The Effect of Increasing Physical Activity or Reducing Mobile Phone Use on Mental Health in Young People in Austria: a Randomised Controlled Trial
Overview
- Phase
- N/A
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Mental Health Issue
- Sponsor
- Danube University Krems
- Enrollment
- 144
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in depression score over time
- Status
- Recruiting
- Last Updated
- 2 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Introduction: Data show adolescent mental health has declined in recent years, possibly due to increased uncertainty and loss of opportunities. The SPARKY study aims to test an at-home intervention which aims to promote autonomous healthy levels of physical activity and smartphone use, in turn reducing clinical mental illness symptoms and increasing wellbeing.
Methods and analysis: Adolescents (14-19 years) in Austria and Germany will be recruited and randomised into one of three groups (physical activity, smartphone, control). The physical activity (PA) and smartphone time (ST) groups will be guided over 12-weeks to increase PA or decrease ST respectively. All groups will objectively measure PA using wrist-worn trackers and ST using an app and will regularly self-report on standardised mental health scales. Analyses will be run to assess the pre-post changes in mental health in the intervention groups compared to the control.
Ethics and dissemination: The conduct of the trial was approved by the institutional research ethics board and written informed consent will be obtained from participants and the parents of those under 18. Data will be stored open access. Findings will be disseminated through conferences, media interviews and publications to peer-reviewed journals.
Overall, mental health interventions are sorely needed in adolescents to counteract the effects of the pandemic and other uncertainties. The at-home nature of the intervention will promote autonomous healthy habit formation in youth.
Detailed Description
Design: A three-arm randomised controlled trial with a physical activity group, a smartphone-use group and a control group. Outcome assessments are to be conducted at baseline, biweekly during the intervention, at three months (post-intervention), and at one month, six months and one year post-intervention (follow-ups). The study is not blinded. Hypotheses: The predictions can be divided into two categories: 1. improvements in mental health and 2. assessing behaviour change. All hypotheses are directional. 1. Mental health: * The primary hypothesis is that the intervention groups will show a greater improvement in their mental health than the control group from pre- to post-intervention. * Secondly, it is predicted that these improvements in mental health will be sustained at the follow-up stage. * Thirdly, those individuals who meet the goals will have better mental health than those who do not. 2. Behaviour change: * As a measure of the success of the intervention, it is predicted that those in the intervention groups will be more likely to meet the physical activity and screen time goals at post-intervention and follow-up than the control group. * Finally, it can be predicted that merely tracking daily activity and screen time is enough to promote some behaviour change and therefore it is predicted that the control group will be more likely to meet the goals at post-intervention than pre-intervention.
Investigators
Rachel Dale
Dr
Danube University Krems
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •aged 14-19
- •own a smartphone
- •use their phones more than 4 hours per days
- •do less than 60 minutes of vigorous sport on 3 days per week and/or less than 60 minutes of moderate activity on 5 days per week.
- •conduct work/school in German
- •hair at least 1cm long
Exclusion Criteria
- •should not be in current medical care or have physical constraints which affect movement.
- •should not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia/psychotic disorder, substance use disorder, symptoms of an eating disorder (≥2 positive answers on SCOFF questionnaire).
- •should not have dyed hair. Participants will complete an online screening questionnaire to assess eligibility for inclusion.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in depression score over time
Time Frame: pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention
Depression will be assessed using the 9-item self-report Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, validated in German). Items refer to the last two weeks and are rated on a 4-point Likert scale from not at all (0) to nearly every day (3). The scores range from 0-27 and cut-offs of ≥11 for those 18 or under and ≥10 for those over 18 indicate clinically relevant symptoms. Measured in all three groups online via the ESMira app.
Change in well-being score over time
Time Frame: pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention
Well-being will be assessed using the World Health Organisation-five well-being index (WHO-5; validated in German) which consists of five items with scores ranging from 0 (no well-being) to 100 (maximal well-being). Measured in all three groups online via the ESMira app.
Change in anxiety score over time
Time Frame: pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention
Anxiety will be measure using the self-report Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7; validated in German). The seven items on a four-point scale can result in a maximum score of 21 and the cut-offs for clinically relevant symptoms are ≥11 in those 18 and under and ≥10 in over 18s. Measured in all three groups online via the ESMira app.
Secondary Outcomes
- Change in happiness score over time(pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention)
- Change in smartphone usage over time(measured daily via the ESMira app over baseline period (2 weeks), during the intervention period (12 weeks) and daily during 1-month, 6-month and 1-year follow-ups (1 week each))
- Change in sleep quality over time(ISI-7 at pre-baseline and immediately at post-intervention (intervention=12weeks).)
- Change in sleep duration over time(daily during baseline period (2 weeks), daily during intervention period (12 weeks) and daily during 1-month, 6-month and 1-year follow-ups (1 week each))
- Change in perceived stress score over time(pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention)
- Change in cortisol levels over time(pre-baseline & post-intervention (14 weeks: 2-week baseline + 12-week intervention))
- Change in smartphone addiction over time(pre-baseline, post-baseline (baseline = 2-weeks), every other week during the intervention period (12 weeks), at immediately at post-intervention (intervention = 12-weeks) and at 1-month, 6-months and 1-year post-intervention)
- Change in physical activity over time(Measured daily via Fitbit trackers over baseline period (2 weeks), during the intervention period (12 weeks) and daily during 1-month, 6-month and 1-year follow-ups (1 week each).)
- Qualitative measures(1 x per week during the intervention period (12 weeks))