Teen Brain Online II: Understanding How Social Media Affects the Teen Brain (NCT06817993)
🩺 Plain-English Summary (8th-Grade Level)
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
Who can join: To join this study, participants generally need to meet the listed inclusion criteria (4 items) and avoid the listed exclusions (10 items).
Location: University of Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
📋 "Do I Qualify?" — 1-Minute Self Screener
Instant ChecklistCheck every box below. If you can check all of them, you may meet the study's basic screening requirements (final eligibility is confirmed by the site team).
Usually NOT eligible if any of the following apply:
- 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.
🔍 Extracted verbatim from the official NIH eligibility criteria. Always confirm with the study coordinator.
📍 All Participating Trial Locations (1 Sites)
- University of Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
💰 Cost, Insurance & Patient Rights
- 100% Free Items: The investigational treatment and protocol-required procedures are supplied at zero cost by the sponsor.
- Routine Patient Care: Under federal law (ACA § 2709) and many state statutes, routine care costs are covered during participation.
- Voluntary Participation: You may withdraw at any time without affecting your standard medical care.