Interventions for PSU Among College Students

NCT06750978 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 2 other identifiers: Pro2024000027AWD00012208
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This project proposes to evaluate the feasibility and effects of behavioral intervention strategies on problematic smartphone use among college students. The project proposes to evaluate three behavioral intervention components- self-reflection via actively monitoring phone usage, increasing engagement in non-smartphone activities, and contingency management (i.e., financial incentives) - on short-term and long-term reductions in problematic smartphone use (PSU) among college students. The research team will develop a mobile application, referred to as the app, to collect data on a subject's daily phone usage and activity engagement. The app will comprise three features, with specific sets of features being activated during different phases.

• Feature 1: The app will autonomously track the time spent on the apps categorized as social media and gaming.
• Feature 2: The app will display the daily amount of usage on social media and gaming apps, with an option for a subject to confirm their acknowledgment of the daily time spent.
• Feature 3: The app will display an option for subject to confirm their engagement in the alternative activities as planned.

Conditions

Problematic Smartphone Use

Keywords

Problematic smartphone use, smartphone overuse

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Daily smartphone usage data

  The amount of time spent on apps identified by the participants

  8 weeks

• Problematic smartphone use

  Severity of problematic smartphone use will be assessed with the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) short version. The SAS short version includes 10 items. The sum of these items gives an overall score ranging 10-60, with higher score indicating more severe problematic smartphone use.

  8 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Self-reflection

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants actively review their smartphone usage data each day, which will be verified by the app.

Behavioral: Self-reflection

Self-reflection + Contingency management

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will actively review their smartphone usage each day, which will be verified via the app. If the participant meets their daily PSU reduction goal, they will receive an incentive ($8); if they do not meet their goal, they will receive nothing.

Behavioral: Self-reflection + Contingency management

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will not engage in any behavioral intervention strategies

Interventions

Self-reflection BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be guided to identify goals of daily PSU reduction. o Participants will be guided to actively review their smartphone usage data each day.

Self-reflection

Self-reflection + Contingency management BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be guided to identify goals of daily PSU reduction and actively review their smartphone usage data each day. Participants will receive an incentive ($8) if they meet the daily PSU reduction goal.

Self-reflection + Contingency management

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Rutgers students who are 18+ years old
• Use an Android smartphone
• identified as having problematic smartphone use (scored 31+ on the Smartphone Addiction Scale)

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey: lead

Study Sites (1)

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08817, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Wen Anthony, PhD

  Rutgers University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: A randomized controlled trial with repeated measures design will be used. The study consists of three phases. (1) Baseline phase (2 weeks): Following eligibility screening and consent, all participants will install an app developed by the research team. The app will track and report participants daily smartphone usage and establish a baseline pattern of PSU. (2) Experimental phase (4 weeks): After the baseline data collection, participants will be randomized on a rolling basis into one of the three conditions: Self-Reflection (n=20), Self-Reflection (n=20) + Contingency Management (n=10), and Control. Participants daily smartphone usage, review of usage data, and/or evidence of alternative activity engagement will be recorded by the app and reported to the researcher. (3) Follow-up phase (2 weeks): The two intervention conditions will be withdrawn in this phase.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 20, 2024
• First Posted: December 27, 2024
• Study Start: December 18, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Last Updated: May 22, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)