Patti M. Valkenburg is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on the cognitive, emotional, and social effects of (social) media on youth and adults. She is particularly interested in theorizing, studying, and demonstrating how children, adolescents, and adults differ in their susceptibility to the effects of (social) media. In her current Project AWeSome (Adolescents, Well-being, and Social media), she investigates why social media use makes some adolescents feel happy, while leaving others feeling blue.
Her research has been recognized by multiple grants and awards, including a Vici grant from the Dutch Research Council (2003), an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (2010), the Spinoza Award from the Dutch Research Council (2011), the Hendrik Muller Award from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011), the Career Achievement Award by the International Communication Association (2016), and the Outstanding Interdisciplinary Contribution Award from the Society for Research on Adolescence (2022).
Valkenburg is a fellow of the ICA, the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Holland Society of Science and Humanities. In 2003, she founded CcaM, the Center for Research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media, which is part of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. Her most recent open access book, Plugged In, was published by Yale University Press.
Valkenburg, P.M. & Peter, J. (2013). The differential susceptibility to media effects model. Journal of Communication, 63, 221-243.
Valkenburg, P.M., & Piotrowski, J.T. (2017). Plugged in: How Media Attract and Affect Youth. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Valkenburg, P.M., Peter, J., & Walther, J.B. (2016). Media effects: Theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 315-338.
Valkenburg, P.M., Beyens, I., Pouwels, J.L., van Driel, I.I. & Keijsers, L. (2021). Social media and adolescents’ self-esteem: Heading for a person-specific media effects paradigm. Journal of Communication, 71, 56-78.
Valkenburg, P.M., Beyens, I., Pouwels, J.L., van Driel, I.I., & Keijsers, L. (2022). Social media browsing and adolescent well-being: Challenging the “Passive Social Media Use Hypothesis.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 27,1.