The Interactive Media and Gender-related Stressors and Strengths Study

NCT07836907 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: H-47145K01DA054357
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Emerging adulthood is a key developmental period with unique challenges, including elevated risk of substance use (including risky drinking, cigarette use, and illicit drug use), eating disorder symptoms, and severe psychological distress and suicidal ideation. This critical developmental period also offers an important opportunity for interventions to prevent adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood, particularly those related to substance use and disordered eating behaviors. Research suggests several relevant potential targets for preventive interventions in this age group. Online media, especially social media (e.g., Instagram), are used by 90% of U.S. young adults, offering unprecedented access to informational and social support for young adults. Yet online media also provide new channels for harmful exposure to stigma (e.g., online harassment) and sociocultural appearance ideals for young adults. Such exposures may cause or exacerbate substance use and adverse mental health outcomes. Existing brief interventions that improve media literacy (i.e., the ability to critically analyze and interpret media) and increase resistance to harmful sociocultural appearance ideals offer promise in supporting young adults to reduce body dissatisfaction and stress and coping behaviors (like substance use and disordered eating behaviors). However, these interventions have not previously accounted for the core role of body dissatisfaction or unique dimensions of social media literacy in young adults' health. Further, existing preventive interventions in this area have primarily been developed and tested with a focus on cisgender young people. To date, there are no gender-inclusive evidence-based interventions to address both social media-based stressors (e.g., harassment, appearance ideals) and resilience factors (e.g., social support) for young adults.

Conditions

Eating Disorders; Substance Use

Keywords

digital toolkit; media literacy; cognitive dissonance-based (CDB) behavioral interventions; social media-related risk factors; transgender and gender diverse young adults; cisgender young adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Digital toolkit feasibility

  A validated scale by Weiner et al., 2017 will be used to assess feasibility. It has 4 items assessing dimensions of feasibility (e.g., "The digital toolkit seems like a good match"), with response options ranging from Completely agree (1) to Completely disagree (5). Scores can range from 4 to 20 and lower scores suggest greater feasibility.

  24-48 hours after web-based intervention

• Digital toolkit acceptability

  A validated scale by Weiner et al., 2017 will be used to assess acceptability. It has 4 items assessing perceived acceptability of the digital toolkit (e.g., "The digital toolkit was appealing to me"), with response options ranging from Completely agree (1) to Completely disagree (5). Scores can range from 4 to 20 and lower scores suggest greater acceptability.

  24-48 hours after web-based intervention

• Digital toolkit appropriateness

  2 relevant items from a Intervention Appropriateness Measure (Weiner et al., 2017) e.g., ("The digital toolkit seems easy to use"). Response options range from Completely agree (1) to Completely disagree (5). Scores can range from 2 to 10 and lower scores suggest greater appropriateness.

  24-48 hours after web-based intervention

• Digital toolkit satisfaction

  The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (Larson, 1979) which is a validated 8-item scale will be used to assess . Response options are tailored to specific items, with higher scores always indicating greater satisfaction, for example: i. How would you rate the quality of the digital toolkit? Response options: Poor (1) to Excellent (5) ii. If you were to seek help again, would you come back to the toolkit? Response options: No, definitely not (1) to Yes, definitely (4) iii. To what extent has the toolkit met your needs? Response options: Almost all of my needs have been met (4) to None of my needs have been met (1) iv. How satisfied are you with the amount of information you received in the toolkit? Response options: Quite dissatisfied (1) to Very satisfied (4) v. Has the toolkit helped you to deal more effectively with your problems? Response options: Yes, it helped a great deal (4) to No, it seemed to make things worse (1)

  24-48 hours after web-based intervention, 3-months after web-based intervention

Other Outcomes (7)

• Social media literacy skills

  baseline, 24-48 hours after web-based intervention, 3-months after web-based intervention

• Social media use intensity

  baseline, 3-months after web-based intervention

• Appearance ideal internalization

  baseline, 24-48 hours after web-based intervention, 3-months after web-based intervention

Study Arms (1)

IMAGES Project Digital Toolkit

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be encouraged to complete the modules on an interactive website with a series of short didactic videos and interactive activities.

Other: digital web based toolkit

Interventions

digital web based toolkit OTHER

A brief, web-based psychoeducational intervention with 5 self-guided activities that build social media literacy skills which takes 25-45 minutes to complete.

IMAGES Project Digital Toolkit

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Reside in United States
• Have access to computer, tablet, or mobile device with internet access
• Have used any social media platform in the past week

You may not qualify if:

• Unable to understand and read English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Boston University: lead
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Boston University School of Public Health and online website

Boston, Massachusetts, 02118, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding and Eating Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders

Study Officials

• Allegra R Gordon, ScD, MPH

  Boston University School of Public Health, Community Health Services

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Allegra R Gordon, ScD, MPH

CONTACT

617-358-2904; allegrag@bu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This is an exploratory, single-arm feasibility study of the digital toolkit.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 18, 2026
• First Posted: September 23, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): November 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Last Updated: September 23, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)