Welcome to the official newsletter of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. In this issue, you will find our latest programs to support objective scientific research and pandemic parenting; international, interdisciplinary collaboration; as well as upcoming events.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Children and Screens has stepped up our grant-making and has collaborated with hundreds of researchers, clinicians, public health experts, educators and others to offer evidence-based guidance to parents and families navigating virtual learning, social distancing and dramatically increased digital media use.

Our popular Ask the Experts webinars consistently draw between 300 and 900 registrants and feature thought leaders, researchers, clinicians, and parent educators, who tackle complex issues, such as the rise of deep fake technology and the role of media in social justice movement, along with digital media interests such as cyberbullying, gaming, mental health and addiction. In collaboration with networks of experts, we also curate and distribute evidence-based advice and and tips for parents for managing children’s screen habits during COVID-19 and beyond. These initiatives will continue throughout the fall and winter and into 2021. 
Upcoming Events
Bi-Weekly | 12 - 1:30 p.m. EST via Zoom
Upcoming Events at Children and Screens
Digital Media and Mental Health Research Retreat
Following the success of our 2020 “Digital Media and the Developing Brain” retreat and other similar small group convenings, Children and Screens will hold another research retreat to explore how digital media use impacts pediatric mental health. Stay tuned for more info!
3rd International Digital Media and Developing Minds Congress
Like the past two Congresses, this much-anticipated convening will generate lively collaboration between researchers, clinicians, public health experts, educators, policymakers, and others. Through a series of virtual panels, speaker sessions, and a tools and methodologies workshop and exposition, experts will consider the latest scientific evidence regarding how digital media influences child development and discuss the critical next steps for research. Keep your eye out for more info!
Media Impact Screening Toolkit Update
Following the second Digital Media and Developing Minds National Congress in 2018, Children and Screens convened a workgroup of more than three dozen international, interdisciplinary researchers and clinicians to develop a Media Impact Screening Toolkit (MIST) for use by clinicians and researchers to identify and assess the cognitive, psychological, behavioral, or physical health outcomes in youth that are caused, linked, or compounded by digital media habits. These experts often lack the tools necessary to accurately and efficiently evaluate these increasingly common presentations. The MIST workgroup aims to recommend a design for an innovative suite of instruments to help inform clinical practice and decision making in a variety of contexts. 

In May 2019, Children and Screens hosted the MIST workgroup for its first 2-day retreat, during which three studies (a scoping review, a series of focus groups with healthcare providers and a Delphi study) were outlined to support the toolkit development.

We are pleased to report that our scoping review is under review for publication. In addition, our focus group partners have begun conducting focus groups with healthcare and mental health providers across the country. If you are interested in taking part in this exciting project, please email us at pam@childrenandscreens.com.
Stay tuned for our
January, 2021 Research and Policy Newsletter!

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and healthy Thanksgiving,

Dr. Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra
and the Children and Screens Team
Children and Screens | childrenandscreens.com