# Amy Orben

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{{Short description|British experimental psychologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Amy Orben
| image             = Amy Orben lecture at University of Basel.jpg
| caption           = Orben lectures for the [University of Basel](/source/University_of_Basel) in 2020
| workplaces        = [Emmanuel College, Cambridge](/source/Emmanuel_College%2C_Cambridge) <br> [MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit](/source/MRC_Cognition_and_Brain_Sciences_Unit)
| alma_mater        = [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) <br> [University of Oxford](/source/University_of_Oxford)
| thesis_title      = Teens, screens and well-being : an improved approach.
| thesis_url        = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1127060135
| thesis_year       = 2019
| website           = [https://www.amyorben.com Amy Orben]
}}
'''Amy Orben''' is a British experimental psychologist who is a group leader at the [MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit](/source/MRC_Cognition_and_Brain_Sciences_Unit). Her research considers how digital technologies impact adolescent mental health. Orben was awarded the [British Neuroscience Association](/source/British_Neuroscience_Association) Researcher Credibility Prize in 2021 and the inaugural [Medical Research Council](/source/Medical_Research_Council_(United_Kingdom)) Impact Prize in 2023.

== Early life and education ==
Orben was an undergraduate student at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) where she studied natural sciences. She moved to [The Queen's College, Oxford](/source/The_Queen's_College%2C_Oxford) for graduate studies, where she specialised in experimental psychology.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Amy Orben|url=https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/amy-orben|access-date=2021-12-30|website=The Queen's College, Oxford|language=en}}</ref> During her doctoral research, she was a visiting researcher at the [University of Tübingen](/source/University_of_T%C3%BCbingen) and [Eindhoven University of Technology](/source/Eindhoven_University_of_Technology). After completing her doctorate Orben was made a Cambridge Research Fellow at [Emmanuel College](/source/Emmanuel_College%2C_Cambridge).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Amy Orben {{!}} Cumberland Lodge|url=https://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/about-us/guest-speakers/amy-orben|access-date=2021-12-30|website=www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk}}</ref>

== Research and career ==
As a PhD student, Orben questioned the methods applied by [Jean Twenge](/source/Jean_Twenge) and others who had arrived at claims about the negative effects of technology and social media use.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Denworth |first1=Lydia |title=Social Media Has Not Destroyed a Generation |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/social-media-has-not-destroyed-a-generation/ |access-date=17 July 2025 |work=[Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American) |date=1 November 2019}}</ref> In 2021, Orben was appointed a programme leader at the [MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit](/source/MRC_Cognition_and_Brain_Sciences_Unit).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dr Amy Orben appointed as Programme Track Leader Scientist|url=https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/blog/2021/10/dr-amy-orben-appointed-as-programme-track-leader-scientist/|access-date=2021-12-30|website=www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk}}</ref> Her research considers novel methodologies to understand how screen time and use of social media impacts psychological well-being in adolescents.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Orben|first=Amy|date=2020-04-01|title=Teenagers, screens and social media: a narrative review of reviews and key studies|journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|language=en|volume=55|issue=4|pages=407–414|doi=10.1007/s00127-019-01825-4|pmid=31925481 |s2cid=210123027 |issn=1433-9285|doi-access=free}}</ref> Post-millennial mental health (in particular stress, depression and anxiety) is reportedly worse than in previous generations, which is often attributed to social media. Orben showed that this wasn't the entire story: statistically speaking, eating a potato every day had a worse impact on well-being.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-04-26 |title=Don't despair if your child is glued to a screen, it may be keeping them sane |last=Orben |first=Amy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/26/dont-despair-if-your-child-is-glued-to-a-screen-it-may-be-keeping-them-sane |access-date=2021-12-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> She argued that social media can be helpful in times of anxiety and loneliness.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In touch with their emotions and extremely online—here's what you need to know about Gen Z|url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/in-touch-with-their-emotions-and-extremely-online-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-gen-z|url-status=live|website=Prospect Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209120444/https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/in-touch-with-their-emotions-and-extremely-online-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-gen-z |archive-date=2021-12-09 }}</ref> Orben believes that significant quantities of high quality data about how children engage with technology could be provided by technology giants such as Google and Facebook.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-02-01|title=Amy Orben: 'To talk about smartphones affecting the brain is a slippery slope'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/01/amy-orben-psychology-smartphones-affecting-brain-social-media-teenagers-mental-health|access-date=2021-12-30|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|date=2021-11-09|title=The Question We've Stopped Asking About Teen-Agers and Social Media|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/the-question-weve-stopped-asking-about-teen-agers-and-social-media|access-date=2021-12-30|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref>

Orben has criticised several of the methodologies currently being used, which largely rely on self-report methods and generate incorrect results.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Amy Orben honoured |url=https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-33/february-2020/amy-orben-honoured |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=The Psychologist |publisher=British Psychological Society}}</ref><ref name=":0"/> She is also an advocate for open science, and created ''ReproducibiliTea'',<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Orben|first=Amy|date=2019-09-24|title=A journal club to fix science|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=573|issue=7775|pages=465|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-02842-8|pmid=31551562 |s2cid=202733672 |doi-access=free}}</ref> an international journal club for researchers to discuss improving science.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-06-05|title=ReproducibiliTea|url=https://osf.io/3qrj6/|language=en |website=Open Science Framework}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
* 2017 We Are The City Techwomen50 Award<ref>{{Cite web|title=TechWomen50 Awards: 2017 Winners |url=https://wearetechwomen.com/awards-2017-winners/|access-date=2021-12-30|website=WeAreTechWomen - Supporting Women in Technology |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* 2019 [British Psychological Society](/source/British_Psychological_Society) Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research<ref>{{Cite web|title=Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research Contributions to Psychology |url=https://www.bps.org.uk/about-us/awards-and-grants/research-board-awards/award-outstanding-doctoral-research-contributions|access-date=2021-12-30|website=British Psychological Society}}</ref><ref name=":1"/>
* 2020 [Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science](/source/Society_for_the_Improvement_of_Psychological_Science) Mission Award for ReproducibiliTea<ref>{{Cite web|title=Awards|url=https://improvingpsych.org/mission/awards/|access-date=2021-12-30|language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2021 [British Neuroscience Association](/source/British_Neuroscience_Association) Researcher Credibility Prize<ref>{{Cite web|title=Winners of the 2021 Credibility Prize |url=https://www.bna.org.uk/mediacentre/news/winners-of-the-2021-credibility-prize/|access-date=2021-12-30|website=British Neuroscience Association}}</ref>
* 2021 Nominee for the Association for Child and Adolescent Digital Innovation Award<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-22|title=ACAMH Awards 2021 Results|url=https://www.acamh.org/blog/acamh-awards-2021-results/|access-date=2021-12-30|website=ACAMH|language=en-GB}}</ref>
* 2023 [Medical Research Council](/source/Medical_Research_Council_(United_Kingdom)) Impact Prize<ref>{{cite web |title=MRC awards inaugural Impact Prizes |url=https://www.ukri.org/news/mrc-awards-inaugural-impact-prizes/ |website=News |publisher=Medical Research Council |access-date=15 March 2023}}</ref>

== Selected publications ==
* {{Cite Q|Q92830198}}
* {{Cite Q|Q96427197}}
* {{Cite Q|Q91803322}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orben, Amy}}
Category:British women psychologists
Category:Living people
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Amy Orben](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Orben) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Orben?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.