Change in Social Media Use and Well-being Among College Students Receiving a Two-week Exercise or Mindfulness Intervention
Social Media Use Study
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
300 participants
Aug 24, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The investigators will be randomizing 300 college student participants with high levels of social media use into either a 1) control condition (no intervention), a 2) mindfulness meditation cognitive intervention, or 3) a social media reduction + exercise replacement intervention. Participants complete intervention activities daily for two weeks. The investigators will collect self-report and behavioral measures of social media use and related psychological constructs at three time points: baseline, immediately after the intervention period, and one-week after the intervention period (three weeks from baseline).
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria7
- The participant is 18 or older.
- The participant must be a Johns Hopkins University student.
- Owning an iPhone or Android smartphone, with frequent use of social media use daily (\>
- hour)
- Enabling and sharing screenshots of the participant's smartphone use metrics, including number of last-week pickups, notifications received, and average screen time.
- Providing consent to participate.
- Only exercising 1 hour or less daily, on average.
Exclusion Criteria5
- younger than 18
- Not a Johns Hopkins University Student
- Doesn't own a smart phone
- Uses smartphone less than 1 hour daily
- Exercises more than 1 hour daily
Interventions
15 minute daily guided meditation
Reduce social media use at least 30 minutes daily and exercise instead
Participants will exercise at least 30 minutes daily. Participants are given examples of common exercises (walking, yoga, strength training, etc.), but are allowed to choose any type, although dissuaded from activities with high potential for injury.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT07097545