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PeerScreen Trial - Reducing Screen Media Use in Peer-groups of Young People

Sponsor: University of Southern Denmark • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT07531290

Registry updated: 2026-10-13

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Description

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

Interventions

Screen media reduction (Behavioral)
Participants 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.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * 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) Exclusion Criteria: * 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)

Conditions

Mental Health Social Interaction Sleep Physical Activity Stress

Locations

University of Southern Denmark — Odense, Denmark, Denmark

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Official Source

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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