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NCT Number: NCT07097545

Change in Social Media Use and Well-being Among College Students Receiving a Two-week Exercise or Mindfulness Intervention

The investigators will be randomizing 300 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 two weeks. 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 (three weeks from baseline).

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Key information

Conditions

Social Media Addiction Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Behavior Behavior, Addictive Compulsive Behavior Depression Disorder Impulsive Behavior Internet Addiction Disorder Mental Disorders Technology Addiction Wellbeing

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, United States

Location status: Recruiting

About this study

The objective of this study is to test two cognitive and behavioral interventions designed to reduce social media use and improve psychological constructs related to social media use in a sample of university students. The cognitive intervention is a mindfulness meditation exercise taken from the Calm app focused around gratitude and stress management. Each meditation takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and is to be done daily for two week. The second behavioral intervention is asking participants to reduce social media use for 30 minutes daily for two weeks 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 two weeks, compared to a control condition (no intervention).

Aim 2: Compare self-reported and behavioral (smartphone screenshots of social media use screentime) measures of social media use before and after two social media use interventions over two weeks, compared to a control condition (no intervention).

Aim 3: Examine mental health and social media use one week after the intervention period is complete (3-week follow up) or testing whether the interventions have effects beyond the intervention period.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • The participant is 18 or older.
  • The participant must be a Johns Hopkins University student.
  • Owning an iPhone or Android smartphone, with frequent use of social media use daily (>

1 hour)

  • Enabling and sharing screenshots of the participant's smartphone use metrics, including number of last-week pickups, notifications received, and average screen time.
  • Providing consent to participate.
  • Only exercising 1 hour or less daily, on average.

Exclusion criteria

  • younger than 18
  • Not a Johns Hopkins University Student
  • Doesn't own a smart phone
  • Uses smartphone less than 1 hour daily
  • Exercises more than 1 hour daily

Treatment and study plan

Mindfulness

Behavioral

15 minute daily guided meditation

Social Media Reduction

Behavioral

Reduce social media use at least 30 minutes daily and exercise instead

Exercise

Behavioral

Participants will exercise at least 30 minutes daily. Participants are given examples of common exercises (walking, yoga, strength training, etc.), but are allowed to choose any type, although dissuaded from activities with high potential for injury.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21)

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 0-63, higher score = worse outcome

  2. Change in World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoLBREF) scale

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 13-65, lower score = worse outcome

  3. Change in smartphone screen time (minutes) for social media use

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Past-week amount of screen time for social media use

  4. Change in number of social media use smartphone pick-ups

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Past-week total number of smartphone pickups for social media use applications

  5. Change in percent of time using social media

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Past-week percent of time using social media compared to other smartphone application categories.

  6. Change in social media use notifications received

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Past-week total number of notifications received for social media use applications

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in University of California, Los Angeles 3-Item Loneliness Scale

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 3-9, higher score = worse outcome

  2. Change in The Gratitude Questionnaire, 6-item form (GQ-6) scale

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 6-42, lower score = worse outcome

  3. Change in Motivations for Electronic Interaction Scale (MEIS)

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 10-50, higher score = worse outcome

  4. Change in Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT-15)

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    scale Score range = 0-138, lower scores = worse outcome

  5. Change in Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS)

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 6-35, higher score = worse outcome

  6. Change in Fear of Missing Out Scale

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 10-50, higher score = worse outcome

  7. Change in hours spent socializing inperson with peers

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 0-20+ hours of in-person socialization, lower scores = worse outcome

  8. Change in number of evenings of past-week recreation

    Time frame: baseline, immediately post intervention, post intervention up to one week

    Score range = 0-7 evenings of recreation, lower scores = worse outcome

Study contacts

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

Johannes Thrul, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(443) 318-6633‬

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Social Media Use Study

Acronym: SMUS

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jul 31, 2025
Registry last updated
Dec 17, 2025

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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