Effect of a Week-long Social Media Abstention on Sustained Attention Functions

The current study's goal is to determine if a one-week break from social media in all forms has a beneficial effect on people's attention, as measured by the Sustained Attention to Response Task, executive function as measured by the Stroop test, and well-being.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Attention Difficulties
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Social Media Abstention

Detailed Description

50 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 years will be recruited for the study via fliers and word of mouth. Following consent procedures, those who choose to participate will be randomized to intervention or control. 25 will be randomly selected to be in the social media group and the other 25 will be selected to go 1 week without engaging with or viewing social media to the best of their ability.

All participants will complete a demographic form at baseline and a survey about their use of social media, as well as the Bergen Social Media Assessment Scale, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Following that, they will complete the Stroop and the SART, described below. All 50 of them will be asked to take the SART and Stroop (Inquisit Millisecond versions) tests to obtain baseline attention and executive functioning measures. Temporary deletion of social media apps will be supervised by an investigator. Subjects will be given a daily brief report/log to record any use of social media through Redcap. At the end of the week a repeat SART, Stroop, and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale will be re-administered. The group that deleted their social media will then be able to redownload their social media if they so choose. A survey about their subjective experience at the conclusion of the week will then be given to all subjects.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Amber Sousa, PhD; Phone Number: 516-686-7698; Email: asousa@nyit.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Alec Toufexis; Phone Number: 516-686-7698; Email: atoufe01@nyit.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Old Westbury, New York, United States, 11568
      • Recruiting
      • NYIT
      • Contact: Amber Sousa, PhD; Phone Number: 631-686-7698; Email: asousa@nyit.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-30 years old
• have and regularly use some form of social media
• use on average more than 1 hour of social media a day
• are willing to temporarily delete all social media for 1 week duration

Exclusion Criteria:

• no social media usage
• ADHD or other known conditions that affect attention and/or concentration
• current concussion

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1: Social Media Abstention; People in this arm will be encouraged to disable social media and not use social media for one week.	Behavioral: Social Media Abstention; People will stop or reduce their social media use for one week.
No Intervention: 2: Control; People in this group will continue their normal behavior in regard to social media use.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inquisit Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART)	A 6-minute computerized measure of attention.	through study completion, an average of one week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inquisit Stroop Test	A 5-minute measure of executive functions.	through study completion, an average of one week
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale	A self-report measure of general wellbeing	through study completion, an average of one week

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: New York Institute of Technology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 29, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 28, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): November 2, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 5, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 4, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: social media; attention; wellbeing
• Other Study ID Numbers: BHS-1894

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