Growing up online: Children’s mental health in a digital age

Youth mental health is at a critical turning point.

With rising concerns about the impact of screen time and increasing regulation around social media, the London Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists is bringing the conversation to the forefront this Spring.

Join us for a powerful and timely conference exploring the links between social media, digital habits, and the mental health of children and adolescents.

• Hear from an outstanding lineup of expert speakers.
• Engage with the latest research and real-world insights.
• Be part of the conversation shaping the future of youth mental health.

This is a must-attend event for clinicians, educators, and anyone passionate about supporting the next generation.

Confirmed speakers/topics:

• Professor Bernadka Dubicka – ‘Decline in Mental Health in Youth'
• Professor Amy Orben – ‘Screen Savers: Protecting Adolescent Mental Health in a Digital World'
• Dr Peiyao Tang - 'Youth online experience and links to mental health: Insights from the Dynamic Interplay of Online Risk and Resilience in Adolescence (DIORA) Study'
• Ms. Linda Åkeson McGurk – 'From Early Adopter to Course Corrector: Lessons from Sweden's Experiment with Technology in Childhood'

Full event details and further information coming soon.

Download full event programme

Professor Bernadka Dubicka - Hull York Medical School,  University of York 

Professor Amy Orben - Research Professor, University of Cambridge

Professor Amy Orben is a Research Professor at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Fellow of St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge. She leads the UK’s largest research programme investigating the links between mental health and digital technology use in childhood and adolescents. She routinely advises policymakers and public servants around the world, for example as Director of a 2025 UK Government independent research commission on this topic and as a member of the Science Advisory Council at the UK Department for Education.  

Professor Orben completed her DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and MA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She has received a range of prestigious awards including the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award (2024), Medical Research Council Early Career Impact Prize (2022) and the British Psychological Society Award for Outstanding Contributions to Doctoral Research (2019). She also received the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science Mission Award (2020) for her work to improve scientific practice and research culture in her field. 

Dr Peiyao Tang - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Queen Mary University of London

Dr Peiyao Tang is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Psychology at Queen Mary University of London. Her research focuses on cognitive and emotional risk factors in young people’s mental health, with particular emphasis on depression and anxiety disorders. During her PhD at King’s College London, she investigated the role of future-oriented thinking in adolescent depression and generalised anxiety. Her current work examines the impact of risk and resilience factors in digital environments on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. Peiyao employs a mixed-methods approach, with a strong focus on questionnaire development and psychometric validation, as well as longitudinal data collection and analysis. 

Ms. Linda Åkeson McGurk - Journalist and author

Linda Åkeson McGurk is a Swedish-American journalist, speaker and bestselling author of There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather and The Open-Air Life, two books that have inspired readers all over the world to embrace nature as a way of life. She is a passionate advocate for the Nordic philosophy friluftsliv and has spent over a decade helping families trade screen time for green time. McGurk and her work have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Post, Huffington Post, Orion, Psychology Today and many more. When she is not working, she is usually found sauntering around the pine forests of western Sweden, where she lives with her two daughters, husband and two bonus daughters. Follow Linda on Substack, Instagram and  Facebook.

Please read our terms and conditions before making your booking, which includes:

• Event Cancellation Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Code of Conduct.

Event registrations are confirmed when payment is received in full.

Joining instructions are sent approximately one week in advance.

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Please note, we are unable to invoice for delegate fees. If your Trust is making payment on your behalf and would like to pay by card, please call the Divisions Events team on 0208 618 4240 to make payment over the phone.

This event will be recorded and available to all registered delegates to watch on demand. The recording will be available within one week of the live event taking place and will be emailed out to all registered delegates. The recording will be available to watch for 60 days from the event taking place.

Copies of speakers' slides will be included with the recording, but only in cases where we have received permission from the speaker.

We ask that all delegates ensure that their email address associated with their membership account is correct and up to date, as this is where all correspondence will be sent.

Please note this webinar recording will not be available to purchase post-event.