The effect of social media on academic performance, mental health and sleep
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN43025724 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN43025724 |
- Submission date
- 11/02/2021
- Registration date
- 23/03/2021
- Last edited
- 01/04/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Increasing social media use has shown a correlation between social media use and decreased mental health among young people. Eight systematic reviews published to date have reported a correlation between increased screen time and decreased mental health. There is also evidence that suggests that excessive internet use is correlated with poorer sleep. Correlations between social media use and decreased mental health have primarily been investigated using cross-sectional designs, therefore no study to date has established the direction of these associations. A feasibility randomized control trial (RCT) design in which one group of participants is allocated, at random, to having social media access blocked and another to continuing using social media as usual, may be able to shed some light on whether it is feasible to undertake a larger study to test the effect of social media use restriction on mental health sleep and academic grades.
Who can participate?
Undergraduate and postgraduate students above the age of 18 years who are active social media users
What does the study involve?
Approximately 50% of participants will be required to disconnect from their social media (Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat) for 4 weeks. The remaining 50% will continue using their social media as usual. Social media use, academic grades, sleep and mental health will be measured before and after the intervention.
What are the benefits and risks of participating?
The benefits of participating are gaining a better understanding of their mental health, sleep and social media use.
Risks: none
Where is the study run from?
King’s College London (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run from?
February 2021 to September 2021
Who is funding the study?
Investigator initiated and funded
Who is the main contact?
Miss Lea Yerevanian, lea.yerevanian@kcl.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IoPPN
King's College London
London
SE5 8AZ
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-7550-7728 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)786 2476208 |
| lea.yerevanian@kcl.ac.uk |
Scientific
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IoPPN
King's College London
London
SE5 8AZ
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0002-2408-1226 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)7741255110 |
| nicol.2.bergou@kcl.ac.uk |
Scientific
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IoPPN
King's College London
London
SE5 8AZ
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0003-1995-5408 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)2078480957 |
| dennis.ougrin@kcl.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Multicenter feasibility randomized control trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial |
| Study setting(s) | Internet/virtual |
| Study type | Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | ISRCTN43025724_PIS_v1_05Feb2021.docx |
| Scientific title | The effect of Social Media on Academic performance, Mental health and Sleep. Nested feasibility randomized controlled trial |
| Study acronym | SMAMS |
| Study objectives | 1. Participants will be able to adhere to 1 month off social media 2. Participants who are active users of social media will have higher stress levels than non-active users 3. Individuals who are active social media users have lower academic grades than non-active users of social media. 4. Participants who are active users of social media have less sleep quality and less sleep duration than non-active users 5. Individuals who are active users of social media have lower self-esteem, and poorer mental health than individuals who do not use social media 6. Individuals who are active users of social media have less steps than those individuals who do not use social media 7. For the initial feasibility study: 80% of participants randomized to the “no social media use” arm will be able to entirely avoid using social media for 4 weeks |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approval pending, King’s College London Ethics Board (Waterloo Campus, 57 Waterloo Road London, SE1 8WA, UK; no telephone number provided; rec@kcl.ac.uk) |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Mental health in undergraduate and postgraduate students who use social media |
| Intervention | Randomization will take place after the baseline research assessment. Randomization will be carried out at an individual level, at a 1:1 ratio and will be stratified by university using a non-deterministic minimization algorithm. It will not be possible to mask the participants to whether they are using social media or not. All study investigators will be unmasked. University tutors marking students’ assignments will be unaware of the students’ allocation to either the experimental or the control arm. A feasibility RCT will be conducted to establish whether blocking access to social media has an impact on mental health/well-being, self-esteem, academic achievement, sleep quality and sleep duration; and to estimate the sizes of any of these effects on social media. Participants will be recruited using online recruitment strategies such as placing adverts on social media platforms and through university student group channels. The participants will be randomly allocated to deactivate all their social media accounts for one month or continue using their social media accounts as usual (blocking vs exposure). Baseline outcome measures will be completed following consent using the GAD-7 and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem questionnaire to measure mental health and self-esteem, grades will be collected, and sleep quality will be measured via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (T1). Stress will be measured via a validated mobile app named Kenkou: Stress Guide. All participants will be followed up after 1 month, and the five outcomes will be measured using the same method as at baseline (T2). In addition, the number of steps participants make every day will be measured. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Use of social media for a period of one month. This will be measured via weekly screenshots looking at social media screen time for a period of 4 weeks. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Overall mental health measured using GAD7 and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale at T1 (baseline) and T2 2. Self-esteem measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale at T1 (baseline) and T2 (one month after randomization) 3. Steps/physical activity measured using screenshots from the Health mobile application at T1 (baseline) and T2 (one month after randomization) 4. Sleep duration and quality measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Index at T1 (baseline) and T2 (one month after randomization) 5. Course grades measured using self-report at T1 (baseline) and T2 (one month after randomization) 6. Stress measured via a validated mobile app named Kenkou: Stress Guide at T1 (baseline) and T2 |
| Overall study start date | 11/02/2021 |
| Completion date | 30/09/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 100 participants. Exposure (N= 50) ; Blocking (N= 50). Analysis: N~86/condition allowing for ~20% drop-out |
| Key inclusion criteria | Aged 18 years or above, undergraduate and postgraduate students who are active users of social media |
| Key exclusion criteria | Individuals taking any sedatives or sleep medication |
| Date of first enrolment | 30/03/2021 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/08/2021 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centres
London
SE5 8AB
United Kingdom
Bloomsbury
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
Strand
London
WC2R 2LS
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)20 7836 5454 |
|---|---|
| research@kcl.ac.uk | |
| Website | http://www.kcl.ac.uk/index.aspx |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/0220mzb33 |
Funders
Funder type
Other
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/06/2022 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Continuous and discrete variables, consent will be taken from participants, the data will be stored on OneDrive (KCL), data will be anonymized from the beginning of the study. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | version v1 | 05/02/2021 | 01/04/2021 | No | Yes |
| Protocol file | version v1 | 05/02/2021 | 01/04/2021 | No | No |
Additional files
- ISRCTN43025724_PROTOCOL_v1_05Feb2021.docx
- Uploaded 01/04/2021
- ISRCTN43025724_PIS_v1_05Feb2021.docx
- Uploaded 01/04/2021
Editorial Notes
01/04/2021: Uploaded protocol Version 1, 05 February 2021 (not peer reviewed). The participant information sheet has been uploaded.
23/03/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by King's College London.
