Effectiveness of a Mobile Application in Improving Employees' Social Well-being.

NCT06495801 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 240128
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,012
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this cluster randomized controlled trial is to learn if using Frendie PRO mobile application at workplaces improves social well-being in employees. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does using Frendie PRO mobile application at work for 6 months reduce loneliness in employees? Does using Fendie PRO mobile application at work for 6 months reduce social isolation in employees? Researchers will compare employees from workplaces that use the Frendie PRO mobile application to employees from workplaces that do not use the mobile application to see if there are differences in their levels of social well-being (loneliness, social isolation, perceived social support, depressive symptoms). Participants will be given access to the Frendie PRO mobile application and encouraged to use it by employers.

Conditions

Loneliness; Social Isolation; Social Support; Depressive Symptoms

Keywords

loneliness; work well-being; social well-being

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Loneliness

  University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale

  Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up

• Social Isolation

  The Social Isolation scale was modified from an index used by Christiansen et al. (2021). Christiansen and colleagues, in turn, created it inspired by the detailed Social Network Index created by Berkman and Syme (1979). Communication frequency with the following groups is measured: * family members who live elsewhere * friends * colleagues or fellow students at the workplace/school and outside of the workplace/school * neighbors and local community * people from social clubs, hobby groups, and religious organisations at and outside the meetings.

  Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Social support

  Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up

• Depressive symptoms

  Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up

• Workplace loneliness

  Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up

Other Outcomes (1)

• Activity and behavior on the application

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Frendie PRO mobile application

Wait-list controls

NO INTERVENTION

The group will have access to the mobile application after the six-month follow-up period.

Interventions

Frendie PRO mobile application BEHAVIORAL

Frendie PRO mobile application offers employees an environment to manage their social relationships, organize leisure activities, and discuss personal or work-related matters.

Intervention

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:

• All employees working at the company/team/department participating in the study and starting to use the Frendie PRO mobile application within the study period.
• Ability to fill the questionnaires online in Finnish

You may not qualify if:

• incapable of using questionnaire online
• does not know Finnish well enough to answer the questions

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Eastern Finland: lead
• Finnish Work Environment Fund: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Eastern Finland

Kuopio, North Savonia, 70110, Finland

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Kraav SL, Schoenmakers E, Linnosmaa I, Sorola S, Tolmunen T. Study protocol of a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the Frendie PRO mobile application's effectiveness in reducing employees' loneliness and social isolation. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Oct;157:108060. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.108060. Epub 2025 Aug 28.

  PMID: 40885488 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Social Isolation; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Siiri-Liisi Kraav, PhD

  University of Eastern Finland

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: The baseline data collection is conducted before randomization. No masking will be used after the randomization.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Post-doctoral researcher

Model Details: Participants of the intervention group are given access and encouraged to use Frendie PRO mobile application

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 2, 2024
• First Posted: July 11, 2024
• Study Start: September 20, 2024
• Primary Completion: May 20, 2025
• Study Completion: August 1, 2025
• Last Updated: May 2, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, ICF, CSR
• Time Frame: After 10 years.
• Access Criteria: Application to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Locations

FI (1)