NCT06049888

Does Social Media Impact Adolescent Mental Health?

Causal Effects of Exposure to Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 500 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Georgetown University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 10 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The mental health of adolescents in the United States has seen a steep decline since 2011, roughly coinciding with the increasing popularity of social media and smartphones. But does social media have a causal impact on the mental health of adolescents or are concerns about the effect of social media on kids a form of public hysteria? In this study, the investigators will conduct the first field experiment in 11-14-year-olds to examine whether, how, and for whom social media harms mental health.

Conditions

• Mental Health

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Restricted Social Media	Participants (N = 500) will be randomly assigned to either have no study-imposed restrictions on social media use (naturalistic social media condition) or have no access to social media apps on their phones (restricted social media condition). This manipulation will last three months, after which both groups will have no study-imposed restrictions on social media for three more months.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-09-29
• Primary completion: 2027-11-01
• Completion: 2028-02-01
• First posted: 2023-09-22
• Last updated: 2025-06-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States