Reactions to Social Media Warning Labels Among Teens and Young Adults

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Screen Time Exposure

• Registration Number: NCT07199660
• Lead Sponsor: Stanford University

Brief Summary

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate whether social media warnings are perceived as more effective than control labels among teens and young adults, and to identify the most promising topics for social media warnings for these age groups. A secondary objective is to compare perceived message effectiveness of warnings refined using artificial intelligence (AI) vs. those not refined using AI.

Detailed Description

Participants will complete a within-subjects online randomized experiment in which they will view and rate messages on the risk of social media use. Participants will view messages about 9 topics: 8 warning topics and 1 control topic. The 8 warning topics include 7 potential mandatory warnings (depression and anxiety, body image, addiction, sleep, mental health harms to children, not been proven safe, and California's proposed warning) and 1 voluntary warning (similar to a message used on TikTok to encourage users to take breaks). For each topic, participants will view 1-2 messages and respond to survey items about that message. All messages will be shown in random order.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-09
• Study First Submitted: 2025-09-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-09-22
• Study First Posted: 2025-09-30
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-09-30
• Last Update Posted: 2025-10-06
• Study Start: 2025-10-15
• Primary Completion: 2025-11-04
• Study Completion: 2025-11-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1000

Inclusion Criteria

• Age between 13-29 years
• Reside in the United States
• Able to complete a survey in English
• Access to the internet

Exclusion Criteria

• Younger than 13 or older than 29 years
• Reside outside of the United States
• Unable to complete a survey in English
• Lacks access to the internet

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceived message effectiveness for discouraging social media use	The survey will measure perceived message effectiveness immediately after participants are exposed to the message.	The study will assess perceived message effectiveness for discouraging social media use with 1 item: "How much does this message discourage you from wanting to use social media?" Response options will range from "Not at all" (coded as 1) to "A great deal" (coded as 5). Higher scores indicate higher perceived message effectiveness.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Awareness of the harms of social media use	The survey will measure awareness of the harms of social media use immediately after participants are exposed to the message.	The study will assess awareness of the harms of social media use with 1 item: "How much does this message increase your awareness of the harms of using social media?" Response options will range from "Not at all" (coded as 1) to "A great deal" (coded as 5). Higher scores indicate greater awareness.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Stanford School of Medicine; 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, California, United States