4-STEP Training Program for Social Media Addiction, Cognitive Fatigue, Psychological Distress, Academic Burnout and Procrastination Among Students

NCT07821489 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 4-STEP-TPS for Adults
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured four-step training program for reducing social media addiction and its associated psychological and academic difficulties among school and university students. The program focuses on improving self-regulation, managing social media use, reducing cognitive fatigue, procrastination, academic burnout, and psychological distress. Participants will be assigned to experimental and control groups, and their outcomes will be assessed before and after the intervention.

Conditions

Social Media Addiction

Keywords

Cognitive fatigue; Academic burnout; Procrastination; Psychological distress; Interventions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Social Networking Addiction Scale ( SNAS)

  The SNA scale is designed to measure the level of social media addiction. The SNA scale is comprised of six subscales, namely salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse (citation). Each subscale has 3 to 4 items, and each item is rated between "strongly disagree=1" and score\>84 reported social media addiction. The scale has shown a strong test-retest reliability of 0.88 and good validity, as reported by Shahnawaz and Rehman (2020).

  At screening after 4 weeks, and reassessment upto 6 months

• Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory

  Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) is a 20-item self-report instrument developed to assess fatigue as a multidimensional construct. It measures five dimensions of fatigue: general fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation, and mental fatigue, with each dimension consisting of four items. Higher scores indicate greater levels of fatigue (Westenberger et al. 2022).

  At screening after 4 weeks, reassessment up to 6 months]

• Maslach Burnout Inventory

  The Mashlach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is a widely used self-report instrument for assessing burnout. It measures burnout across three core dimensions: Exhaustion (EX), Cynicism (CY), and Academic Efficacy (AE). In the present study, the 16-item version of the MBI was used to a

  At screening upto 4 weeks and reassessment up to 6 months

• Tukman Procrastination Scale

  Tuckman Procrastination Scale (TPS) is a self-report measure designed to assess an individual's tendency to delay or postpone tasks that need to be completed. It is used to evaluate procrastination behavior, particularly the tendency to avoid or delay academic tasks despite their importance. In the present study, the scale was used to assess academic procrastination, including the dimensions of Delay Procrastination and Avoidance of Difficulty(Avşar, Baltaci, and Özer 2026).

  At screening, after 4 weeks, and reassessment up to 6 months

• Depression Anxiety Stress Scale

  Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) is a 21-item self-report instrument designed to assess three dimensions of negative emotional states: depression, anxiety, and stress, with seven items representing each dimension (Gomez, Stavropoulos, and Griffiths 2020)

  At screening, after 4 weeks, and reassessment up to 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: 4-STEP-Training Program for Social Media Addiction (4-STEP-TPS) 4 Modules with 1 Module being delivered in 1 weekly session of approximately 90 minutes. The details of each module/step is described as follows: Step 1. (Module 1): S = Screening, Assessment and Psychoeducation: Involves screening and assessment of the problem, interpretation of the results, feedback and psychoeducation, identifying and breaking the resistance, motivation, and conceptualization. Step 2. (Module 2): T = Treatment Conceptualization and Planning: Involves pattern identification, distortion identification, as well as pattern and distortions modifications. Step 3 (Module 3): E = Effective Management Strategies: Involves management strategies to treat the earlier identified patterns as well as the implementation and confirmation of activities via a Pattern Schedule Chart. Step 4 (Module 4): P = Prevention (Lapse-Relapse): Involves self-reflection and support building, monitoring and dependency check

Behavioral: 4-STEP-TPS

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention will be given to the control group

Interventions

4-STEP-TPS BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: 4-STEP-Training Program for Social Media Addiction (4-STEP-TPS) 4 Modules with 1 Module being delivered in 1 weekly session of approximately 90 minutes. The details of each module/step is described as follows: Step 1. (Module 1): S = Screening, Assessment and Psychoeducation: Involves screening and assessment of the problem, interpretation of the results, feedback and psychoeducation, identifying and breaking the resistance, motivation, and conceptualization. Step 2. (Module 2): T = Treatment Conceptualization and Planning: Involves pattern identification, distortion identification, as well as pattern and distortions modifications. Step 3 (Module 3): E = Effective Management Strategies: Involves management strategies to treat the earlier identified patterns as well as the implementation and confirmation of activities via a Pattern Schedule Chart. Step 4 (Module 4): P = Prevention (Lapse-Relapse): Involves self-reflection and support building, monitoring and dependency check a

Experimental group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age range: 18-29 years
• No physical, psychiatric, or psychological conditions
• Minimum score of 84 on the Social Networking Addiction Scale (SNAS)

You may not qualify if:

• Age below 18 or above 29 years
• Presence of any physical, psychiatric, or psychological conditions
• Score below 84 on the Social Networking Addiction Scale (SNAS)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Government College University Faisalabad: lead

Study Sites (1)

Government College University Faisalabad

Faisalabad, Punjab Province, 38000, Pakistan

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Internet Addiction Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

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

Study Officials

• Qasir Abbas, Phd, Clinical Psychology

  Government College University Faisalabad

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Qasir Abbas Associate Professor, Phd, Clinical Psychology

CONTACT

923337683133; qasirabbas47@yahoo.com

Ujala MS scholar, MS Clinical Psychology

CONTACT

03294260921; ujalarauf1214@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Participants will be unaware of their group assignment to the experimental or control group.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: A four-step structured training program will be administered to participants assigned to the experimental group over a period of four weeks, with one session conducted per week. The control group will not receive the training program during the intervention period. Pre-test and post-test assessments will be conducted to evaluate changes in social media addiction, cognitive fatigue, procrastination, academic burnout, and psychological distress.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 10, 2026
• First Posted: September 15, 2026
• Study Start: September 20, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Last Updated: September 15, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

PA (1)