PeerScreen Trial - Reducing Screen Media Use in Peer-groups of Young People
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age13-24
SponsorUniversity of Southern Denmark
About this trial
The purpose of the PeerScreen trial is to investigate whether reducing screen media use affects mental health, social interaction, sleep, physical activity, heart rate variability, and behavioral patterns in young people aged 13 to 24 years. The primary question the trial aims to answer is:
Does reducing screen media use over a 4-week period improve mental health among young people?
Researchers will compare a screen media reduction intervention with a control condition in which participants continue their usual screen media use to determine whether reducing screen media use leads to improvements in mental health.
Participants will:
* be allocated to either a 4-week screen media reduction intervention or a control condition * complete a study protocol including questionnaire-based assessments, daily self-reports, and objective monitoring of screen media use, sleep, physical activity, heart rate variability, social interactions, and geolocation
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Participants must have at least 2 hours/day of self-reported smartphone use during leisure time (data from the survey study)
Members of each participant's household must be willing to support the participant in adhering to the prescribed intervention (data from recruitment interview)
Participants must have enough discretionary leisure time for possible in-person activities on a weekly basis throughout the study period (verified at the information meeting)
Disqualifiers
Participants with no smartphone will be excluded (data from recruitment interview)
Participants with no social media profiles will be excluded (data from recruitment interview)
Participants who currently participate in other experimental studies will be excluded (data from recruitment interview)
Participants who have been hospitalized or prescribed sick leave within the past 3 months due to a mental illness will be excluded (data from recruitment interview)
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Screen media reduction
BehavioralParticipants will reduce their recreational screen media use across devices. For smartphone use, participants will be asked to reduce their use to a maximum of 1 hour/day. Because social media use will not be permitted on computers or tablets during the intervention, this limit will also encompass participants' social media use. Research staff will help each participant set up smartphone app limits for the ten most used social media and gaming applications, add a widget to their home screen showing the current amount of time they have spent on their phone, and turn off non-essential notifications. For television, computer and tablet use, participants will reduce their use to 14 hours/week (with no specific daily limit), but social media use is not allowed on these devices. We will recommend participants to particularly reduce their solitary screen media use. Participants will be asked to keep their devices outside the bedroom, and they will be provided with a free alarm clock.
Treatment groups
240 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Screen media reductionExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Usual screen media use (control)No intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Change in mental wellbeing on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)
Self-reported mental well-being assessed as change in total score on the 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Total scores range from 14 to 70 points. Higher scores indicate better mental well-being.
Time frame
From baseline (day 1) to post-intervention (day 42).Secondary outcomes
1
Change in total weekly duration of face-to-face social interaction with peer-group members measured by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon proximity events
Face-to-face social interaction with peer-group members will be assessed as the total duration of proximity events, expressed in minutes per week, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon data collected via the SDU Connect application. The application logs the frequency and duration of proximity events between participants within a predefined distance threshold. The outcome measure is the change in weekly minutes of peer-group proximity from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period2
Change in average weekly frequency of self-reported face-to-face social interactions with non-household, non-peer individuals
Face-to-face social interactions with individuals outside the participant's household and peer group will be assessed using daily self-report collected via the SDU Connect application. These interactions include, for example, family members not living in the household, other friends, and other relations. The outcome measure is the change in the average weekly frequency of self-reported face-to-face social interactions from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period3
Change in average nightly total sleep time measured by Garmin Venu 4
Total sleep time will be assessed using continuous monitoring with the Garmin Venu 4 wearable device. Total sleep time will be derived using the device's sleep algorithm and expressed as average minutes of sleep per night. The outcome measure is the change in average nightly total sleep time from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.4
Change in average daily step count measured by Garmin Venu 4
Physical activity will be assessed using continuous monitoring with the Garmin Venu 4 wearable device. Physical activity will be expressed as average number of steps per day derived from the device. The outcome measure is the change in average daily step count from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention periodOther outcomes
1
Change in average nocturnal heart rate variability measured by Garmin Venu 4 (root mean square of successive differences)
Heart rate variability during sleep will be assessed using continuous monitoring with the Garmin Venu 4 wearable device. Heart rate variability will be expressed as the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) in milliseconds (ms), derived from the device during sleep periods. The outcome measure is the change in average nocturnal RMSSD from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.2
Change in average nightly Garmin Sleep Score measured by Garmin Venu 4
Sleep quality will be assessed using the Garmin Sleep Score (proprietary overall sleep score) derived from continuous monitoring with the Garmin Venu 4 wearable device. Garmin Sleep Score is a device-derived composite sleep measure ranging from 0 to 100 points, with higher scores indicating better sleep quality. The outcome measure is the change in average nightly Garmin Sleep Score from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period3
Change in average daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity measured by Garmin Venu 4
Physical activity intensity will be assessed using continuous monitoring with the Garmin Venu 4 wearable device. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity will be expressed as average minutes per day spent participating in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, derived from the device. The outcome measure is the change in average daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.4
Change in dyadic physiological synchrony in heart rate during peer co-presence measured by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and Garmin Venu 4
Physiological synchrony will be assessed as similarity in heart rate time series between dyads of peer-group members during periods of co-presence identified by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon data. Heart rate will be measured continuously using Garmin Venu 4 wearable devices. Synchrony will be quantified using a Time Warp Edit Distance (TWED)-based dissimilarity measure applied to dyadic heart rate time series during beacon-defined co-presence periods, with lower dissimilarity indicating greater physiological synchrony. The outcome measure is the change in average dyadic heart rate synchrony from the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.
Time frame
From the 14-day baseline period before randomization to the final 21 days of the 4-week intervention period.Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov