Adolescent Social Media Use and Welfare

Last registered on November 18, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Adolescent Social Media Use and Welfare
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015866
Initial registration date
May 19, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 22, 2025, 5:45 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
November 18, 2025, 11:05 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Illinois

Primary Investigator

Name
Lena Song
Affiliation
UIUC
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Anya Samek
PI Affiliation
UCSD Rady
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PI Name
John List
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-04-25
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this study, we provide evidence on how adolescent use and feel about social media, and estimate the individual and aggregate welfare effects. This provides evidence for ongoing policy discussions such as restricting adolescent access to social media entirely or limiting use during school.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
List, John, Anya Samek and Lena Song. 2025. "Adolescent Social Media Use and Welfare." AEA RCT Registry. November 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15866-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
To mitigate survey fatigue, we randomize students into different groups, each receiving a subset of questions designed to elicit their willingness to accept (WTA) using multiple price lists.
Intervention (Hidden)
We randomize students into different groups, each receiving a subset of questions designed to elicit their willingness to accept (WTA) using multiple price lists.

In Spring 2025, students are randomized at the classroom level into one of two treatment arms:
- Full Restriction Arm: participants are asked about giving up all social media use.
- In-school Restriction Arm: participants are asked about giving up social media during school hours
hours.

In Fall 2025, students are randomized at the classroom level into one of two treatment arms that vary the relevant network affected by the restriction:
- Restriction with Class: participants are asked about giving up all social media use, along with other participating students in their class
- Restriction with School: participants are asked about giving up all social media use, along with all other participating students in the school

The main results from this study will be descriptive. The randomization is done to mitigate survey fatigue.
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-25
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes are individual-level and aggregate welfare.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a randomized survey experiment with adolescents to measure the welfare effects of social media use. Participants are randomly assigned to different WTA questions, and answer questions about themselves and their classmates.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is at the classroom level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
~100
Sample size: planned number of observations
~1200-1500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Spring 2025: 1/2 in each of Full Restriction and In-school Restriction
Fall 2025: 1/2 in each of Restriction with Class and Restriction with School
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC San Diego
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-04
IRB Approval Number
806543
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials