TECH Signal 440
Online support networks gain thousands of young participants as researchers call for evidence they work
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Organizations like Force of Nature are running online group sessions to help young people cope with anxiety about overlapping global crises, but psychological scholars say the field lacks effectiveness data.
The article frames AI job displacement as one strand of a broader 'polycrisis' driving measurable anxiety in young people, which is the user base many products are building for. The call for rigorous evaluation of these support networks signals that feel-good interventions may face the same demand for evidence that any other health-adjacent program does. If these programs scale without measurement, organizations investing in them may be funding something that does not work.
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Force of Nature runs an online program called Becoming a Force of Nature that connects young people across countries to turn climate and polycrisis anxiety into action.
A 2021 study of 10,000 children and young people across 10 countries found 56% agreed with the statement 'Humanity is doomed.'
Psychological scholars and some practitioners say the field needs to measure effectiveness so schools, parents, and kids can know which programs to invest in.
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