Digital Habit Interventions

Social media apps are designed to make opening and continuing to use them easy, which may contribute to habitual or unwanted use. This study will test whether adding a brief pause before opening a selected social media app can help young adults reduce the time they spend using the app. It will also examine whether the intervention improves digital well-being. Participants ages 18 to 24 who regularly use social media will be randomly assigned either to use a smartphone tool that adds a brief pause before opening a social media app they would like to use less or to continue using social media as usual for approximately two weeks. Participants will visit the laboratory before and after the two-week study period. At each visit, they will complete a survey measuring digital well-being and tasks measuring attention, memory, and self-control. They will also use their smartphones while their brain activity is measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a noninvasive method that uses light sensors worn on the head. During the two-week period, participants will complete brief daily smartphone surveys, and study applications will collect information about their screen time and app use. Researchers will compare the two groups to determine whether the brief pause reduces time spent using the selected social media app and improves digital well-being. Behavioral and neural measures will be examined on an exploratory basis to better understand how participants respond to the intervention.