information science, library and information sciences, neurodevelopment, pediatrics, social and affective development and social sciences will be encouraged, and these investigators should also consider applying for this opportunity.

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