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Amsterdam School of Communication Research / ASCoR ASCoR

Dr. L.N. (Lara) Wolfers

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
CW : Youth & Media Entertainment
Photographer: Lara Wolfers
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
  • Postbus 15791
    1001 NG Amsterdam
Contact details
Links
Social media
  • Profile

    Lara Wolfers (PhD 2021) is an Assistant Professor in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the University of Amsterdam. She studies how mobile and social media are used in the family and how this usage relates to the well-being of the family members. She also studies how media can be used for coping with stress and for emotion regulation. Current projects include her Dutch Starter Grant Project "Beyond Screen Time: Unmasking the Power of Social Influence Processes in Social and Mobile Media’s Effect on Mental Health", the interdisciplinary research project "The Impact of Maternal Phone Use on Infant Social and Emotional Development Across Early Infancy: From Momentary Processes to Developmental Consequences" funded by the Children and Screens Institute, and the methods-focused project "Short But Still Valid: Validating One-Item Measures for Key Communication Constructs for Experience Sampling Research" . 

    Lara previously worked at the Leibniz-Institut fuer Wissensmedien (knowledge media research center) in Tuebingen, Germany, as a PhD student. She received the Best Dissertation Award from the Mobile Communication Division of the International Communication Association in 2023. She completed her Master (University of Hohenheim, 2018) and Bachelor (Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, 2014) in communication science. During her studies she received several awards and scholarships including the Deutschlandstipendium and a scholarship of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. From 2020-2022, Lara served as the early-career representative of the Mobile Communication Interest Group of the International Communication Association. 

    Expertise and research fields

    • Media use in the family
    • Media use for coping with stress
    • Social and mobile media use and well-being
    • Media use, social norms, and guilt
    • Quantitative methodologies with a focus on longitudinal data analysis and experience sampling designs
  • Publications

    2024

    • Azrout, R., van Berlo, Z. M. C., Dubel, R., Jonkman, J. G. F., Wolfers, L. N., & Baumgartner, S. E. (2024). Has the AI Revolution Started Yet? A Status Report on the Use of and the Attitudes Towards ChatGPT in Dutch Society. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 52(3), 267-287. https://doi.org/10.5117/TCW2024.3.002.AZRO [details]
      • Related datasets
        • Azrout, R., van Berlo, Z., Dubel, R., Jonkman, J. & Wolfers, L. (2023). ASCoR 25 years panel survey. Universiteit van Amsterdam.
    • Halfmann, A., Wolfers, L. N., & Meeus, A. (2024). Can mothers avoid guilt about their smartphone usage behavior? Effects of the availability norm and goal conflict on guilt, recovery, and accomplishment experiences. Mobile Media and Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579241252098
    • Huang, S., Lai, X., Wolfers, L., Li, Y., Dai, X., Zhao, X., Wu, H., Song, S., Wang, H., He, Y., & Wang, Y. (2024). Online Stress and Offline Stress: Uniqueness, Differences, and Cumulative Effects on Multiple Well-Being Outcomes. Cyberpsychology, 18(2), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2024-2-3 [details]
    • Wolfers, L. N. (2024). A social constructivist viewpoint of media effects: Extending the social influence model of technology use to media effects. Communication Theory. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtae015
    • Wolfers, L. N., Lüpken, L. M., Schimmel, M., Utz, S., Nabi, R. L., & Gaiser, F. (2024). Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic by Using Media: Extending the Coping Goodness-of-Fit Hypothesis to Media Use. Communication Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2024.2365068
    • Wolfers, L. N., Nabi, R. L., & Walter, N. (2024). Too much screen time or too much guilt? How child screen time and parental screen guilt affect parental stress and relationship satisfaction. Media Psychology, 1-32. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2024.2310839

    2023

    • Wolfers, L. N., Baumgartner, S. E., Zhang, X., & Yang, H. (2023). Short but still valid: Validating single-item measures for key media psychology constructs for experience sampling research. In A. Melzer, & G. L. Wagener (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th Conference of the Media Psychology Division (DGPs) (pp. 77-78). Melusina Press . https://doi.org/10.26298/1981-5555 [details]
    • Wolfers, L. N., Utz, S., Wendt, R., & Honecker, J. (2023). Conditionally Helpful? The influence of Person-, Situation-, and Device-Specific Factors on Maternal Smartphone Use for Stress Coping and on Coping Effectiveness. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(3), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2023-3-1 [details]
    • Wolfers, L. N., Wendt, R., Becker, D., & Utz, S. (2023). Do you love your phone more than your child? The consequences of norms and guilt around maternal smartphone use. Human Communication Research, 49(3), 285-295. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad001 [details]

    2022

    2021

    • Utz, S., Wolfers, L., & Göritz, A. (2021). The effects of situational and individual factors on algorithm acceptance in COVID-19-related decision-making: A preregistered online experiment. Human-Machine Communication , 3, 27-46. https://doi.org/10.30658/hmc.3.3
    • Wolfers, L. N. (2021). Parental mobile media use for coping with stress: A focus groups study. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3, 304-315. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.252
    • Wolfers, L. N., & Schneider, F. M. (2021). Using media for coping: A scoping review. Communication Research, 48(8), 1210-1234. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650220939778

    2020

    • Wolfers, L. N., Festl, R., & Utz, S. (2020). Do smartphones and social network sites become more important when experiencing stress? Results from longitudinal data. Computers in Human Behavior, 109, Article 106339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106339
    • Wolfers, L. N., Kitzmann, S., Sauer, S., & Sommer, N. (2020). Phone use while parenting: An observational study to assess the association of maternal sensitivity and smartphone use in a playground setting. Computers in Human Behavior, 102, 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.013

    2024

    • Frackowiak, M., Ochs, C., Wolfers, L., & Vanden Abeele, M. (2024). Commentary: Technoference or parental phubbing? A call for greater conceptual and operational clarity of parental smartphone use around children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 65(8), 1108–1114. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13917 [details]
    • Wolfers, L. N., & Karsay, K. (2024). The Smartphone as Physical Object: Advancing the Debate on Problematic Smartphone Use. In T. von Pape, & V. Karnowski (Eds.), The mobile media debate: Challenging Viewpoints Across Epistemologies (pp. 37-51). (Routledge Debates in Digital Media Studies). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003312963-5 [details]

    2023

    • Nabi, R. L., Wolfers, L., & King, J. (2023). Social Media Use and Patterns of Emotional Experience: A Consideration of Anxiety, Depression, and Hope. In R. L. Nabi, & J. G. Myrick (Eds.), Emotions in the Digital World: Exploring Affective Experience and Expression in Online Interactions (pp. 155-173). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197520536.003.0009 [details]

    2023

    • Wolfers, L. N. (2023). A Facilitation of Coping? Is phone use associated with less effort when coping with a stressful situation?. Paper presented at Between Ideals and Practices: Journalistic Role Performance in Transformative Times , Canada.

    Prize / grant

    • Wolfers, L. (2024). Starter Grant: Beyond Screen Time: Unmasking the Power of Social Influence Processes in Social and Mobile Media’s Effect on Mental Health.
    • Wolfers, L. (2023). The Impact of Maternal Phone Use on Infant Social and Emotional Development Across Early Infancy: From Momentary Processes to Developmental Consequences.
    • Wolfers, L. (2023). Bi-Annual Best Dissertation Award.

    Talk / presentation

    • Wolfers, L. (speaker) (6-3-2023). The role of norms and guilt for media use effects.
    • Wolfers, L. (speaker) (28-2-2023). Social media use, stress, and coping, KU Leuven.
    • Wolfers, L. (speaker) (15-4-2022). Media Use for Coping With Stressful Situations, Northwestern University.

    2023

    • Azrout, R., van Berlo, Z., Dubel, R., Jonkman, J. & Wolfers, L. (2023). ASCoR 25 years panel survey. Universiteit van Amsterdam.
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