NCT06798480

Prevalence of Problematic Use of Social Media

Prevalence of Problematic Use of Social Media in the General PopuLation

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 1,000 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Hospices Civils de Lyon · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 13 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

In 2023, French individuals spend an average of two hours per day on social media platforms (SM), primarily Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. While social media offers undeniable benefits, it also raises concerns about its impact on mental health and well-being. These impacts remain poorly understood, partly due to the diversity of social media uses and motivations, which do not have uniform effects on health. For instance, studies have shown that "active" use of social media (e.g., content creation) is associated with higher well-being, whereas "passive" use (e.g., content scrolling) is linked to lower well-being. This challenge in understanding the variety of social media uses and their consequences has direct clinical implications. Clinicians working in pediatrics, child psychiatry, and addiction medicine are increasingly confronted with patients struggling to manage their social media use. However, they lack clear diagnostic criteria to differentiate between normal and problematic use, as well as specific tools tailored to address potential disorders. Moreover, in France, there is no existing estimate of the proportion of the general population affected by problematic social media use. This study aims to establish the prevalence of problematic use of social media in France. The investigators hypothesize that the prevalence will be close to 10%, which is the prevalence that has been found in other European countries in previous studies.

Conditions

• Social Networks
• Addiction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Self-administered survey	An anonymous self-administered online questionnaire hosted on LimeSurvey, lasting approximately 20 minutes, will be completed by participants. A panel of participants representative of the general population will be provided by the Selvitys Institute. In parallel, the self-administered questionnaire will also be distributed via posts on social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X) over a period of three months.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-04-01
• Primary completion: 2025-07-01
• Completion: 2025-07-01
• First posted: 2025-01-29
• Last updated: 2025-03-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France