No Placebo Group
Every participant receives an active treatment — no one gets a placebo.
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At a Glance
Age
13 – 17
Sex
Any
Study type
Interventional
Purpose
Basic Science
Participants needed
60 (estimated)
Sponsor
University of Pittsburgh · Other
Who this trial is looking for
This trial is looking for teens aged 13 to 17 who experience depressive symptoms. Participants will complete tasks while their brain activity is recorded using an MRI scanner, along with surveys about their social media use.
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
Rules you outProbable substance use disorder
You may be able to join if
I am between the ages of 13 and 17
I have mild to moderate-severe depressive symptoms
I use social media apps at least 3 times a week
I have my own smartphone
You may not be able to join if
I have a serious neurological or medical condition
I am unable to read or speak English
I have hearing issues that prevent me from understanding instructions
I could be pregnant
I have a probable substance use disorder
I have MRI restrictions like dental braces or claustrophobia
I am taking certain medications affecting my brain other than antidepressants
I have participated in similar tasks in other studies
Summarized in plain language from this trial's official eligibility criteria.
The full criteria are further down this page — only the research team can
confirm whether you qualify.
Think this trial could be right for you?
Answer three quick questions written from this study's own rules to see if you may qualify. No account needed to find out.
There has been much interest in the potential role of social media (SM) use in driving a current mental health crisis among teens, with a dire need for evidence that goes beyond self-report. One important avenue is to understand the role of the brain in driving the effects of SM use on emotional health and vice versa. However, there is almost no research addressing these questions, largely due to …
There has been much interest in the potential role of social media (SM) use in driving a current mental health crisis among teens, with a dire need for evidence that goes beyond self-report. One important avenue is to understand the role of the brain in driving the effects of SM use on emotional health and vice versa. However, there is almost no research addressing these questions, largely due to a lack of tasks that can probe the neural correlates of modern SM use. The goal of this clinical trial is to develop and validate a new developmentally-appropriate and ecologically-valid functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and eyetracking task, the TeenBrainOnline (TBO) Task, that is more realistic and similar to modern SM platforms. Participants will be 50 teens (ages 13-17) with depressive symptoms who will complete the final version of TBO task during fMRI with eye-tracking, an older Chatroom Interact (CHAT-I) Task, daily surveys of SM use, and measures of depressive symptoms. Our goal is to show that the task works by:
* Demonstrating that it activates expected regions of the brain and visual attention biases toward feedback cues.
* Showing that brain and eyetracking (visual attention) activity on the task explain variability in depressive symptoms at baseline and three months later, and work better than similar indices from an older task.
* Showing that brain and eyetracking (visual attention) activity on the task are associated with real-world measures of social media use collected during daily surveys. Specifically, The investigators expect that teens whose brain and eyetracking activity suggests they are more sensitive to feedback on SM will report a social evaluation orientation toward social media use in daily life, such as engaging a lot in social comparison, worrying about missing out, and caring about getting a lot of likes and comments.
Participants will be asked to:
* complete a 10-15 minute screening call to determine eligibility for the study
* complete one 90 minute virtual study visit to complete questionnaires and prepare for the MRI visit (visit 1)
* submit 24 photos to our study specific social media site
* complete an (in person) MRI scan visit (\~4 hours), which consists of 2 tasks where they will interact with peers (visit 2)
* complete \~5 minute smartphone surveys 3 times a day for 16 days, asking about their daily experiences online and emotional reactions.
* complete 2 online questionnaires asynchronously 3 months after their scan date
Trial Locations
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Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
* Between ages 13-17
* Depression screening scores on the MFQ-C in the mild (MFQ = 12-25; N = 20) or moderate-to-severe range (MFQ ≥25; N=30)
* Possess their own smartphone to complete web-based ecological momentary assessments (EMA) using WebDataExpress.
* use social media apps…
Inclusion Criteria:
* Between ages 13-17
* Depression screening scores on the MFQ-C in the mild (MFQ = 12-25; N = 20) or moderate-to-severe range (MFQ ≥25; N=30)
* Possess their own smartphone to complete web-based ecological momentary assessments (EMA) using WebDataExpress.
* use social media apps (e.g. Instagram, twitter, reddit, discord, YouTube, etc.) at least 3 times a week, on average, per teen report
Exclusion Criteria:
* Presence of a serious neurological or medical condition, by parent report
* Unable to read or speak English or cognitive impairment preventing ability to complete assessments.
* Hearing impairment preventing ability to hear and understand instructions conveyed via headphones in the MRI scanner
* Possible pregnancy, as determined by participant report
* Presence of probable substance use disorder, as determined by participant report
* Presence of MRI contraindications (e.g., dental braces, history of metallic foreign objects in body such as aneurysm clips or other devices or questionable history of metallic fragments, claustrophobia, or a weight of above 300 lbs)
* Taking medications that affect the central nervous system other than antidepressants (stable dose allowed due to high rates of use among teens with depressive symptoms) or stimulants if required 36 hours before the scan.
* Completion of Chatroom Interact Task or TBO Task in prior studies
* Screening positive on the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, or screening positive on the Youth Inventory-4/ for a potential psychotic disorder or substance use disorder.
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