Study Smart! Effectiveness of a Smartphone Use Intervention on Students' Performance and Well-being

NCT04550286 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 215/2019
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 140
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Smartphone use in academic contexts (e.g., in lectures or while studying for an exam) appears to go along with negative effects on students' academic performance (i.e., concentration, perceived learning achievement, and grades) and well-being (e.g., anxiety, positive and negative affect). Despite these alarming effects, intervention studies aiming at reducing smartphone interference are generally scarce and evidential inconsistent. For instance, existing studies suggest that short separation phases from smartphones accelerate anxiety and lead to cravings and smartphone overuse after the separation period. Other studies, however, conclude that separation phases enhance individual well-being and academic performance. RESEARCH QUESTIONS. The present study aims at rigorously studying the effects of smartphone separation during exam phases on university students' performance and well-being. To do so, smartphone use reduction is incorporated into students' everyday life and encouraged through a planning intervention. The main research questions concern whether the intervention can reduce smartphone use in students, whether planning is effective in this regard, whether the intervention positively affects students' academic performance (e.g., concentration, perceived performance, grades), and whether the intervention enhances students' well-being (e.g., increased positive and decreased negative affect, lower anxiety). Furthermore, possible moderating (e.g., smartphone dependence, FoMO) and mediating variables (e.g., exam preparation-related flow, smartphone usage time, used mobile applications) are examined. METHOD. Students are to develop action plans (BCT 1.4; plans on how to reduce smartphone use during exam phases) and coping plans (BCT 1.2; plans on how to uphold reduced smartphone use during exam phases despite potential stressors or urges). The relevant variables are assessed over the course of 5 measurement points (t1-t3 take place on a weekly basis, t4 takes place after the last exam, t5 takes place 2 months after t4). Furthermore, smartphone use (smartphone use time, used mobile applications) is objectively measured via a mobile application.

Conditions

Experimental Group: Smartphone Use Reduction; Control Group

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (8)

• Objective measure of smartphone use

  The daily smartphone use will be assessed via the mobile application Murmuras measuring daily smartphone use in minutes and specific application use concerning the 10 most used applications.

  Continuously from time point 1 (baseline) through time point 2 (1 weeks after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline) to time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of academic performance: Ability to concentrate

  Changes in students' ability to concentrate will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: LIST; Inventory for assessing learning strategies in students; score: 1 \[not at all agreed\] to 5 \[completely agreed\]).

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of academic performance: Experienced study-related stress

  Changes in students' experienced study-related stress will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: Self-developed based on STQL-S; Stress coping and quality of life in students; score: 1 \[not at all\] to 5 \[extremely\]).

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of academic performance: Perceived learning achievement

  Students' perceived learning achievement will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: Self-developed. Measure: Self-developed; score: 1 \[not at all agreed\] to 6 \[completely agreed\]).

  Time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of academic performance: Exam grades

  Students' exam grades will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: Self-developed.

  Time point 5 (2 months after final exam in the current semester)

• Subjective measure of well-being: Positive and negative affect

  Changes in students' positive and negative affect will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: PANAS; Positive and negative affect schedule; score: 1 \[not at all\] to 5 \[extremely\]).

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of well-being: Anxiety

  Changes in students' anxiety will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: PSS; Perceived stress scale - German version; score: 1 \[never\] to 5 \[very often\]).

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of well-being: Subjective well-being

  Changes in students' subjective well-being will be assessed through subjective self-report measures. Measure: WHO-5 Well-being-Index; score: 1 \[never\] to 6 \[all the time\]).

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Subjective measure of moderating variables: Smartphone dependence

  Time point 1 (baseline)

• Subjective measure of moderating variables: Fear of missing out

  Time point 1 (baseline)

• Subjective measure of mediating variables: Individual action planning

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of mediating variables: Individual coping planning

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

• Subjective measure of mediating variables: Exam preparation-related flow

  Time point 1 (baseline), time point 2 (1 week after baseline), time point 3 (2 weeks after baseline), time point 4 (after final exam in the current semester, approx. 4 - 6 weeks after baseline)

Study Arms (2)

Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention points in time include: 1. Baseline measure 2. Installation of the study app 3. Advice on general enhancements regarding study environment and behavior (BCT 4.1) 4. Students are to develop up to three action plans (BCT 1.4) and coping plans (BCT 1.2) to reduce smartphone interference during exam preparation periods by putting the smartphone away 5. Students receive weekly questionnaire (t1-t3) and one questionnaire after their first exam (t4). All these questionnaires concern their academic performance and well-being. A short questionnaire (t5) asks for the participants' exam grades approx. 2 months after their exam. A time period of 2 months has been chosen to ensure that universities have enough time to announce the grades. 6. During the whole period of the study, the mobile application tracks the students' smartphone behavior (i.e., daily smartphone use, daily screen activations, and specific app usage).

Behavioral: Smartphone Use Reduction in Academic Context

Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Control points in time include all parts except for number 4. Here students in the control group will receive questionnaires on general health behavior in order to achieve an equal questionnaire completion time compared to the intervention group.

Behavioral: Control

Interventions

Smartphone Use Reduction in Academic Context BEHAVIORAL

Students will be given general advice on how to organize their exam preparation environment and behavior to improve their overall learning performance (e.g., organization of materials for exam preparation, pauses during exam preparation). This refers to the behavior change techniques (BCT 4.1, instructions on how to perform the behavior; Michie et al.; 2013). In the next step, participants in the intervention group complete planning sheets. Each student has to develop up to three action plans (BCT 1.4) including when, where, and for how long the smartphone will be put away during the daily exam preparation period (cf. Radtke et al., 2018). In addition, each participant should try to anticipate possible barriers to engaging in the planned behavior and plan what he or she could do to overcome these possible barriers (i.e., coping planning; BCT 1.2; Michie et al., 2013).

Intervention Group

Control BEHAVIORAL

Students will be given general advice on how to organize their exam preparation environment and behavior to improve their overall learning performance (e.g., organization of materials for exam preparation, pauses during exam preparation).

Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Students from universities and universities of applied science
• At least one written or oral exam during the data collection period
• Ownership of an Android smartphone
• Daily usage of the smartphone
• Experience of distractions due to the smartphone during exam phases
• At least 16 years of age
• At least good German language skills

You may not qualify if:

• Withholding consent to the data security regulations
• Withholding consent to the installation of the study application
• Students who are currently being treated for exam anxiety

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Witten/Herdecke: lead

Study Sites (1)

Witten/Herdecke University

Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, 58454, Germany

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Theda Radtke

  Witten/Herdecke University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Tania R. Nunez, M.A.

CONTACT

+49 (0)2302/926-884; tania.nunez@uni-wh.de

Theda Radtke, PhD

CONTACT

theda.radtke@uni-wh.de

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 6, 2020
• First Posted: September 16, 2020
• Study Start: January 13, 2020
• Primary Completion: October 31, 2021
• Study Completion: October 31, 2021
• Last Updated: June 8, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: The data underlying publications will be shared to make the published results reproducible after submission of the papers.
• Access Criteria: Upon request

Locations

DE (1)