Change in Social Media Use and Well-being Among College Students Receiving a One-week Exercise or Mindfulness Intervention
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The investigators will be randomizing 150 college student participants with high levels of social media use into either a 1) control condition (no intervention), a 2) mindfulness meditation cognitive intervention, or 3) a social media reduction + exercise replacement intervention. Participants complete intervention activities daily for one week. The investigators will collect self-report and behavioral measures of social media use and related psychological constructs at three time points: baseline, immediately after the intervention period, and one-week after the intervention period.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Detailed Description
The objective of this study is to test two cognitive and behavioral interventions designed to reduce social media use and psychological constructs related to social media use in a sample of university students.
The first cognitive intervention is a mindfulness meditation exercise taken from the Calm app centering around gratitude. Each meditation takes approximately 12 minutes to complete and is to be done daily for one week. The second behavioral intervention is asking participants to reduce social media use for 30 minutes daily for one week and replacing that time with physical exercise of the participants' choosing.
Aim 1: Compare psychological constructs related to mental health (well-being, stress, depression, anxiety, loneliness, social comparisons, etc.) before and after conducting two social media use interventions over a period of one week, compared to a control condition (no intervention).
Aim 2: Compare self-reported and behavioral (smartphone screen shots of social media use screen time) measures of social media use before and after two social media use interventions over a period of over one week, compared to a control condition (no intervention).
Aim 3: Examine mental health and social media use one week after the intervention period is complete (follow up), examining or testing whether effects last beyond the intervention period.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| No Intervention: Control Participants will not receive an intervention. They will receive instructions to use their social media use as usual. |
|
| Experimental: Mindfulness Approximately 12-minute mindfulness-style meditations will be completed daily for one week through the Calm platform. Participants can listen to the exercise on the web-enabled version of Calm, or through the smartphone app. The course is entitled "7 Days of Gratitude" and centers around noticing and appreciating things in daily life. |
Behavioral: Mindfulness
12 minute daily guided meditation
|
| Experimental: Social Media Reduction + Exercise Participants will reduce their social media use by at least 30 minutes daily for one week. Simultaneously, participants will exercise at least 30 minutes daily. Participants are given examples of common exercises (walking, yoga, strength training, etc.), but they are allowed to choose any type, although they are dissuaded from activities with high potential for injury. |
Behavioral: Social Media Reduction + Exercise
Reduce social media use at least 30 minutes daily and exercise instead
|
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Change in Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21) [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 0-63, higher score = worse outcome
- Change in World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF) scale [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 13-65, lower score = worse outcome
- Change in Smartphone screen time (minutes) for social media use [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Past-week amount of screen time for social media use
- Change in Number of Social media use smartphone pick-ups [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Past-week total number of smartphone pick-ups for social media use applications
- Change in Percent of time using social media [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Past-week percent of time using social media compared to other smartphone application categories.
- Change in Social media use notifications received [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Past-week total number of notifications received for social media use applications
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Change in University of California, Los Angeles 3-Item Loneliness Scale [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 3-9, higher score = worse outcome
- Change in The Gratitude Questionnaire, 6-item form (GQ-6) scale [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 6-42, lower score = worse outcome
- Change in Motivations for Electronic Interaction Scale (MEIS) [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 10-50, higher score = worse outcome
- Change in Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT-15) scale [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 0-138, lower scores = worse outcome
- Change in Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 6-35, higher score = worse outcome
- Change in Fear of Missing Out Scale [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 10-50, higher score = worse outcome
- Change in Hours spent socializing in-person with peers [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 0-20+ hours of in-person socialization, lower scores = worse outcomes
- Change in Number of evenings of past-week recreation [baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week]
Score range = 0-7 evenings of recreation, lower scores = worse outcomes
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
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The participant is 18 or older.
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The participant must be a Johns Hopkins University student.
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Owning an iPhone or Android smartphone, with frequent use of social media use daily (> 1 hour)
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Enabling and sharing screenshots of your smartphone use metrics, including number of last-week pickups, notifications received, and average screen time.
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Providing consent to participate.
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Only exercising 1 hour or less daily, on average.
Exclusion Criteria:
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younger than 18
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Not a Johns Hopkins University Student
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Doesn't own a smart phone
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Uses smartphone less than 1 hour daily
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Exercises more than 1 hour daily
Contacts and Locations
Locations
No locations specified.Sponsors and Collaborators
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Johannes Thrul, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
- Hanley SM, Watt SE, Coventry W. Taking a break: The effect of taking a vacation from Facebook and Instagram on subjective well-being. PLoS One. 2019 Jun 6;14(6):e0217743. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217743. eCollection 2019.
- Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., & Wang, Q. (2019). Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 13(1), article 4.
- Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751-768.
- Lambert J, Barnstable G, Minter E, Cooper J, McEwan D. Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2022 May;25(5):287-293. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2021.0324. Epub 2022 May 3.
- Nicuță, E.G., Constantin, T. Take Nothing for Granted: Downward Social Comparison and Counterfactual Thinking Increase Adolescents' State Gratitude for the Little Things in Life. J Happiness Stud 22, 3543-3570 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00382-5.
- Roberts TA, Daniels EA, Weaver JM, Zanovitch LS. "Intermission!" A short-term social media fast reduces self-objectification among pre-teen and teen dancers. Body Image. 2022 Dec;43:125-133. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.08.015. Epub 2022 Sep 21.
- van Wezel MMC, Abrahamse EL, Vanden Abeele MMP. Does a 7-day restriction on the use of social media improve cognitive functioning and emotional well-being? Results from a randomized controlled trial. Addict Behav Rep. 2021 Jun 15;14:100365. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100365. eCollection 2021 Dec.
- Vanman EJ, Baker R, Tobin SJ. The burden of online friends: the effects of giving up Facebook on stress and well-being. J Soc Psychol. 2018;158(4):496-507. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2018.1453467. Epub 2018 Apr 9. Erratum In: J Soc Psychol. 2020;160(2):264-266.
- IRB00025926