An interventional study of Brick device in Pregnancy, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-10.
Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if restricting social media use with a hardware device can improve mental health and well-being during pregnancy. It will also learn about the feasibility and acceptability of this approach.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Researchers will compare participants who use a device (Brick™) that restricts social media apps to participants receiving usual care to see if the device improves social media use and mental health outcomes.
Participants will:
166 studies on the registry are indexed under Internet Addiction Disorder; 47 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 70 is below the median of 88 across 96 interventional studies indexed under Internet Addiction Disorder.
Browse Internet Addiction Disorder studies →Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,588 studies on the registry; 446 are open to participants now.
Of its 223 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 168 (75%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
1. Non-viable pregnancy
Participants randomized to this arm will complete a 2-week baseline monitoring period followed by a 2-week intervention period. During the intervention period, participants will receive the Brick™ device, a hardware-based tool that restricts access to user-selected social media applications by requiring physical interaction with the device to unlock them. Participants will be instructed on device use and asked to use it continuously to block access to their selected social media apps for the duration of the 2-week intervention period. Participants may voluntarily reverse the intervention at any point during the study.
Device: Brick device
Participants randomized to this arm will complete a 2-week baseline monitoring period followed by a 2-week period of continued usual smartphone and social media behavior, without any restriction on app access. No intervention device or procedure is administered during this period. As additional compensation, participants in this arm will receive a Brick™ device following completion of all study procedures.
A hardware-based device that restricts access to user-selected social media applications by requiring physical interaction with the device to unlock them. Participants in the intervention arm will use the device continuously to block access to selected social media apps during a 2-week intervention period, following a 2-week baseline monitoring period. The device is not an FDA-regulated medical device and functions as a consumer hardware tool. Participants may voluntarily reverse the intervention (unlock the device) at any point during the study.
Percent reduction in social media screen time
Daily social media screen time, defined as total minutes per day spent in social media applications as captured by the device-native iOS Screen Time report, averaged across each 14-day observation window. For each participant, percent reduction is calculated as: \[(mean baseline daily minutes - mean post-intervention daily minutes) / mean baseline daily minutes\] × 100 where the baseline value is the mean of daily social media minutes over the 14 days preceding randomization and the follow-up value is the mean over the 14-day window at the end of the intervention period. Mean percent reduction will be compared between the intervention (Brick device) group and the usual care group.
Time frame: 2-week intervention period
Recruitment rate
Number of participants enrolled and randomized, expressed as a proportion of those screened and confirmed eligible, and as the mean number enrolled per month over the recruitment period.
Time frame: Through completion of enrollment (approximately 9 months)
Retention rate
Proportion of randomized participants who complete the end-of-intervention assessment with evaluable primary outcome data (iOS Screen Time report for the final 14-day window)
Time frame: 2-week intervention period
Adherence to Brick device use
Among participants randomized to the intervention, the proportion of the number of minutes during which the Brick device was in use divided by the number of minutes during the active intervention period; reported as the group mean and as the proportion of participants achieving ≥90% adherent days.
Time frame: 2-week intervention period
Change in EPDS Score at 4 weeks
Change in depressive symptoms from enrollment to study completion, measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The EPDS is a 10-item self-report questionnaire; each item is scored 0 to 3 and summed for a total score ranging from 0 to 30. Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms (a worse outcome). Change is calculated as the study-completion score minus the baseline score, yielding a possible range of -30 to +30, where negative values indicate improvement.
Time frame: Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)
Change in GAD-7 score at 4 weeks
Change in anxiety symptoms from baseline to study completion, measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). The GAD-7 is a 7-item self-report questionnaire; each item is scored 0 to 3 and summed for a total score ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms (a worse outcome). Change is calculated as the study-completion score minus the baseline score, yielding a possible range of -21 to +21, where negative values indicate improvement.
Time frame: Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)
Change in WHO-5 Score at 4 weeks
Change in well-being from baseline to study completion, measured using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5). The WHO-5 is a 5-item self-report questionnaire; each item is scored 0 to 5 and summed for a raw score of 0 to 25, which is multiplied by 4 to yield a final score ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate greater well-being (a better outcome). Change is calculated as the study-completion score minus the baseline score, yielding a possible range of -100 to +100, where positive values indicate improvement.
Time frame: Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)
Change in UCLA-LS-3 score at 4 weeks
Change in loneliness from baseline to study completion, measured using the Three-Item UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS-3). The UCLA-LS-3 is a 3-item self-report questionnaire; each item is scored 1 to 3 and summed for a total score ranging from 3 to 9. Higher scores indicate greater loneliness (a worse outcome). Change is calculated as the study-completion score minus the baseline score, yielding a possible range of -6 to +6, where negative values indicate improvement.
Time frame: Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)
Change in B-PSQI Score at 4 weeks
Change in sleep quality from baseline to study completion, measured using the Brief Version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (B-PSQI). The B-PSQI is a 6-item self-report questionnaire yielding five scored components (subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and frequency of night awakenings), each scored 0 to 3 and summed for a global score ranging from 0 to 15. Higher scores indicate poorer sleep quality (a worse outcome). Change is calculated as the study-completion score minus the baseline score, yielding a possible range of -15 to +15, where negative values indicate improvement.
Time frame: Enrollment to study completion (4 weeks)
Plan to share: No
Start is estimated for Oct 2026; primary completion for Oct 2027, 12 months later.
Of 72 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Internet Addiction Disorder, half reached primary completion within 6 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 3 and three quarters within 10. This study's planned 12 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 72 studies reached it within 6 months; a quarter within 3 and three quarters within 10.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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