Exploring the Effects of Social Media Use and Environmental Factors

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Whatsapp, Article, No Phone
• Interventions: Behavioral: Article; Behavioral: Whatsapp; Behavioral: No Phone

• Registration Number: NCT03247621
• Lead Sponsor: Yale-NUS College

Brief Summary

In this protocol, the investigators propose a randomised controlled trail to explore the effects of environmental factors and the use of technology on eating behaviours. The investigators have planned two studies to investigate these effects, one on high school students from Raffles Institution, and the other on the university population in the National University of Singapore.

Detailed Description

Participants will be told a cover story that the study explores technological distraction on taste, and asked to complete a taste-evaluation taste of common snacks. One group (intervention group) will be asked to use their personal smartphones to engage in their pre-existing Whatsapp chats while doing the taste test. For the two control conditions, one group will be tasked with reading a neutral article on their personal smartphones while they complete the taste test, while the other group will be asked to complete the taste test without any use of smartphones.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2015-07
• Status Verified: 2017-08
• Study First Submitted: 2017-08-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-08-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-08-09
• Study First Posted: 2017-08-11
• Last Update Posted: 2017-08-11
• Primary Completion: 2018-07
• Study Completion: 2018-07

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 180

Inclusion Criteria

• Normal weight: Body mass index of 18 to 25
• Have at least occasional breakfast meals (≥ 3 times a week of self-reported consumption of a breakfast meal)

Exclusion Criteria

• Symptoms / history of any medical or psychiatric conditions
• Allergies to food products
• History of eating disorders
• Excessive exercise (≥ 5 times a week of self-reported exercise)
• Currently on a special diet or deliberating restricting caloric intake
• Currently on a weight loss program
• Smoking or substance abuse

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Article	Article	Participants will read a neutral article on their smartphones during the taste test
Whatsapp	Whatsapp	Participants will engage in Whatsapp chats on their smartphones during the taste test
No Phone	No Phone	Participants will not use their phones during the taste test

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Amount of food consumed	20 minutes	Number of grams of cereal eaten

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Hunger ratings	10 minutes	Self-reported hunger ratings before and after the taste test
Taste ratings	20 minutes	Self-report on how much they enjoyed the two food products during the taste test

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Yale-NUS College; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore