Clinical Research Directory

The REWIRE Behaviour Study

This two-phase, double-blind, balanced, parallel-group randomized controlled trial involves youth aged 12 to 17 years who experience symptoms of anxiety or depression and use social media for more than three hours per day. In Phase 1, a small pilot group will participate in the REWIRE program to assess its feasibility, usability, and engagement before launching Phase 2. Results of the pilot will inform whether any modifications to the intervention are required and identify ways to increase adherence and reduce barriers. In Phase 2, approximately 100 youth and their caregivers will be randomly assigned to one of two groups to evaluate the REWIRE program on anxiety and depression symptoms. One group will participate in the REWIRE program, which aims to reduce social media use to about half of usual levels while encouraging participation in positive offline activities such as spending time with friends, hobbies, physical activity, or time outdoors. The comparison group will receive psychoeducation about social media and health, but will not be asked to change their social media use. Both youth and caregivers will attend weekly group sessions over 12-weeks. Participants will also track their physical activity, complete questionnaires about mental health, daily activities, and social media use, and will provide daily smartphone usage screenshots. Youth will additionally take part in brain imaging scans and neurocognitive assessments before and after the program to explore how changes in social media use may be related to brain function. At the end of Phase 2, 20 participants will be randomly selected for interviews to explore their experiences with the intervention. Additional secondary outcomes in Phase 2 include social phobia, social comparison, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), loneliness, body esteem, disordered eating, social media disorder symptoms, cyberbullying, reinforcing efficacy of social media, impulsivity, suicidal ideations, well-being, executive functioning and cognition, while further assessing the feasibility.

Application of Social Media as a Supporting Tool in the Teaching and Learning Process of Dentistry Students

This study aims to explore dental students' perceptions of the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in supporting the teaching and learning process, particularly within the university setting. It seeks to identify gaps at the interface between information gathering, education, and ICT, providing valuable insights into students' awareness and acceptance of the content they access. The findings are expected to contribute to optimizing the use of ICT as an educational support tool, strengthening the curriculum, and preparing future dentists to better understand the interaction between ICT and teaching. Ultimately, this will help foster a generation of more qualified professionals.

Optimizing Care for Challenging People Living With HIV

Conduct an intervention combining social and behavioral health models with digital health technologies to improve their adherence to their medication schedules. The success of the intervention is assessed by comparing adherence rates before and after its implementation to see if there's a notable enhancement in how well patients follow their antiretroviral therapy.

Social Media Use, Food Craving and Ultra Processed Food Consumption in Students

Social media can increase unhealthy eating habits by influencing individuals' desire to eat, especially through images and advertisements of ultra-processed foods. One of the groups most affected by this situation is university students who use social media intensively. Therefore, examining the relationship between social media use and ultra-processed food consumption is important in terms of developing healthy eating awareness.

TTM-Based Social Media Psychoeducation for Psychosis

This doctoral research investigates the effect of a Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-based psychoeducation program delivered via social media on treatment adherence in individuals diagnosed with psychosis. The study follows a randomized controlled trial design with pretest, posttest, and three-month follow-up assessments. A total of 60 participants were selected from among 354 individuals registered at the Balıkesir Community Mental Health Center (CMHC), based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were randomly assigned into three groups: 1. an online intervention group receiving a 5-week TTM-based treatment adherence psychoeducation program via WhatsApp; 2. a face-to-face intervention group receiving a standard, non-TTM-based treatment adherence psychoeducation program over 3 weeks at the CMHC; and 3. a control group that received no educational intervention, only assessments. Data collection instruments include a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Stage of Change Identification Form, the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S). Measurements were conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and three months after the intervention. The study hypotheses are: Research Hypotheses H1: The treatment adherence scale scores of individuals diagnosed with psychosis who participate in the TTM-based psychoeducation group administered via social media will differ compared to the scores of individuals who participate in the face-to-face treatment adherence psychoeducation group. H2: The treatment adherence scale scores of individuals diagnosed with psychosis who participate in the TTM-based psychoeducation group administered via social media will differ compared to the scores of individuals who do not receive TTM-based psychoeducation. This study aims to provide evidence for the efficacy of theory-based, technology-supported psychoeducation programs in enhancing treatment adherence among individuals with psychosis. Furthermore, it evaluates whether a model-based online psychoeducation program is more effective than a conventional treatment adherence education.

The Impact of Social Media-delivered Chemotherapy Side Effects Education for Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a standardized pharmacists-provided education module by social media can improve patients' knowledge of chemotherapy-related side effects. The main questions it aims to answer is: • Do patients who received a standardized pharmacists-provided education module by social media improve their knowledge of chemotherapy-related side effects? Researchers will compare standardized chemotherapy education +video (experimental group) versus chemotherapy handouts (control group). Participants will: * Received standardized chemotherapy education + video or chemotherapy handouts at the first and second chemotherapy section. * Fill out a questionnaire for outcomes assessment.

Smart mHealth Strategy for Physical Activity and Health Promotion

The purpose of this study is to develop a Smart mHealth Strategy that delivers behavior change techniques through wearable physical activity trackers and social media chatbots, including self-monitoring, real-time feedback and reminders, goal-setting, competition and rewards, social support, and health coaching. This study also aims to explore the effect of the Smart mHealth Strategy on the behavioral outcomes and psychological factors of physical activity, and physical and mental health. The study design is a three-stage randomized controlled trial. In each stage, 120 are recruited and randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Participants are adults with insufficient physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle. The Smart mHealth Strategy uses smartwatches and self-developed chatbots. The constrained dialogue content is designed to finally deliver the six behavior change techniques. Data are collected in the pre-, mid-, and post-tests. The measurement includes self-administered questionnaires, Actigraphy GT9X, Inbody 270S, OMRON HEM-7130, and heart rate variability monitors.

Chatsafe Netherlands: Improving Safe Suicide Communication for Young People on Social Media

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people (YP) aged 10 to 25 years in the Netherlands. In addition, YP report high rates of suicidal ideation (16%). While suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon with many factors and causes, the role of social media is becoming more prominent, especially for YP. Social media has been shown to be a source where YP can find support, but it's also a place where suicidal behavior is glorified or normalized, which can be triggering or harmful to other social media consumers. The #Chatsafe guidelines were developed by Orygen Australia to better equip young people to communicate safely about suicide on social media. These guidelines are supported by a social media campaign to make the content of the guidelines more accessible to them. The #Chatsafe intervention consists of both the guidelines and the social media campaign. A small-scale Australian feasibility study showed promising results in terms of the acceptance and safety of the campaign, and safety regarding communicating about suicide on social media platforms. Currently, in Australia it is tested to what extent these results hold up in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) (Robinson et al., 2023). With funding from the Dutch National Agenda for Suicide Prevention, a contextualized replication study is conducted. The aim of this study is to determine whether the #Chatsafe intervention has an effect on the way in which Dutch YP communicate online about suicide.