Smartphone-based location tracking during adolescence

/ABSTRACT Many parents in the U.S. use smartphone applications to track where their teenagers are (“smartphone location tracking”, or SLT). This project will be the first large-scale investigation of parent SLT use, yielding the first descriptive data on how parents use SLT, the first longitudinal data on the impacts of SLT, and the first examination of how SLT and its impacts vary developmental and contextual factors. We propose to recruit 980 families with a teen in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade across the U.S, then follow them for 18 months. The sample will match Census demographics and be recruited via both nationwide online ads and local offline recruitment strategies. Teens & parents will complete remote assessments every 3 months after study entry. Both survey data and objective measurements of parent SLT use will be collected and longitudinally related to indices of teen adjustment (e.g., delinquency, victimization) and family functioning (e.g., communication, trust). Using the resulting data, we will pursue four aims: (1) characterize when, why, and how parents use SLT, (2) estimate the impact of parent SLT use on teen adjustment and family functioning, (3) evaluate developmental factors that may predict SLT use or moderate its impacts, and (4) identify contextual factors that may predict SLT use or moderate its impacts. To enhance the likelihood of success, the study team includes expertise and experience on research with adolescent populations, developmental psychopathology, parenting, delinquency, victimization, digital technology use among teenagers, and neighborhood and environmental contexts. The expected outcome of the project is high-quality evidence on parent SLT use and its impacts. For parents and clinicians, findings will provide guidance on how to use SLT effectively, minimize any negative side effects, and maximize fit to development and context. For researchers, this project will lay the foundation for the scientific study of a new parenting phenomenon, providing the first measurements of most SLT constructs and the first large-scale empirical analysis. Project Number: 1R01HD117285-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: William Pelham III | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, LA JOLLA, CA | Award Amount: $696,606 | Activity Code: R01 | Study Section: Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention Study Section[PDRP] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R01HD11728501A1