Bidirectional Influences Between Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | RFA MH 25 205

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 25 205

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering an R01 grant opportunity titled "Bidirectional Influences Between Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health (Clinical Trial Optional)" under funding opportunity number RFA-MH-25-205 (CFDA 93.242). The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to support research that can untangle the two-way, back-and-forth relationships between adolescents social media use and their mental health. In other words, the program is interested in studies that examine both how social media experiences may shape psychiatric symptoms, wellbeing, and vulnerability or resilience to psychopathology, and how an adolescents existing mental health status, symptoms, or risk profile may in turn influence the ways they use social media, what they encounter online, and how they respond to digital interactions.

For this NOFO, "social media" is defined broadly as internet-based communication platforms and applications that allow users to interact by sharing information, consuming content, or engaging with other users. The target population is adolescents, defined here as ages 10 through 20. The emphasis on this age range reflects the reality that young people are gaining earlier access to smartphones and social platforms, while also having increasing autonomy over when, how, and why they use digital tools. The research focus is therefore on a developmental period when peer relationships, identity formation, emotion regulation, sleep patterns, and academic and family contexts are shifting quickly, all of which could plausibly intersect with social media behavior and mental health in complex and changing ways.

The scientific priority is on understanding mechanisms and patterns that reflect bidirectional influence rather than one-directional cause and effect. Projects responsive to this NOFO would generally be expected to capture time-varying relationships, feedback loops, and contextual moderators that could explain why social media use is associated with risk for some adolescents but not for others, and why certain mental health profiles might lead to distinct patterns of engagement such as increased social comparison, reassurance seeking, avoidance, compulsive checking, late-night use, or heightened sensitivity to online feedback. The NOFO also highlights interest in risk and resilience for psychopathology, which signals that NIH is not only looking for studies focused on harm or symptom worsening, but also research that can clarify protective factors, adaptive uses, and conditions under which social media may be neutral or even supportive for certain youth.

Although the announcement is labeled "Clinical Trial Optional," it explicitly states that no effectiveness or efficacy trials will be accepted. That means applicants should not propose intervention studies designed to test whether a treatment, program, platform change, or policy causes improved outcomes in the classic efficacy/effectiveness sense. Instead, the opportunity is aimed at explanatory, observational, mechanistic, developmental, or predictive research that advances understanding of the relationship itself, potentially including designs that involve intensive longitudinal measurement, naturalistic observation, or other approaches that help establish temporal ordering and reciprocal influence without moving into an intervention trial framework.

This is a discretionary grant using the NIH R01 mechanism, which typically supports substantial, multi-year research projects. The NOFO lists an original application closing date of October 20, 2025, and the funding is administered by NIH within the health research category. An award ceiling is not specified in the provided source data, and the number of expected awards is also not listed, so applicants would generally need to consult the full NOFO for budget guidance, any institute-specific caps, and the anticipated scale of awards.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and some non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories as specified); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other eligible entities. The NOFO also explicitly highlights additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, tribal governments other than federally recognized, and non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities or foreign organizations. This breadth signals a strong interest in encouraging diverse applicant pools and, by extension, research that can reflect varied communities, contexts, and adolescent experiences.

Taken together, this NOFO is best understood as a call for rigorous research that can clarify how adolescent mental health and social media use shape each other over time, who is most vulnerable or most resilient, and what features of adolescents lives and online environments help explain these patterns. The overarching goal is to move beyond simple correlations and toward a more precise, developmentally informed understanding of reciprocal pathways linking digital social experiences and mental health across adolescence.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bidirectional Influences Between Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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