Clinical trial NCT03685643: Study Proposal for Web Based Intervention to Promote the Safe Usage of Dating Applications in Young Adults
Official title: Study Protocol for a Peer-led Web-based Intervention to Promote Safe Usage of Dating Applications Amongst Young Adults: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Sex, Unsafe
Adolescent Behavior
Behavior, Sex
Keywords: Peer-led, dating applications, young adults, sexual behavior
Lead sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-09-26
Enrollment: 578
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 17
Maximum age (years): 27
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a program in promoting the safe usage of dating applications amongst young adults in Hong Kong. One group will receive the program regarding dating applications and the other group will receive a placebo program regarding health and exercise.

Detailed description: Dating applications are a popular platform to meet new people; however, they have been associated with risks such as unsafe sexual behavior and privacy concerns in young adults.

The study design is an open-labeled cluster randomized controlled trial with an intervention and a placebo control arm. The intervention group will receive a web-based intervention developed through focus group discussions, crowdsourcing contest, and a Peer-Vetted Creative Production (PVCP) workshop comprising of four short videos, a risk assessment tool, and a scenario game. The control group will receive a web-based resource with similar multimedia elements on health and exercise.

Based on the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills (IMB) Model, the primary outcome of this study is self-efficacy in using dating applications measured by the General Self Efficacy Scale. Secondary outcomes include change in attitudes regarding risk perception measured by the Risk Propensity Scale and depression symptoms.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 17-27 years old
* Able to read and understand Chinese

Exclusion Criteria:

* Have a physical impediment (e.g. blindness) to prevent them from accessing the content

Primary outcomes:
measure: Self Efficacy: This Will be Measured by the General Self Efficacy Scale
timeFrame: 8 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Risk Taking Tendencies Will be Measured by the The Risk Propensity Scale.
timeFrame: 8 month
measure: Depression Symptoms Will be Measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2).
timeFrame: 8 month
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: Caritas Institute of Community Education
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: Vocational Training Council (VTC)
Study officials:
affiliation: The University of Hong Kong
name: William Wong
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Wong WC, Sun WH, Chia SMC, Tucker JD, Mak WP, Song L, Choi KWY, Lau STH, Wan EYF. Effectiveness of a Peer-Led Web-Based Intervention to Improve General Self-Efficacy in Using Dating Apps Among Young Adults: Randomized Clustered Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Oct 30;22(10):e16378. doi: 10.2196/16378.
citation: Lau STH, Choi KWY, Chen J, Mak WP, Yeung HKCA, Tucker J, Wong WC. Study protocol for a peer-led web-based intervention to promote safe usage of dating applications among young adults: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2019 Feb 6;20(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3167-5.