This two-phase, double-blind, balanced, parallel-group randomized controlled trial involves youth aged 12 to 17 years who experience symptoms of anxiety or depression and use social media for more than three hours per day.
In Phase 1, a small pilot group will participate in the REWIRE program to assess its feasibility, usability, and engagement before launching Phase 2. Results of the pilot will inform whether any modifications to the intervention are required and identify ways to increase adherence and reduce barriers.
In Phase 2, approximately 100 youth and their caregivers will be randomly assigned to one of two groups to evaluate the REWIRE program on anxiety and depression symptoms. One group will participate in the REWIRE program, which aims to reduce social media use to about half of usual levels while encouraging participation in positive offline activities such as spending time with friends, hobbies, physical activity, or time outdoors. The comparison group will receive psychoeducation about social media and health, but will not be asked to change their social media use. Both youth and caregivers will attend weekly group sessions over 12-weeks. Participants will also track their physical activity, complete questionnaires about mental health, daily activities, and social media use, and will provide daily smartphone usage screenshots. Youth will additionally take part in brain imaging scans and neurocognitive assessments before and after the program to explore how changes in social media use may be related to brain function. At the end of Phase 2, 20 participants will be randomly selected for interviews to explore their experiences with the intervention.
Additional secondary outcomes in Phase 2 include social phobia, social comparison, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, body esteem, disordered eating, social media disorder symptoms, cyberbullying, reinforcing efficacy of social media, impulsivity, suicidal ideations, well-being, executive functioning and cognition, while further assessing the feasibility.