Smartphones, social Media and Adolescent mental well-being: the impact of school policies Restricting dayTime use—protocol for a natural experimental observational study using mixed methods at secondary schools in England (SMART Schools Study)

Abstract

IntroductionSmartphone and social media use is prevalent during adolescence, with high levels of use associated with lower levels of mental well-being. Secondary schools in the UK have introduced policies that restrict daytime use of smartphones and social media, but there is no evaluation on the impact of these policies on adolescent mental well-being. The SMART Schools Study aims to determine the impact of daytime restrictions of smartphone and social media use on indicators of adolescent mental well-being, anxiety, depression, physical activity, sleep, classroom behaviour, attainment and addictive social media use.Methods and analysisThis is a natural experimental observational study using mixed methods. Secondary schools within a 100 mile radius of the recruiting centre in the West Midlands (UK) have been categorised into two groups: Schools that restrict (intervention) and permit (comparator) daytime use of smartphones. We aim to recruit 30 schools (20 restrictive, 10 permissive) and 1170 pupils aged 12–13 and 14–15 years. We will collect data on mental well-being, anxiety and depressive symptoms, phone and social media use, sleep and physical activity from pupil surveys, and accelerometers. Policy implementation measures and data on individual pupil factors will be collected through school staff surveys, and website/policy analysis. Six case study schools will explore individual, school and family/home factors that influence relationships between school smartphone policies, smartphone/social media use, and mental well-being. Economic evaluation will be completed through a cost–consequence analysis from an education sector perspective.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the University of Birmingham’s Research Ethics Committee (ERN_22-0723). Parents/carers of pupil participants can complete a form to opt their child out of the study. Pupil, school staff and parent/carer participants are asked to complete online/written consent (or assent). Findings will be disseminated through policy briefings, resources for schools, social media, reports, and open access publications.Trial registration numberISRCTN77948572.

Safeguarding in adolescent mental health research: navigating dilemmas and developing procedures

“…In this section, we provide a brief overview of the overall study design, further details of which can be accessed from the study protocol. 15 …”

“…Overall, the safeguarding approach was based on identifying at-risk adolescents from the pupil survey and then providing that information to schools for specialist or trained teachers (eg, DSL) to then support the identified at-risk adolescents. This approach was grounded in the study design: SMART Schools is a natural experimental observational study (see study protocol for further detail) 15 that involves collecting data related to mental well-being rather than influencing mental health outcomes. An overview of how we apply these key safeguarding principles for the SMART Schools Study is available in online supplemental material 1 .…”

“…In this section, we provide a brief overview of the overall study design, further details of which can be accessed from the study protocol. 15 The aim of the SMART Schools Study is to evaluate the impact of school daytime restrictions on smartphone and social media use on adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Data are collected from two groups of schools:…”

“…1 2 In the UK, it was estimated that one in five adolescents aged 11-16 and one in four adolescents aged 17-19 had a probable mental disorder in 2022. 3 Self-harm and suicide are more common in adolescents with a probable mental disorder: in 2022, 28% of children and adolescents (age [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] in the UK with a probable mental disorder reported that they had tried to harm themselves, compared with 2.5% of those who were unlikely to have a mental disorder. 3 Many adolescents with a mental disorder do not receive professional treatment, and this is often related to the stigma associated with mental health, adolescents not disclosing mental health problems and/or a lack of available mental health services and early identification strategies.…”