Investigators Connecting Health and Social Media/mHealth
Our team is directed by Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD, and Dr. Hannah Szlyk, PhD, who are currently conducting research on the uMAT-R app, which is a supportive app for individuals in recovery for substance use disorders. We also are researching other mobile app interventions that support individuals with mental health-related behaviors such as alcohol use, vaping, eating disorders, and depression.
Current Research Areas of Interest
Principal Investigators
Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD
professor of psychiatry, principal investigator
Concerns about social media platform engagement and associations with mental health risk continue to increase, particularly among youth and young adults and those from minoritized groups. We are exploring innovative ways to utilize social media in mental health promotion and prevention initiatives. Recent and current studies include outreach and digital interventions for eating disorders, depression, alcohol use and vaping among youth and young adults on social media.
Hannah Szlyk, PhD, LCSW
assistant professor, department of psychiatry
Dr. Hannah S. Szlyk, PhD is a doctoral-level licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with training in suicidology among underserved and minoritized populations and in qualitative and mixed methods study design and analyses. Her current work extends this research program to include mHealth interventions for SUD (e.g., opioid use disorder (OUD), alcohol, cannabis, and vaping) among adolescents and adults, and special populations, like pregnant and postpartum women and people. She is especially interested in understanding how mHealth tools can be used to amplify health equity. She holds graduate degrees in social work from Columbia University (MSSW) and the University of Texas at Austin (PhD) and received additional training at The Menninger Clinic and the Brown School (as a NIMH T32 postdoctoral fellow).
Meet the rest of our research team.
Recent Findings
In this study we learned about pregnant and postpartum women and people’s attitudes towards using medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
We leveraged social media to connect with teens with EDs to pilot an mHealth tool. We found that using social media to recruit teens with EDs is feasible and may allow us to connect with groups who are more difficult to reach.
Learn more about our community.
