Social Media Withdrawal in Pregnancy: Effects on Maternal Mental Health and Misinformation

NCT07812506 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2026P001582
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 70
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if restricting social media use with a hardware device can improve mental health and well-being during pregnancy. It will also learn about the feasibility and acceptability of this approach. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does restricting social media use lower the amount of time participants spend on social media?
• Does restricting social media use improve depression, anxiety, well-being, loneliness, sleep, and physical activity? Researchers will compare participants who use a device (Brick™) that restricts social media apps to participants receiving usual care to see if the device improves social media use and mental health outcomes. Participants will:
• Complete surveys about mood, sleep, and social media use, and wear/carry a smartphone app that tracks activity and sleep
• Use the Brick device to restrict social media apps for 2 weeks, or continue their usual phone use
• Complete follow-up surveys at the end of the 4-week study

Conditions

Pregnancy

Keywords

social media addiction; social media; pregnancy; mental health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Percent reduction in social media screen time

  Daily social media screen time, defined as total minutes per day spent in social media applications as captured by the device-native iOS Screen Time report, averaged across each 14-day observation window. For each participant, percent reduction is calculated as: \[(mean baseline daily minutes - mean post-intervention daily minutes) / mean baseline daily minutes\] × 100 where the baseline value is the mean of daily social media minutes over the 14 days preceding randomization and the follow-up value is the mean over the 14-day window at the end of the intervention period. Mean percent reduction will be compared between the intervention (Brick device) group and the usual care group.

  2-week intervention period

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Recruitment rate

  Through completion of enrollment (approximately 9 months)

• Retention rate

  2-week intervention period

• Adherence to Brick device use

  2-week intervention period

• Change in EPDS Score at 4 weeks

  Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)

• Change in GAD-7 score at 4 weeks

  Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants randomized to this arm will complete a 2-week baseline monitoring period followed by a 2-week intervention period. During the intervention period, participants will receive the Brick™ device, a hardware-based tool that restricts access to user-selected social media applications by requiring physical interaction with the device to unlock them. Participants will be instructed on device use and asked to use it continuously to block access to their selected social media apps for the duration of the 2-week intervention period. Participants may voluntarily reverse the intervention at any point during the study.

Device: Brick device

Usual Care

NO INTERVENTION

Participants randomized to this arm will complete a 2-week baseline monitoring period followed by a 2-week period of continued usual smartphone and social media behavior, without any restriction on app access. No intervention device or procedure is administered during this period. As additional compensation, participants in this arm will receive a Brick™ device following completion of all study procedures.

Interventions

Brick device DEVICE

A hardware-based device that restricts access to user-selected social media applications by requiring physical interaction with the device to unlock them. Participants in the intervention arm will use the device continuously to block access to selected social media apps during a 2-week intervention period, following a 2-week baseline monitoring period. The device is not an FDA-regulated medical device and functions as a consumer hardware tool. Participants may voluntarily reverse the intervention (unlock the device) at any point during the study.

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Age ≥18 years
• Pregnant, with a viable pregnancy at 20-24 weeks' gestation
• English fluency
• Daily use of a personal iOS smartphone (iOS 17 or later).
• Average social media screen time of at least 30 minutes per day, verified at enrollment via the iOS Screen Time report.

You may not qualify if:

• \. Non-viable pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Massachusetts General Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

Location

Related Publications (6)

• Onnela, J.-P. et al. Beiwe: A data collection platform for high-throughput digital phenotyping. J. Open Source Softw. 6, 3417 (2021).

  BACKGROUND

• Facco FL, Kramer J, Ho KH, Zee PC, Grobman WA. Sleep disturbances in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Jan;115(1):77-83. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181c4f8ec.

  PMID: 20027038 BACKGROUND

• Screening and Diagnosis of Mental Health Conditions During Pregnancy and Postpartum: ACOG Clinical Practice Guideline No. 4. Obstet Gynecol. 2023 Jun 1;141(6):1232-1261. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005200.

  PMID: 37486660 BACKGROUND

• Bilali A, Katsiroumpa A, Koutelekos I, Dafogianni C, Gallos P, Moisoglou I, Galanis P. Association Between TikTok Use and Anxiety, Depression, and Sleepiness Among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study in Greece. Pediatr Rep. 2025 Mar 11;17(2):34. doi: 10.3390/pediatric17020034.

  PMID: 40126233 BACKGROUND

• Calvert E, Cipriani M, Dwyer B, Lisowski V, Mikkelson J, Chen K, Flathers M, Hau C, Xia W, Castillo J, Dhima A, Ryan S, Torous J. Social Media Detox and Youth Mental Health. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Nov 3;8(11):e2545245. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.45245.

  PMID: 41284297 BACKGROUND

• Waring ME, Blackman Carr LT, Heersping GE. Social Media Use Among Parents and Women of Childbearing Age in the US. Prev Chronic Dis. 2023 Feb 16;20:E07. doi: 10.5888/pcd20.220194.

  PMID: 36796010 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Internet Addiction Disorder; Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Technology Addiction; Behavior, Addictive; Compulsive Behavior; Impulsive Behavior; Behavior; Personal Satisfaction

Central Study Contacts

Lydia Shook, MD

CONTACT

(617) 724-0287; lshook@mgh.harvard.edu

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: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 1, 2026
• First Posted: September 10, 2026
• Study Start: October 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Last Updated: September 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)