The Development of Adolescent Romantic Relationships in the Digital Age
On the 6th of July 2026, Generation AI hosted a webinar with Thao Ha, developmental psychologist and director of the @HEART Lab at Arizona State University. Dr Anthony Bridgen, project coordinator for Generation AI, reflects on this.
There is considerable attention on young people, the way they are growing up, and how digital technologies are changing the experience of childhood and adolescence. This discourse has become particularly loud around social media, leading to the UK following Australia in banning social media for under-16s. Social media and emerging technologies such as AI have shifted the way in which adolescents connect, communicate, and form romantic relationships.
Romantic relationships during adolescence play a formative role in establishing relational competencies and boundaries for future relationships. Something which is in turn deterministic of future mental health and relationship patterns. If this is disrupted and competencies such as conflict resolution and perspective taking are underdeveloped, adolescents are more likely to experience negative mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression.
Technology can threaten these foundational experiences by disrupting interpersonal interaction and facilitating behaviours such as surveillance. For example, social media usage and mobile devices can lead to greater incidence of miscommunication, foment jealousy and create tension in relationships. Whilst some stressors are needed in order to practice relational skills, too much can be damaging.
AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Replika and Character.AI represent a new frontier of challenge, with half of US adolescents using them daily and one-fifth to have a romantic relationship. AI is predictable, non-judgemental and always on, humans are not. Turning to chatbots during moments of relational challenge can provide validation of negative behaviours where a human might challenge these, reinforcing unhealthy patterns. Furthermore, by providing an easy, accessible and non-reciprocal interaction, chatbots can displace real relationships and microinteractions - for example consulting a chatbot to assist with schoolwork where they might previously have asked for help from a peer.
However, it may not necessarily be the technology itself that is the problem, but the way it is built. By moving away from design for engagement and towards systems which scaffold important skills and redirect to human connection, it may be able to support adolescent's socioemotional development.
In order to understand the ways in which digital technologies can and are causing harm to adolescent relationships, and how they might be designed to promote flourishing, there is a real need to move away from anecdotal and self-report data toward objective evidence.
Read more about Dr. Ha's work below:
If you are interested in hearing about future seminars, reach out to global.challenges@reuben.ox.ac.uk