The Effects of Social Media on Food Intake and Behaviour

October 24, 2017 updated by: Travis Saunders, University of Prince Edward Island

Participants will be exposed to 3 conditions, in random order:

  1. A Facebook page where 70% of posts are related to food.
  2. A Facebook page where only 20% of posts are related to food.
  3. A control condition (colouring quietly).

During each of the above conditions participants will be provided with identical snacks. The snacks will be weighed before and after each condition, to determine whether there is a change in food intake across the 3 conditions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

10

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Prince Edward Island
      • Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, C1A 4P3
        • University of Prince Edward Island

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 25 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-25.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Facebook
Participants will spend 30 minutes interacting with a Facebook page that is made up of 20% food-related posts, and 80% non food-related posts (news, sports, etc). They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.
Behavioral: Facebook
Participants will spend 30 minutes on a Facebook page that is primarily non-food related posts.
Experimental: Facebook + Food
Participants will spend 30 minutes interacting with a Facebook page that is made up of 70% food-related posts, and 30% non food-related posts (news, sports, etc). They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.
Behavioral: Facebook + Food
Participants will spend 30 minutes on a Facebook page that is food related posts.
Active Comparator: Colouring
Participants will spend 30 minutes colouring. They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.
Behavioral: Colouring
Participants will spend 30 minutes colouring quietly.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Ad libitum snack food intake
Time Frame: 30 minutes
Participants will be provided with snack foods based on a previously completed food preference questionnaire. The food will be weighed before and after each session to determine caloric and macronutrient intake.
30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Prince Edward Island

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 24, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 26, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

October 28, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 26, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2017

Last Verified

October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 6006850

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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