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

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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.

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

Conditions
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Attention Difficulties

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Social Media Abstention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 30 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Randomized experimental and control group
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

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

What is the study measuring?
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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 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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social media, attention, wellbeing