Tech & Society Lab | Technology Impacts Across the Lifespan

While much of our research focuses on the effects of digital technologies during adolescence, these technologies are reshaping human development and relationships across the lifespan. Certain stages of life may be especially important to understand, including early childhood, the transition to parenthood and family life, and older adulthood.

The first five years of life are a foundational period for social, emotional, linguistic, and cognitive development. Many children under a year old are already spending over an hour a day using screen media. Meanwhile, AI is rapidly being incorporated into toys, educational products, and other technologies designed for young children, even as the evidence base and regulatory framework remain limited. How does exposure to child-facing digital media affect development during these years? What risks are distinctive to AI, and which are extensions of concerns raised by earlier forms of digital media? 

Digital technologies are also becoming increasingly embedded in the lives of older adults, from social media and video calls to AI companions and health technologies. How do these products affect social connection, emotional well-being, cognition, and independence in later life? Under what conditions do they strengthen human connection, and when might they displace it?

On a broader level, digital technologies also impact family health by reshaping dynamics and parent-child interactions. While they can create new opportunities for connection, learning, and shared experiences within families, they can also interrupt or displace the face-to-face interactions on which healthy relationships depend. How does parents’ use of technology impact child well-being and development? How do particular digital products shape parent-child interaction and family life?

We study these questions by analyzing evidence across a range of sources, including longitudinal studies, randomized controlled trials, surveys, and product evaluations.