Reducing Eco-anxiety Using Selfies

August 10, 2022 updated by: Yale University

Reducing Eco-anxiety and Increasing Eco-action in Adolescents Using Selfie Videos: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purposes of this study are to test among adolescent viewers the utility of selfie (TikTok) short video-based interventions to:

  1. Reduce ecological anxiety,
  2. Increase ecological agency,
  3. Compare two different types of messaging, and
  4. Examine the role of viewer's gender and race as independent factors on the outcomes of interest.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Intervention videos will each be TikTok self-recorded videos (of 58-second duration) featuring the same underage professional (ages 16) acting as simulated participant. Video 1 ("Negative") will focus on impending ecological catastrophic outcomes; Video 2 ("Positive") will focus on the actions that youth will be able to take in preventing such outcomes; and Video 3 ("Neutral") will include content unrelated to ecological concerns.

We intend to assign ~1,000 individuals aged 14-18 in a randomized way, in equal proportions, and stratified by sex and race, to view one of the three TikTok videos: Positive, Negative, or Neutral.

Assessments will occur at baseline and post-intervention, and will include:

  1. Demographics (baseline only),

  2. Primary outcome:

    a. Climate Change Anxiety scale (13 items)

  3. Secondary outcome:

    1. Climate Hope scale (11 items)
    2. Behavioral intentions (6 items; adapted from)29,
    3. Hopefulness and agency sliders (2 items), and
    4. Three words

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1200

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

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06510
        • Yale Child Study Center
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06510
        • Yale Child Center

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

14 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • English-speaking
  • Living in the US
  • Ages 14 - 18

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Positive
~58-second selfie video (TikTok) of an adolescent presenting a "can do" / climate action / positive perspective on global warming
Behavioral: Short videos
Intervention videos will each be of 90-second duration and feature four underage professionals (ages 16) acting as simulated patients. All videos will focus on an empowered presenter with depression sharing their personal story regarding depression and describe how social supports from family, friends, and community, as well as professional help assisted them in overcoming symptoms of their illness. The actors will include a transgender male, a cis-gender male, a transgender female, and a cis-gender female.
Active Comparator: Negative
~58-second selfie video (TikTok) of an adolescent presenting an "it's already too late" / climate catastrophe / negative perspective on global warming
Behavioral: Short videos
Intervention videos will each be of 90-second duration and feature four underage professionals (ages 16) acting as simulated patients. All videos will focus on an empowered presenter with depression sharing their personal story regarding depression and describe how social supports from family, friends, and community, as well as professional help assisted them in overcoming symptoms of their illness. The actors will include a transgender male, a cis-gender male, a transgender female, and a cis-gender female.
Active Comparator: Neutral
~58-second selfie video (TikTok) of an adolescent discussing a topic unrelated to climate change or global warming
Behavioral: Short videos
Intervention videos will each be of 90-second duration and feature four underage professionals (ages 16) acting as simulated patients. All videos will focus on an empowered presenter with depression sharing their personal story regarding depression and describe how social supports from family, friends, and community, as well as professional help assisted them in overcoming symptoms of their illness. The actors will include a transgender male, a cis-gender male, a transgender female, and a cis-gender female.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS)
Time Frame: Within 10 minutes

The CCAS is the sum of 13 items (Clayton and Karazsia; Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2020). Each of the items is a statement on which participants are asked to rate their agreement on a 5-point Likert-type scale: from 1 ("Never") to 5 ("Almost always".)

The range of the scale is from 13 to 65; higher scores indicate greater eco-axiety.
Within 10 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Climate Change Hope Scale (CCHS)
Time Frame: Within 10 minutes

The CCHS is the sum of 11 items (Li and Moore; Environ Behav, 2018). Each of the items is a statement on which participants are asked to rate their agreement on a 5-point Likert-type scale: from 1 ("Not at all") to 5 ("A great deal".)

The range of the scale is from 11 to 55; higher scores indicate greater hope regarding environmental action.
Within 10 minutes
Change in Environmental Action Scale-Behavioral Intentions (EAS-BI)
Time Frame: Within 10 minutes

We will use the Behavioral Intentions component of the Environmental Action Scale (Alisat and Riemer; J Environ Psychol, 2015.) The BI component is the sum of 6 items. Each of the items is a statement on which participants are asked to rate their agreement on a 5-point Likert-type scale: from 1 ("Not at all") to 5 ("A great deal".)

The range of the scale is from 6 to 30; higher scores indicate greater environmental action behavioral intentions.
Within 10 minutes
Change in Hopefulness "slider"
Time Frame: Within 10 minutes
Participants will be asked to rate how hopeful they are about global warming. They will move a continuous slider ranging from 0 ("Not hopeful at all; we are doomed regarding global warming and its consequences") to 100 ("Very hopeful; our actions can revert and prevent global warming and its consequences".)
Within 10 minutes
Change in Agency "slider"
Time Frame: Within 10 minutes
Participants will be asked to rate how much agency they consider having around global warming. They will move a continuous slider ranging from 0 ("There is nothing that I can do about it") to 100 ("There is a lot that I can do about it".)
Within 10 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Yale University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

June 15, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 20, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

July 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 9, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2022

Last Verified

August 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2000028980_d

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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