Social MediaNCT07829211
Digital Habit Interventions
A study testing Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention in people with Social Media and Digital Well-being, run by University of Southern California at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
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. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 24 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Social Media, Digital Well-being
- What is being tested?
- Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 120 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Oct 2026to Aug 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 24 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- 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
Who cannot join
- Not a native English speaker.
- Unable or unwilling to complete the smartphone intervention or required data collection.
- Unable to complete the fNIRS procedures
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, 90089
Elisa C Baek, PhD, 213-740-2203, elisab@usc.edu
About this study
Official title: Digital Habit and Neural Indicators of Well-Being
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.
Read the detailed description
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.
- Conditions
- Social Media, Digital Well-being
- Being tested
- Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention
- Keywords
- Social Media, Smartphone, Digital Habits, fNIRS
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Friction-Based Smartphone InterventionBehavioural
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.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention | Experimental | Participants 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 to the target application. The intervention will remain active for approximately two weeks. Receives: Behavioral: Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention |
| Control | No intervention | Participants will continue using their social media applications as usual for approximately two weeks without the friction-based intervention. They will complete the same baseline, daily, and post-intervention assessments as participants assigned to the experimental arm. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Average Daily Time Spent Using the Target Social Media Application
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.
Measured: The 14 days immediately preceding the intervention through the end of the 14-day intervention period.
Secondary outcomes (1)
Change in Digital Well-Being Scale Scores
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.
Measured: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 14 days after baseline
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted18 Sep 2026
- Study startOct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionAug 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionAug 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Social MediaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Southern California
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Elisa Baek, University of Southern California
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07829211
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- UP-25-00725
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 14 Sep 2026
- Last updated
- 18 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Digital Habit and Neural Indicators of Well-Being
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07829211
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- UP-25-00725
- Conditions
- Social Media, Digital Well-being
- Keywords
- Social Media, Smartphone, Digital Habits, fNIRS
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Aug 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Aug 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 18 Sep 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
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.
Detailed description
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.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: Friction-Based Smartphone InterventionParticipants 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 to the target application. The intervention will remain active for approximately two weeks. |
| Control | No intervention | –Participants will continue using their social media applications as usual for approximately two weeks without the friction-based intervention. They will complete the same baseline, daily, and post-intervention assessments as participants assigned to the experimental arm. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 24 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- 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
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Not a native English speaker.
- Unable or unwilling to complete the smartphone intervention or required data collection.
- Unable to complete the fNIRS procedures
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Friction-Based Smartphone InterventionParticipants 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. | Behavioural | Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention |
Primary outcome
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.
1 secondary outcome
Change in Digital Well-Being Scale Scores
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 14 days after baseline
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Sep 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Friction-Based Smartphone Intervention in people with Social Media and Digital Well-being, run by University of Southern California at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Sep 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Elisa C Baek, PhD (213-740-2203, elisab@usc.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
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.). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Sep 2026.