![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dr-nicole-gross-300.webp\")
<\/p>\nNational College of Ireland researcher contributes to major new Lancet series on digital determinants of health<\/p>\n
The harm to the health of children and young people caused by digital technologies cannot be understated, an Irish researcher involved in a major Lancet study has said.<\/p>\n
Dr Nicole Gross, associate professor in business and society at the National College of Ireland, is among the contributing authors of a new series by the prestigious journal focused on the digital determinants of health.<\/p>\n
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Dr Nicole Gross<\/p>\n
The articles interrogate the way that digital technologies and digital environments are being built currently. With additional input from a youth advisory group comprised of six young adults, the series also argues that the way digital technologies and digital environments are being governed currently creates legitimate and significant risks to health worldwide alongside the genuine benefits of technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cDigitalisation is a mega-trend and there is compelling evidence our health is not just affected but increasingly determined by digital technologies,\u201d said Dr Gross.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence is clear, compelling, and mounting: the mental and physical health of children and young adults is negatively affected by digital technologies. The risk of digital harm to children and young adults cannot be understated.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI have been researching the intersection between organisation studies, digital technologies, and changing things for the \u2018greater good\u2019 in the context of healthcare for over a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollaborating with a panel of renowned scholars and international experts has been a great honour for me, and The Lancet\u2019s impact and reach will help us to get important research findings across.\u201d<\/p>\n
The programme director for the NCI\u2019s MSc. in International Business, Dr Gross was nominated for a Media Literacy Award in 2025 for her work educating Dublin Community Co-op and community partners on safely and thoughtfully engaging with AI health apps. She has been conducting research on the perils and promise of AI for over a decade.<\/p>\n
In an editorial published to coincide with the new series, The Lancet\u2019s editors argue that the research comes \u2018at a pivotal time, when intervention is needed to prioritise health as digital technologies are increasingly integrated into our everyday lives\u2019.<\/p>\n
The editorial continues: \u201cThe health impacts of digital media use are not uniformly negative\u2014and there are substantial limitations in the current evidence base\u2014but the overall picture is concerning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross 121 systematic reviews covering nearly 9 million young people, adverse findings were more common than beneficial ones: 71 per cent of findings for children aged 0\u201310 years and 80 per cent for adolescents aged 10\u201324 years were adverse.<\/p>\n
\u201cReported associations included poorer mental health and wellbeing, negative emotions and conduct, loneliness, poorer quality of life, sleep problems, reduced physical activity, obesity, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Risks varied according to developmental stage, content, context and pattern of engagement, individual circumstances, and platform design. Although stronger evidence is needed, we cannot wait for such evidence before taking proportionate precautionary action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The editorial also highlights the risks that the digital age poses on older people, particularly relating to misinformation, fraud and digital exclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoverning digital technologies, in their duality and mutability, will be a defining public health challenge of the 21st century. This Lancet Series lays the foundations for a public health approach that treats digital systems as structural determinants of health; puts health at the centre of digital progress; and outlines a path towards digital governance in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National College of Ireland researcher contributes to major new Lancet series on digital determinants of health The harm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[220,2409,34037,274528,103,61,60,25979],"class_list":["post-646528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ai","tag-digital-technology","tag-digitalisation","tag-dr-nicole-gross","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lancet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}