Smartphones Aggravating Anxiety Symptoms

NCT ID: NCT06361342

Last Updated: 2026-01-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 100 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-03-08
• Study Completion Date: 2026-12-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to assess if excessive use of smartphone apps of social media can impact a person's mental health. The study is aimed at improving the usage of smartphones which might help improve the mental health of patients. The goal is not to discourage the use of smartphones but instead to utilize smartphones in a way that they do not impact lives.

Conditions

Anxiety

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

General decrease in smartphone use.

Subjects will limit their time on smartphone.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

General decrease in smartphone use

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will decrease their time on smartphone in general.

Avoid certain social media apps

Subjects will limit time on smartphone, in particular avoiding use of social media apps on the smartphone which includes Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Avoiding Social Media Apps

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will avoid use of social media apps on the smartphone which includes Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Interventions

General decrease in smartphone use

Subjects will decrease their time on smartphone in general.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Avoiding Social Media Apps

Subjects will avoid use of social media apps on the smartphone which includes Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• For patients aged 18 years or older experiencing mild symptoms of anxiety or depression and who have a GAD-7 score 5 and above.
• Patient should have smart phone and should be using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Pinterest social media apps.
• Patients should have email access.

Exclusion Criteria

• Any patient who uses a smartphone for tracking glucose for diabetes management, heart rate, or any chronic illness which is being managed through a smartphone app.
• Any patient who uses more than one personal smartphone
• Any patient who is a suicide risk as per PHQ-9 score, current recreational drug usage, or alcohol abuse.
• Any patient who has suicidal ideation as per PHQ-9 assessment before or during the study period will be excluded, (all patients will be monitored for suicidal ideation by PHQ-9 scoring method at day 1, week 6, and week 12, but it is the responsibility of the patient to inform the study team if they have developed any suicidal ideation throughout the study period).
• Patients with activated POA (Power of Attorney - Healthcare), diagnosis of mental retardation or current disability due to any psychiatric disorder or severe depression with a high risk of suicide should be excluded.
• Any patient currently undergoing ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for severe depression.
• Any patient taking prescribed SSRIs/SNRIs, with a change and not taking them continuously in last 30 days (not a new diagnosis of anxiety). If change they will be excluded.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Gagandeep Singh

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Gagandeep Singh, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mayo Clinic

Locations

Mayo Clinic Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

23-003633

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id