UMIN-ICDS Clinical Trial

Unique ID issued by UMIN	UMIN000060393
Receipt number	R000069072
Scientific Title	Evaluating a Brief Self-Affirmation Intervention to Increase College Students' Intentions to Reduce Internet Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Date of disclosure of the study information	2026/01/20
Last modified on	2026/01/17 21:08:31

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Basic information

Public title

Using a Brief Self-Affirmation Intervention to Increase College Students' Intentions to Reduce Internet Use

Acronym

a Brief Self-Affirmation Intervention to Increase College Students' Intentions to Reduce Internet Use

Scientific Title

Evaluating a Brief Self-Affirmation Intervention to Increase College Students' Intentions to Reduce Internet Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Scientific Title:Acronym

ABSI-IRIU-RCT

Region

Asia(except Japan)

Condition

Smartphone overuse or dependence

Classification by specialty

Psychosomatic Internal Medicine Psychiatry Adult

Classification by malignancy

Others

Genomic information

Objectives

Narrative objectives1

This study is the first to evaluate the efficacy of a brief, digital self-affirmation intervention on message acceptance and behavioral intention to reduce Internet use among a large sample of Chinese college students, while exploring the moderating roles of demographics, risk status, and behavioral characteristics.

Basic objectives2

Safety

Basic objectives -Others

Trial characteristics_1

Trial characteristics_2

Developmental phase

Assessment

Primary outcomes

Psychological questionnaires will be used to measure the primary outcomes, which consist of two main results.

Intention for reducing Internet Use: The first outcome will be assessed using three widely used items in social psychology and behavioral interventions: "I intend to reduce Internet use," "I will reduce my Internet use," and "How likely are you to reduce your Internet use?"

Message acceptance
After experimental tasks and health risk information, message acceptance was measured using a 3-item scale, similar to previous SAI studies. Participants rated the extent to which they perceived the health-risk information as "influential", "convincing", and "providing a good reason to prevent Internet addiction" on a 9-point Likert scale.

Key secondary outcomes

Self-control. Self-control was measured using the validated Chinese version of Brief Self-Control Scale (Fung et al., 2020; Morean et al., 2014). Sample items include "I am good at resisting temptation."
Cognitive emotional regulation. Emotional regulation approaches, including self-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing, were measured using relevant subscales of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short (CERQ-Short) (Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006). The Chinese version of CERQ has demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in undergraduate students (Zhu et al., 2008).
Self-efficacy in reducing Internet use. Corroborating prior research (Harren et al., 2021), a single item was used to assess participants' confidence in their ability to reduce Internet use: "If you wanted to, you are confident you could reduce your Internet use". Responses were rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with higher scores denoting stronger self-efficacy.

Base

Study type

Interventional

Study design

Basic design

Factorial

Randomization

Randomized

Randomization unit

Cluster

Blinding

Double blind -all involved are blinded

Control

Active

Stratification

Dynamic allocation

Institution consideration

Institution is not considered as adjustment factor.

Blocking

YES

Concealment

No need to know

Intervention

No. of arms

Purpose of intervention

Educational,Counseling,Training

Type of intervention

Behavior,custom

Interventions/Control_1

Participants initially completed baseline assessments of demographic characteristics, risk perception, and behavioral variables related to Internet addiction.
Participants in the SAI group completed the Character Strength Questionnaire, which functioned as a mindset manipulation by directing attention to their personal strengths rather than measuring them. Participants were presented with the following prompt: "Please choose one option in response to each statement, if you are not sure choose the response that most closely reflects your thoughts. All of the questions reflect statements that many people would find desirable, but we want you to answer only in terms of whether the statement describes what you are like. Please be as honest and accurate as possible." They rated the extent to which 32 positive traits or characteristics apply to them (e.g., "I always get things done" and "I value my ability to think critically") on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very much unlike me) to 5 (very much like me). These items were developed to encompass a broad spectrum of values and personal strengths.
Immediately post-task, all participants completed a 4-item manipulation check (e.g., "The activity made me think of positive aspects of myself, think of core values of myself, focus on what I am good at, realize what I value") rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater self-affirmation.

Interventions/Control_2

Participants initially completed baseline assessments of demographic characteristics, risk perception, and behavioral variables related to Internet addiction.
Participants in the control condition completed a closely time- and attention-matched task, rating the same set of items, but about a celebrity. As this study represents the first application of this tool within an Eastern cultural context, the original Western celebrity reference was adapted to a comparable Chinese celebrity (both are athletes), preserving the methodological integrity while ensuring cultural relevance.
Immediately post-task, all participants completed a 4-item manipulation check (e.g., "The activity made me think of positive aspects of myself, think of core values of myself, focus on what I am good at, realize what I value") rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater self-affirmation.

Interventions/Control_3

Interventions/Control_4

Interventions/Control_5

Interventions/Control_6

Interventions/Control_7

Interventions/Control_8

Interventions/Control_9

Interventions/Control_10

Eligibility

Age-lower limit

18 years-old <=

Age-upper limit

Not applicable

Gender

Male and Female

Key inclusion criteria

1. aged >= 18 years;
2. current enrollment as a college student at a public university in Xi'an, Shanxi Province, China;
3. giving consent for participation. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling.

Key exclusion criteria

1:presence or history of neurologicalor neurodegenerative disorder
2:sensory impairments (e.g., vision or hearing problems) that preclude assessments
3:having a diagnosis of intellectual disability (IQ<70) or a pervasive developmental disorder (e.g., autism spectrum disorder)
4:having a current diagnosis of substance use disorder (excluding Cannabis and Tobacco in the past months).

Target sample size

400

Research contact person

Name of lead principal investigator

1st name Rui

Middle name

Last name She

Organization

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Division name

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Zip code

999077

Address

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong SAR, China

TEL

8613027936690

Email

sherry-rui.she@polyu.edu.hk

Public contact

Name of contact person

1st name Rui

Middle name

Last name She

Organization

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Division name

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Zip code

999077

Address

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong SAR, China

TEL

8613027936690

Homepage URL

Email

sherry-rui.she@polyu.edu.hk

Sponsor or person

Institute

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Institute

Department

Personal name

Funding Source

Organization

The study is supported by the Start-up Fund in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Organization

Division

Category of Funding Organization

Outside Japan

Nationality of Funding Organization

Other related organizations

Co-sponsor

Name of secondary funder(s)

IRB Contact (For public release)

Organization

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Address

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong SAR, China

Tel

(852) 3400-3635

Email

RS.EthicsAdmin@polyu.edu.hk

Secondary IDs

Study ID_1

Org. issuing International ID_1

Study ID_2

Org. issuing International ID_2

IND to MHLW

Institutions

Other administrative information

Date of disclosure of the study information

2026 Year 01 Month 20 Day

Related information

URL releasing protocol

Publication of results

Unpublished

Result

URL related to results and publications

Number of participants that the trial has enrolled

354

Results

Results date posted

Results Delayed

Results Delay Reason

Date of the first journal publication of results

Baseline Characteristics

Participant flow

Adverse events

Outcome measures

Plan to share IPD

IPD sharing Plan description

Progress

Recruitment status

Completed

Date of protocol fixation

2023 Year 01 Month 19 Day

Date of IRB

2023 Year 01 Month 19 Day

Anticipated trial start date

2023 Year 02 Month 01 Day

Last follow-up date

2025 Year 12 Month 31 Day

Date of closure to data entry

2025 Year 12 Month 31 Day

Date trial data considered complete

2025 Year 12 Month 31 Day

Date analysis concluded

2025 Year 12 Month 31 Day

Other

Other related information

Management information

Registered date

2026 Year 01 Month 17 Day

Last modified on

2026 Year 01 Month 17 Day

Link to view the page

Value
https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/icdr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000069072