BootStRaP-Project
Funded by Horizon Europe with €7.5 million, the BootStRaP project is a large-scale, standardized analysis of how internet use impacts young people. The study involves a broad and diverse group of participants and researchers, aiming to provide comprehensive insights into adolescent online behavior. In total, adolescents from nine European countries are participating in the study.
The project is a collaborative effort among 22 institutions across 14 countries.
Innovative Methods
The project aims to use a custom-developed mobile phone app to track how thousands of voluntary teenage participants from a wide range of European regions, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and educational systems use the internet in their daily lives. Using innovative research methods, the researchers will investigate how this usage may lead to harm or poor health outcomes, and they will test proposals for personalized interventions.
The findings will also inform policy recommendations for addressing Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI) at the international level. The study involves leading international researchers, including experts collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Subproject Leadership by the University of Zurich (UZH)
The BootStRaP project is structured into six work packages. One of these is led by Professor Susanne Walitza, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UZH, and Associate Professor Meichun Mohler-Kuo, also of UZH. The objectives of this work package include:
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Coordinating ethical approvals across the various study sites
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Recruiting three distinct groups of young people to participate in the project studies
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Ensuring optimal participant engagement and retention throughout the study
