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A Music and Visual Arts Digital Intervention in Teenagers to Promote Healthy Engagement With Social Media.

CompletedNA

Sponsor: New York University

Conditions: Healthy Subjects, Mental Health Issue

Interventions: Music composition / edition, Photography composition / edition

Countries: United States

The primary goal of this interventional study is to explore whether 3 months of arts-based digital interventions can change the way in which teenagers (13-16 years of age) use social media and are affected by them. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Can we give teenagers new, stimulating, and more goal-oriented ways of using social media through arts-based digital trainings and active discussions around social media? * Can these arts-based digital interventions also help teenagers to overcome the negative consequences of social media overuse (such as depression, anxiety, and reduced attention and cognitive performance)? Secondarily, this study also aims to explore the brain and behavioral traits associated with these arts-based interventions to better understand how they work. Researchers will compare a music composition intervention with two other interventions: an active control intervention based on visual-arts instead of music (i.e., photography), and a passive approach to control for the mere pass of time. Participants will: * Complete a baseline and a post-intervention evaluation where researchers will obtain measures of cognitive performance (attention and executive functions, mainly), mood, mental health, brain structure and function, and social media usage and attitudes towards these platforms. * Complete weekly measures regarding their use of social media platforms and their mood. * Complete 3-month arts-based composition / edition intervention (based on music or visual-arts/photography), or the equivalent time with no intervention (passive control group). The motivation of this study was driven by the observation that, in recent years, there has been an increasing use of social media and digital devices in teenagers, while the scientific community still does not fully understand the effects of the overuse of these digital means and platforms. Moreover, some of the negative effects described to be associated with the passive overuse of social media tap on the same brain structures that are benefited by musical and artistic trainings. Hence, we thought it could be worth trying to use arts-based training to help teenagers compensate for or overcome the negative effects of social media at the neural, cognitive, mood and mental health levels. This study introduces novelty through three main aspects. Firstly, it employs a digital art creation approach that requires no classical art training, making it more accessible and less intimidating. Secondly, it incorporates commonly used digital devices (e.g., phones/tablets) and motivating environments into the learning process, integrating the development of new digital skills and the practice of critical thinking around the use of SM into normal classroom activities. Finally, the study employs a multi-methodological approach to explore the brain mechanisms underlying mental-health and cognitive changes resulting from arts-based interventions. Finally, we believe that conclusions from SMART will: * set the basis for developing preventive and therapeutic interventions for depression and anxiety in teenagers, * promote educational programs that provide optimal tools for adolescents to navigate social media in a healthy manner, and * inspire educational policy.

Eligibility overview

Sex: ALL

Age: 13 Years to 16 Years

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study type: INTERVENTIONAL

Eligibility criteria

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

* We are not concerned with country of birth, native language, race, or gender. Furthermore, we will not exclude subjects based on their neurodevelopmental, neurological, or psychiatric disorders, or based on their background or previous training in music, visual/plastic arts, or film/multimedia.
* We will recruit participants who are 13-16 years old.
* If they agree to participate in the neuroimaging sessions, participants will not have any contraindications for completing MEG or MRI scans.
* In addition, we intend to recruit the parents of child participants to answer questions about their child. For these participants, we have no inclusion criteria except that they are the parent of a child participating in the study.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

* We will exclude participants who are not between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.
* For the additional neuroimaging measures, we will exclude participants who have any contraindications for MEG or MRI if they choose to participate in the optional MEG and MRI scans.
* For recruiting parents, we will exclude those who are not parents of a child enrolled in the study.

Locations (2)

Brooklyn, New York, United States
New York, New York, United States