An interventional study of App-based smartphone screen time restriction program in Anxiety Symptoms, Screen Time and Depressive Symptoms, sponsored by University of Bergen. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Norway. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-23.
Sponsored by University of Bergen · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a short, self-guided program for cutting down smartphone screen time can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults. It includes students in Oslo, Norway, who have applied for help at the student mental health service (SiO Mental Health).
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Researchers will compare students who start the program right away with students who continue their usual care for 2 weeks and receive the same program afterwards. Participants are placed in one of the two groups by chance, like flipping a coin.
Participants will:
8,577 studies on the registry are indexed under Depression; 1,720 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 200 is above the median of 81 across 7,063 interventional studies indexed under Depression.
Browse Depression studies →University of Bergen is the lead sponsor of 143 studies on the registry; 19 are open to participants now.
Compared within Depression, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Anxiety Disorders. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
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:
- None
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Behavioral: App-based smartphone screen time restriction program
Two-week self-guided use of an iOS screen time restriction app. Participants block their most distracting apps, with notifications disabled. Unlocking requires a 30-second delay, allows 10 minutes of access, then a 5-minute cooldown.
Symptoms of depression (PHQ-9)
Patient Health Questionnaire-9, range 0 to 27, higher scores indicate more depressive symptoms.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of intervention at 2 weeks
Symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, range 0 to 21, higher scores indicate more anxiety symptoms.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of intervention at 2 weeks
Total smartphone screen time
Time frame: 2 weeks and 12 weeks after randomization
Smartphone screen time by app category
Time frame: 2 weeks and 12 weeks after randomization
Number of daily smartphone pickups
Time frame: 2 weeks and 12 weeks after randomization
Self-reported changes in daily functioning and well-being
Twelve single-item questions on perceived change over the past 2 weeks, each answered on a 5-point scale from 1 (much less than usual) to 5 (much more than usual). The domains are sleep, time spent with others, physical activity, time on other screens (computer, tablet), loneliness, satisfaction with oneself, rumination on negative thoughts, feeling of missing out, stress, ability to concentrate, satisfaction with own study effort, and getting done what one plans. Higher scores indicate more of the attribute than usual. Whether a higher score represents a better outcome depends on the domain.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Adherence to the screen time restriction tool
Self-reported proportion of the 2-week period with the blocking rule kept active, answered on a 5-level ordinal scale: all of the time, most of the time, part of the time, little of the time, none. Higher levels indicate greater adherence. Reported by the intervention group.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Perceived usefulness and burden of the tool
Perceived usefulness of the tool for reducing screen time and perceived burden in everyday life, each answered on a 5-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (to a very great extent), and a single question on intention to continue use (yes, no, do not know). Higher usefulness indicates a better outcome and higher burden a worse outcome. Reported by the intervention group at 2 weeks and by both groups at 12 weeks.
Time frame: 2 weeks and 12 weeks
Plan to share: Yes — Anonymized individual participant data underlying the published results.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form
Time frame: After publication of the primary results.
Access criteria: Upon request to the principal investigator, under a data sharing agreement.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Sep 2026; primary completion for May 2027, 8 months later.
Of 3,468 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Depression, half reached primary completion within 21 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 41. This study's planned 8 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 3,566 studies reached it within 21 months; a quarter within 9 and three quarters within 41.
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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