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My PhD Title: #StateOfMind: How Do Family Structure and Family Belonging Influence the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Self-Esteem Among Youth in the UK, the Netherlands and South Korea?
Supervisor: Dr Shaun Scholes (primary supervisor), Prof Nicola Shelton and Prof Yvonne Kelly (secondary supervisors)
Lay summary: Memta’s research explores the relationship between social media use and self-esteem among young people in different countries, with a focus on how family factors such as family structure and sense of family belonging affect this relationship. She conducts secondary data analyses on three longitudinal panel studies: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences Dutch Panel and the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey.
My Background
Memta attained a First Class Honours in BSc Population Health at UCL in 2018. Her current PhD research is an extension of her final year undergraduate dissertation, where she won the Best Dissertation Award in her faculty. Alongside her PhD, Memta also works as a Senior Postgraduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Political Science, where she teaches Data Science modules using R to undergraduate students. She has also worked as a Connected Learning Intern for the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care during Summer 2020 to support the changes required with moving activities online due to the pandemic. Besides her academic pursuits, Memta loves dancing. She was in the Bachata Dance Competition Team in UCL Salsa Society and she competed in the Birmingham Latin Dance Competition in February 2020, where her team received a special mention.
Her interest in social media use and young people's mental health and well-being stems from being an avid social media user herself and her interest in and commitment to mindfulness. Being able to relate to how children and adolescents use social media makes her PhD research all the more enjoyable.
Qualifications
- Certified Digital Wellness Educator (certified by the Digital Wellness Institute in the USA)
- First Class Honours in BSc Population Health at UCL
Awards
- People’s Choice Winner for the UCL 3 Minute Thesis Competition in 2020
- Faculty Medal Winner (Faculty of Population Health Sciences) in 2018
- Gillian and Joseph Stoltman Prize for Outstanding Overall Performance in 2018
- Best Undergraduate Faculty Dissertation Award Winner in 2018
- Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) Excellence Award for Undergraduates in 2018
Publications
- Memta published a paper to the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking in December 2019. It is titled #StateOfMind: Family Meal Frequency Moderates the Association Between Time on Social Networking Sites and Well-Being Among UK Young Adults: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2019.0338
- Memta was a guest blogger for the Royal Society for Public Health ‘Scroll Free September’ Campaign in 2018: https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/guest-blog-social-media-family-life-and-wellbeing.html
Appointments
Senior PGTA in various Data Science modules in the Department of Political Science
PGTA in Basic Statistics for Medical Sciences in the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care
Contact details
Email: memta.jagtiani.15@ucl.ac.uk