Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: January 28, 2025 (New, Renewal, Resubmission, Revision) | October 20, 2025 (New, Renewal, Resubmission, Revision)
Funding Amounts: ~$5M total for FY25–26 across 5–6 awards (R01 & R21); no budget cap per project; up to 5 years/project.
Summary: Supports research on the bidirectional relationships between adolescent (ages 10–20) social media use and mental health, excluding efficacy trials.
Key Information: No late applications accepted; non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are eligible; no effectiveness/efficacy trials allowed.
Description
This opportunity from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at NIH seeks to advance understanding of how social media use and adolescent mental health influence each other. The focus is on adolescents aged 10–20, a period of significant social, behavioral, and neural development, and a time of increased risk for the onset of mental disorders. The program encourages research that goes beyond simple measures of screen time, instead supporting sophisticated, fine-grained approaches to assess social media use and its impact on psychiatric symptoms, risk, and resilience for psychopathology.
Projects may also explore how adolescent psychopathology influences social media use, and how social media platforms can be leveraged for identification, prevention, or intervention related to mental health. However, the program does not support effectiveness or efficacy trials.
Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Mechanisms by which social media use impacts risk or resilience for psychopathology.
- Developmental, neurobiological, and contextual factors influencing these relationships.
- The role of algorithmic bias, exposure to discrimination, and social comparison.
- Methods for capturing cross-platform and cross-device behavior.
- Use of social media data for identification and early intervention.
- Strategies to mitigate potential harms and promote positive social media experiences.
Applications are encouraged to include youth advisory boards and consider ethical issues such as privacy and consent.
Due Dates
- Letter of Intent (optional): 30 days prior to application due date
- Application Deadlines:
- January 28, 2025 (New, Renewal, Resubmission, Revision)
- October 20, 2025 (New, Renewal, Resubmission, Revision)
- All applications due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization
- No late applications accepted
Funding Amount
- Total Funding: NIMH intends to commit ~$5,000,000 total costs in FY25 and FY26 across both this R01 and its companion R21 opportunity.
- Number of Awards: 5–6 awards anticipated across both mechanisms.
- Award Budget: No budget cap; budgets must reflect actual needs.
- Project Period: Up to 5 years per project.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants include:
- Public and private institutions of higher education (U.S. and non-U.S.)
- Nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status)
- For-profit organizations (including small businesses)
- State, county, city, township, and special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal governments and organizations (federally recognized and other)
- Faith-based and community-based organizations
- Regional organizations
- U.S. territories and possessions
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and components of U.S. organizations
Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are invited to apply.
Application Process
- Submission: Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov, NIH ASSIST, or an institutional system-to-system solution.
- Required Registrations: SAM, eRA Commons, Grants.gov (can take 6+ weeks).
- Application Guide: Follow the NIH How to Apply - Application Guide.
- Forms: Use SF424 (R&R) forms, following all instructions for R01 applications.
- Letter of Intent: Optional, but recommended; email to nimhpeerreview@mail.nih.gov.
- Page Limits: As specified in the NIH Table of Page Limits.
- Data Sharing: All applicants must include a Data Management and Sharing Plan and are expected to share data via the NIMH Data Archive (NDA).
- Human Subjects: Complete the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form as required.
Additional Information
- Clinical Trial Policy: Clinical trials are optional; both clinical trial and non-clinical trial applications are accepted, but no effectiveness/efficacy trials will be funded.
- Non-Responsive Applications: Will not be reviewed if they:
- Do not focus on ages 10–20.
- Only measure screen time or rely solely on self-report.
- Propose animal research.
- Propose interventions without evaluation of mechanisms of action.
- Propose psychoeducation or referral interventions without examining impact on service access, engagement, or outcomes.
- Youth Engagement: Inclusion of a youth advisory board is encouraged.
- Ethics: Consideration of privacy, consent, and other ethical issues is encouraged.
- Data Sharing: Budget for data sharing and NDA submission costs.
External Links
Contact Information