Does Social Media Impact Adolescent Mental Health?
Causal Effects of Exposure to Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health
1 other identifier
interventional
500
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The mental health of adolescents in the United States has seen a steep decline since 2011, roughly coinciding with the increasing popularity of social media and smartphones. But does social media have a causal impact on the mental health of adolescents or are concerns about the effect of social media on kids a form of public hysteria? In this study, the investigators will conduct the first field experiment in 11-14-year-olds to examine whether, how, and for whom social media harms mental health.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable
Started Sep 2024
Longer than P75 for not_applicable
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
August 23, 2023
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
September 22, 2023
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
September 29, 2024
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
November 1, 2027
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
February 1, 2028
June 17, 2025
June 1, 2025
3.1 years
August 23, 2023
June 13, 2025
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-25): Total Score
The average score varies between 0 and 4, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Baseline, three months, and six months
Secondary Outcomes (2)
Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-25): Depression Subscale
Baseline, three months, and six months
Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-25): Anxiety Subscale
Baseline, three months, and six months
Other Outcomes (10)
DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure Youth Self Report
Baseline, three months, and six months
DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure Parent Report
Baseline, three months, and six months
Upward Social Comparison (EMA)
Every three days throughout the study with two averages computed for 0 to 3 months and 3 to 6 months.
- +7 more other outcomes
Study Arms (2)
Naturalistic Social Media
NO INTERVENTIONIn this control condition, participants will have no study-imposed restrictions on social media use.
Restricted Social Media
EXPERIMENTALParticipants will have social media apps on their phones blocked for three months.
Interventions
Participants (N = 500) will be randomly assigned to either have no study-imposed restrictions on social media use (naturalistic social media condition) or have no access to social media apps on their phones (restricted social media condition). This manipulation will last three months, after which both groups will have no study-imposed restrictions on social media for three more months.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- is an adolescent who is between the ages of 10 and 14;
- is an adolescent whose parents have decided to buy them their first smartphone;
- is an adolescent both of whose parents/guardians consent for them to be in the study;
- is an adolescent who assents to be in the study; 5) is an adolescent who speaks and reads English sufficiently to complete surveys and provide informed consent.
You may not qualify if:
- is an adolescent who has severe developmental problems (e.g., autism, severe language delay);
- is an adolescent who is currently or has ever been diagnosed with severe or moderately severe mental illness;
- is an adolescent who is currently or has ever experienced suicidal ideation.
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- Georgetown Universitylead
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)collaborator
Study Sites (1)
Georgetown University
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, 20057, United States
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- BASIC SCIENCE
- Intervention Model
- CROSSOVER
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
August 23, 2023
First Posted
September 22, 2023
Study Start
September 29, 2024
Primary Completion (Estimated)
November 1, 2027
Study Completion (Estimated)
February 1, 2028
Last Updated
June 17, 2025
Record last verified: 2025-06
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will share
- Shared Documents
- STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
- Time Frame
- All data will be deposited to NDA starting 12 months after the award begins and will be deposited every six months thereafter following the usual NDA data submission dates.
- Access Criteria
- To request access to the data, researchers will use the standard processes at NDA, and the NDA Data Access Committee will decide which requests to grant. The standard NDA data access process allows access for one year and is renewable. The protocol and code will be available on OSF to anybody with access to the internet. De-identified data associated with each publication will also be made available on OSF by the publication date of each paper.
Demographic, clinical (self-reports and parent reports), neurocognitive (gradCPT), and passive mobile sensing data (accelerometer, GPS, keyboard input, app usage) will be collected and made available on NIMH Data Archive (NDA). All data will be de-identified prior to deposition to NDA. To request access to the data, researchers will use the standard processes at NDA, and the NDA Data Access Committee will decide which requests to grant. All code for the analyses-including statistical analysis, data transformations, and data cleaning-will be shared on the Open Science Framework (OSF). The code can be found by searching for "Kostadin Kushlev" on the Open Science Framework.