Ana da Silva Pinho is a postdoctoral researcher at the Connected Minds Lab in the department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Amsterdam.
Her research focuses on how young people engage with social media and how this relates to their mood and mental health. To investigate these dynamics, she uses computational models, experimental designs, and integrate real-world and self-reported data. Before her postdoc, she was a PhD candidate at the same lab and university, studying social learning strategies during adolescence in the context of school-based social networks and social media, with a particular focus on social norms and feedback.

Research methods

• Experimental design
• Social network analysis
• Content analysis
• Statistical modeling
• Computational modeling 
• Surveys

Current research projects

• Social feedback and social media engagement of teenagers

We investigate developmental and individual differences in social media feedback sensitivity, social media behavior, feed behavior, and mood.

• The role of valence of online social information on teenagers’ opinions 

We investigate the impact of online peer commentary on teenagers’ opinions about real-life matters.  

Current cooperation

• Co-leading a team of 20 Dutch scholars in a global research collaboration examining the causal impact of social media usage: Global Social Media Study

Guest lecturer in an AI Bachelor's course. Additionally, I supervise Bachelor's and Master's students in Psychology, Psychobiology, and Cognitive Science.

PhD Supervision

• Violeta Céspedes Izquierdo (co-supervisor)