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NCT Number: NCT07829211

Digital Habit Interventions

Social media apps are designed to make opening and continuing to use them easy, which may contribute to habitual or unwanted use. This study will test whether adding a brief pause before opening a selected social media app can help young adults reduce the time they spend using the app. It will also examine whether the intervention improves digital well-being. Participants ages 18 to 24 who regularly use social media will be randomly assigned either to use a smartphone tool that adds a brief pause before opening a social media app they would like to use less or to continue using social media as usual for approximately two weeks.

Participants will visit the laboratory before and after the two-week study period. At each visit, they will complete a survey measuring digital well-being and tasks measuring attention, memory, and self-control. They will also use their smartphones while their brain activity is measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a noninvasive method that uses light sensors worn on the head. During the two-week period, participants will complete brief daily smartphone surveys, and study applications will collect information about their screen time and app use. Researchers will compare the two groups to determine whether the brief pause reduces time spent using the selected social media app and improves digital well-being. Behavioral and neural measures will be examined on an exploratory basis to better understand how participants respond to the intervention.

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Key information

Conditions

Social Media Digital Well-being

Age range

18 year–24 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California, 90089, United States

Location contact

Elisa C Baek, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

213-740-2203

About this study

Many social media platforms minimize the effort required to open and engage with an application, which may support automatic or habitual use. Introducing friction at the moment of app access may interrupt habitual responding and provide an opportunity for more deliberate choice. This randomized, longitudinal study tests whether a friction-based smartphone intervention reduces the average daily time young adults spend using a self-selected social media application. The secondary objective is to determine whether the intervention improves digital well-being. Additional behavioral and neural measures will be used in exploratory analyses of cognitive processes and individual differences associated with intervention response.

The study consists of a baseline laboratory visit, an approximately 14-day study period, and a post-intervention laboratory visit. During the baseline visit, participants will complete a measure of digital well-being and provide recent smartphone screen-time information. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) will be used to measure cerebral hemodynamic activity while participants complete tasks assessing working memory, sustained attention, and inhibitory control and during a period of naturalistic smartphone and social media use. Participants will also complete modified versions of the cognitive tasks containing socially salient distractors.

During the approximately 14-day study period, participants will complete brief daily ecological momentary assessments. Passive and system-level smartphone data will be collected through the study applications, including the duration and frequency of use of the selected social media app and indicators of engagement with the intervention. At the post-intervention visit, participants will repeat the digital well-being, behavioral, naturalistic smartphone-use, and fNIRS procedures completed at baseline.

Mixed-effects models will be used to evaluate changes over time and differences between the intervention and control conditions. The primary analysis will test whether the intervention reduces average daily time spent using the selected social media application. The secondary analysis will test whether the intervention produces a change in digital well-being from baseline to the post-intervention assessment. Relationships involving cognitive performance, neural responses, and other individual-difference measures will be examined in exploratory analyses.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Ages 18-24 years.
  • Active user of social media.
  • Native English speaker.
  • Able and willing to complete two in-person fNIRS visits and approximately 14 days of smartphone-based assessments.
  • Owns a smartphone

Exclusion criteria

  • Not a native English speaker.
  • Unable or unwilling to complete the smartphone intervention or required data collection.
  • Unable to complete the fNIRS procedures

Treatment and study plan

Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention

Behavioral

Participants assigned to the intervention will install the one sec application and select a target social media application they wish to use less. When attempting to open the target application, participants will encounter an approximately five-second delay, estimate how long they intend to use the application, and receive a prompt asking whether they wish to continue. The intervention will remain active for approximately 14 days.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Average Daily Time Spent Using the Target Social Media Application

    Time frame: The 14 days immediately preceding the intervention through the end of the 14-day intervention period.

    Average daily duration of use of the participant's self-selected target social media application will be measured in minutes per day using system-level smartphone-use data. Baseline use will be calculated as the mean daily duration across the 14 calendar days immediately preceding the intervention, including days with no use. Follow-up use will be calculated as the mean daily duration across the 14-day intervention period. Change will be calculated as follow-up minus baseline; negative values indicate a reduction in app use.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Digital Well-Being Scale Scores

    Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 14 days after baseline

    Digital well-being will be assessed using the 12-item Digital Well-being Scale developed by Vanden Abeele and colleagues. The scale measures two dimensions of smartphone-related digital well-being: perceived benefits and perceived drawbacks. The perceived-benefits score is calculated as the mean of six items assessing hedonic and eudaimonic benefits. The perceived-drawbacks score is calculated as the mean of six items assessing loss of control, distraction, stress, conflict, and functional impairment. Items are rated from 1 ("almost never") to 5 ("almost always"), producing dimension scores ranging from 1 to 5. Higher benefits scores indicate greater perceived benefits of smartphone use, whereas higher drawbacks scores indicate greater perceived drawbacks. Change in each dimension will be calculated by comparing post-intervention scores with baseline scores. Improvement is reflected by increased perceived benefits and/or decreased perceived drawbacks.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Elisa C Baek, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

213-740-2203

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Southern California

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Digital Habit and Neural Indicators of Well-Being

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Sep 18, 2026
Registry last updated
Sep 18, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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