Coding for Insight: Researching Technology and Adolescent Mental Health at the Winston Center with Maya McPartland

Hey everyone! My name is Maya McPartland, and I am a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in psychology and computer science. This semester, I’ve had the privilege to work as a quantitative psychology intern at The Winston Center on Technology and Brain Development. This opportunity has served as a chance to fully explore my long-time interest in the interplay of technology and mental health.

Growing up, I experienced firsthand the negative effects technology had on my peers, friends, and even family. In particular, I witnessed the ways social media fueled the development and progression of various mental illnesses: eating disorders, anxiety, depression. In many ways, I resented the ever-evolving digital landscape, a world constantly adapting to appeal to and hold the attention of the masses, but young people most of all. 

However, I was also amazed by the good it could do. Sometimes this was indirect: for many, myself included, the digital world served as a means of connection during times when this was difficult to find elsewhere, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Other times, its benefits were more direct; self-care and therapy-oriented apps were essential to me during my own mental health journey, particularly before I was able to obtain real therapy. As a result, I have always been fascinated by technology as a tool, an opportunity to make treatment more accessible, more approachable, for those fighting their own mental health battles.

When I got to UNC, I took every chance to explore the dual effects of technology. In a food studies class my first year, my final project analyzed “What I Eat in a Day” videos, building on my ongoing interest in how social media shapes behavior and well-being. For PSYC395, I explored the risks and potential applications of AI chatbots for social anxiety, and more recently, I have been developing an app for the treatment of mental health disorders, continuing to investigate how technology can both challenge and support human health.

I also had the opportunity to serve on the founding executive board of AI@UNC, a student organization focused on exposing undergraduate students to the world of artificial intelligence. While the negative effects of AI are difficult to ignore, especially from a psychology/neuroscience perspective, I was able to witness firsthand its positive potential across a variety of fields. In particular, I became interested in its applications to research, an area I have begun exploring and am eager to investigate further.

The experience that confirmed my interest in research was serving as an RA in the Rodebaugh Lab. During my time there, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to multiple projects related to social and speech anxiety. More recently, I have been involved in a project that allows me to work with unique data-collection software and apply my programming skills directly. Ultimately, working with this talented team of researchers on projects that are truly meaningful to me is a major part of what inspired me to pursue the Gil internship.

After being selected as a Gil intern, I knew I wanted to work at a site where I could either directly explore the effects of technology through research or apply my technical background to a research topic more generally. At the Winston Center, I’ve been lucky enough to do both.

The center’s primary mission is in the name: the Winston Center on Technology and Brain Development. Their goal is to understand how technology and social media, which have become fixtures in the daily lives of teenagers/adolescents, impact the developing mind and brain. Ultimately, this insight into the positive and negative effects of technology use can then be used to inform the decisions of families, educators, and policy-makers. 

As a quantitative intern, I’ve had the chance to contribute to a variety of data-related tasks. A lot of my work has involved working with datasets and organizing things so they’re actually usable for analysis. I’ve also gotten exposure to areas that were completely new to me, like projects involving brain scans and other neuroscience-related data. I’m also currently working on a few analyses of my own, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of it!

By far the bulk of my work so far has involved developing programs that handle data extraction and manipulation. One of my projects, which you can view here, is designed to extract screen time information from screenshots submitted by participants, automating a process that was previously manual. While building software is something I love, creating tools that directly support research in a field I’m passionate about makes it even more rewarding.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with the amazing team of research professionals and students at the center. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Kaitlyn Burnell, my mentor, and Lexi Bendl for providing mentorship, guidance, and support in every aspect of my work, as well as Dr. Jimmy Capella, who has assisted me with my independent research. Furthermore, a big thanks to Dr. Steven Buzinski and Richie Gray for not only providing me with this incredible opportunity but also for their continued support throughout the program.