HappyB: Being, Body, and Brain

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), well-being corresponds to "a state of happiness and contentment, with low levels of distress, overall good physical and mental health and outlook, or good quality of life." This definition believes that well-being does not result from the simple absence of psychological problems, but is positioned on a continuum between deficit framework (psychopathological symptoms) and well-being (positive functioning, hedonic, eudaimonic, social well-being).

In the scientific literature, the biology of well-being has been studied, especially eudaimonic wellbeing, which predicts healthier lifestyle habits (more motivation to take care of oneself, less stress, and positive regulation of the neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, inflammatory, and microbiome systems). In addition, greater well-being reduces the onset of physical and mental illnesses, predicts a sustained positive response to positive experiences in the brain, and better emotional regulation. Well-being predicts all these benefits even in the presence of socio-economic and educational inequalities.

According to a UNICEF report, in Switzerland, in 2021, a third of young people between the ages of 14 and 19 had mental health problems: 45.4% had low emotional well-being, 31% had low self-esteem, 44.9% had suicidal thoughts (8.7% attempted suicide), and 37.3% had symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. It therefore seems increasingly crucial to talk about the well-being of today's young people and how new technologies can have an impact on their health.

The HappyB project included two studies. In Study I, the aim was to investigate how smartphone and social media use are related to adolescents' well-being, over and above the illness model of well-being. In Study II, the aim was to disentangle the person-specific effects of media use on well-being daily, by collecting data with Avicenna mobile apps installed on participants' devices.

In general, the project aimed to answer the following research question: How is smartphone and social media use associated over time with positively conceptualized well-being at the level of state and trait?

The project was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and carried out in collaboration with USI Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, and the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA. The data were collected in Switzerland, in the Canton of Ticino.

You can read more about this project, its methodology, its results, and many more details here.

Study Profile

Participation duration: 2 years (2022-2023)

Sample size: ~1600

Data sources:

• Surveys
• Screen state
• Battery status

Research Team

Dr. Laura Marciano
Principal Investigator
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
Institute of Public Health, USI, Lugano

Alessia Robbiani
Master Student in Clinical Psychology
University of Lausanne (CH)

Susanna Morlino
Cognitive Psychologist and Communication Expert

Soumya Mohanty
Master Student in Global Health and Population
Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health

Sundas Saboor
Ph.D. Student in Health Behavior and Health Education
University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA

Adrián Medina
Developmental Scientist and Population Mental Health Specialist