Smartphones Aggravating Anxiety Symptoms

NCT06361342 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 23-003633
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to assess if excessive use of smartphone apps of social media can impact a person's mental health. The study is aimed at improving the usage of smartphones which might help improve the mental health of patients. The goal is not to discourage the use of smartphones but instead to utilize smartphones in a way that they do not impact lives.

Conditions

Anxiety

Keywords

Smartphones

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in anxiety

  Measured using the General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD 7) scale to assess severity of generalized anxiety disorder. Scoring is calculated by assigning scores of 0, 1, 2, and 3 to the response categories, respectively, of "not at all," "several days," "more than half the days," and "nearly every day." Total score for the seven items ranges from 0 to 21 where 0 is no anxiety, 1-4 is minimal anxiety, 5-9 is mild anxiety, 10-14 is moderate anxiety, and 15-21 is severe anxiety.

  Day 1, 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in depression

  Day 1, 12 weeks

Study Arms (2)

General decrease in smartphone use.

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects will limit their time on smartphone.

Behavioral: General decrease in smartphone use

Avoid certain social media apps

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects will limit time on smartphone, in particular avoiding use of social media apps on the smartphone which includes Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Behavioral: Avoiding Social Media Apps

Interventions

General decrease in smartphone use BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will decrease their time on smartphone in general.

General decrease in smartphone use.

Avoiding Social Media Apps BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will avoid use of social media apps on the smartphone which includes Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Avoid certain social media apps

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• For patients aged 18 years or older experiencing mild symptoms of anxiety or depression and who have a GAD-7 score 5 and above.
• Patient should have smart phone and should be using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Pinterest social media apps.
• Patients should have email access.

You may not qualify if:

• Any patient who uses a smartphone for tracking glucose for diabetes management, heart rate, or any chronic illness which is being managed through a smartphone app.
• Any patient who uses more than one personal smartphone
• Any patient who is a suicide risk as per PHQ-9 score, current recreational drug usage, or alcohol abuse.
• Any patient who has suicidal ideation as per PHQ-9 assessment before or during the study period will be excluded, (all patients will be monitored for suicidal ideation by PHQ-9 scoring method at day 1, week 6, and week 12, but it is the responsibility of the patient to inform the study team if they have developed any suicidal ideation throughout the study period).
• Patients with activated POA (Power of Attorney - Healthcare), diagnosis of mental retardation or current disability due to any psychiatric disorder or severe depression with a high risk of suicide should be excluded.
• Any patient currently undergoing ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for severe depression.
• Any patient taking prescribed SSRIs/SNRIs, with a change and not taking them continuously in last 30 days (not a new diagnosis of anxiety). If change they will be excluded.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Mayo Clinic: lead

Study Sites (1)

Mayo Clinic Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota, 55905, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Gagandeep Singh, MD

  Mayo Clinic

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 7, 2024
• First Posted: April 11, 2024
• Study Start: March 8, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Last Updated: January 14, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)