Social Media and COVID-19

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title:

Tracking WhatsApp Behaviors During a Crisis: A Longitudinal Observation of Messaging Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04367363
• Other study ID #: 2020-CERC-001B
• Status: Completed
• Start date: March 17, 2020
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: December 2020
• Source: Yale-NUS College
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

In this protocol, we seek to examine the role of popular messaging platform WhatsApp in information spread during a crisis. As there have been few global crises in the last decade (coinciding with the rise of social media), the role of private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp during crisis contexts remains understudied. During the current COVID-19 global health crisis, we undertook this study to: (1) characterize the nature of WhatsApp use during crises, (2) characterize the profiles of WhatsApp users (3) understand how WhatsApp usage links to well-being (fear and thoughts about COVID-19).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 151
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: May 7, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 21 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 21 years
• Has stayed in Singapore for at least 2 years
• Has a WhatsApp account that can be used for the research study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Below 21 years
• Has stayed in Singapore for less than 2 years
• Does not have a WhatsApp account that can be used for the research study

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Coronavirus
• Depression
• Stress

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Social media & news consumption
Daily reports of social media use and consumption, including reports on receiving and disseminating news articles related to the COVID-19 situation (e.g., how many messaging groups shared news on the outbreak, how many items related to the outbreak they forwarded to others, etc).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Singapore	Yale-NUS College	Singapore

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Jean Liu

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Singapore, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	WhatsApp usage	Participants were asked a series of questions daily related to their WhatsApp usage behaviors - in particular, their message-forwarding, personal chat and group chat behaviors.	1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion
Primary	Changes in fear with regards the COVID-19 situation across 1 week	1 item each day on fear specifically of the COVID-19 situation (measured on a 4 point scale: min = 1, max = 4; higher scores indicating greater fear about the outbreak).	1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion
Primary	Changes in amount of thinking about the COVID-19 situation across 1 week	1 item each day on how much they thought about the outbreak that day (measured on a 5 point scale: min = 1, max = 5; higher scores indicating more thinking about the outbreak).	1 week, starting from date after initial survey completion