Clinical trial NCT06821373: Chatbot Intervention to Reduce Common Digital Addictions, Sedentary Behaviors and Mental Distress Among Adolescents
Official title: Developing and Evaluating a Low-intensity Secondary Theory-based Chatbot Intervention to Reduce Common Digital Addictions, Sedentary Behaviors and Mental Distress Among Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Internet Gaming Disorder
Social Media Addiction
Keywords: Internet gaming disorder
Chatbot
Social media addiction
Stage of change
motivation enhancement
Low-intensity
Sedentary lifestyle
Adolescent mental health
Lead sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-02-12
Enrollment: 330
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 10
Maximum age (years): 19
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The goal of the study is to investigate the efficacy of a secondary low-intensity stage of change (SoC) and motivational interviewing (MI)-based Chatbot-assisted intervention in reducing digital addictions in adolescents with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and/or social media addiction (SMA) by conducting a RCT.

Hypothesis: The intervention group will show a greater reduction in rates of IGD and/or SMA at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up than the control group.

Design and subjects: A two-armed RCT between the intervention group and psycho-educational control group for adolescents aged 10-19 with excessive screen time. Screening, baseline, post-programme, and 3-month follow-up evaluations will be conducted.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to online brief intervention or psycho-educational control

Complete questionnaires evaluating 1 ) Primary outcomes (IGD, SMA), 2) Secondary outcomes (sedentary lifestyle, mental distress, quality of life, eHealth literacy) and 3) Mediators/mechanisms (autonomy, competence)


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Students at grades 5-6 in primary schools or grades 7-12 in secondary schools,
* Positive screening results of IGD and/or SMA) based on the validated screening tools
* Using smartphone or Internet on a daily base, 4) students' and parental consent,
* Chinese speaking.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Current use of any psychotropic medication.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Internet gaming disorder (IGD)
timeFrame: From enrollment to the end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: Social media addiction (SMA)
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: Composite score of IGD and SMA
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Sedentary lifestyle
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of 3 months follow-up
measure: Entertainment screen time
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: Health-related Quality of life
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: Mental distress
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: eHealth literacy
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
Other outcomes:
measure: Autonomy
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
measure: Competence (self-efficacy)
timeFrame: From enrollment to end of follow-up at 3 months
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study officials:
affiliation: Chinese University of Hong Kong
name: Xue Yang, Doctoral
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: