Keep Social Study for Young Adults

Summary

The Keep Social randomized control trial (RCT) is a 6-week, online study which will test whether, relative to a placebo control condition, an intervention that encourages high-quality in-person social interactions with strangers and acquaintances reduces young adults' (ages 18 - 29) social isolation and loneliness.

Participants will complete our 6-week protocol, which includes 6 weeks of passive ecological behavior sampling (i.e., geotracking) and Day Reports, our 4-week Invibe social media messages, plus recurrent Biweekly Assessments (BW1-BW4) that include both self-reported and behavioral measures. The first Monday following enrollment, participants complete the BW1 baseline survey to assess demographic characteristics and initial levels of all outcome variables (primary and secondary, \~20 min). They also (optionally) activate passive geotracking on this day and leave it activated, continuously, for the duration of the study.

During the 2-week baseline and 4-week Invibe phases, time-varying psychological and behavioral mediators and moderators will be assessed three times per week via Day Reports. To increase ecological validity, each week, two weekdays (i.e., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday), and one weekend day (i.e., Friday, Saturday or Sunday) will be randomly selected. Day reports will not be assigned on Mondays if there is a biweekly assessment scheduled.

Conditions

• Social Isolation
• Loneliness

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Experimental Health Communication

Participants view a brief psychoeducational video about the value of connecting in-person with others and receive guided instructions for creating if-then behavioral plans for increasing moments of high-quality social connection. Over the next four weeks, they view messages on a simulated social media platform to encourage in-person, connections with strangers and acquaintances on a platform called Invibe. The Invibe feed will also have approximately 15 background posts each day from "users'" about their lives, including food, fitness, pets, and travel, common on social media platforms. During the 4-week Invibe phase, after participants complete each Day Report, they will view the Invibe simulated social media feed. Participant exposure to each target message will be both passive, via that day's feed, and forced, via inclusion on the Day Report. Participants will see 12 social media messages during this 4-week phase, shown in random order within the first 3 daily posts.

BEHAVIORAL

Simulated Social Media Platform Only

To rule out placebo and nonspecific effects, the Keep Social RCT engenders positive expectations in all participants by promoting the use of Invibe as a beta social media platform to build and maintain social ties, a framing that mirrors information-as-usual for wellness through social media connections. Those in the Placebo Control condition receive no further health communication (view no psychoeducational video) and encounter all background content on Invibe (all target messages excluded) with control posts that feature unrelated content.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

  collaborator NIH

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Barbara L. Frederickson, PhD · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

29 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-05-19

Primary Completion

2027-11-30

Completion

2027-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations