Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2020
Effectiveness of a Peer-Led Web-Based Intervention to Improve General Self-Efficacy in Using Dating Apps Among Young Adults: Randomized Clustered Trial.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03685643 (Study Protocol for a Peer-led Web-based Intervention to Promote Safe Usage of Dating Applications Amongst Young Adults), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Study Protocol for a Peer-led Web-based Intervention to Promote Safe Usage of Dating Applications Amongst Young Adults: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Problematic Online Dating: Systematic Review of Definitions, Correlates, and Study Designs.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Negative Sexual Experiences Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men Using GPS-Enabled Hook-Up Apps and Websites.Journal of sex research · 2024Article
- Factors associated with online dating among college students engaging in casual sexual behavior in China: cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Effects of peer-led education on knowledge, attitudes, practices of stoma care, and quality of life in bladder cancer patients after permanent ostomy.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Using Video Games to Improve the Sexual Health of Young People Aged 15 to 25 Years: Rapid Review.JMIR serious games · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOnline dating apps are popular platforms for seeking romance and sexual relationships among young adults. As mobile apps can easily gain access to a pool of strangers ("new friends") at any time and place, it leads to heightened sexual health risks and privacy concerns.
objectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led web-based intervention for online dating apps to prepare Chinese college students so that they have better self-efficacy when using dating apps.
methodsAn open clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted among students from three colleges (The University of Hong Kong, Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, and Yijin Programme of Vocational Training College) in Hong Kong. Students aged 17 to 27 years who attended common core curriculum or general education were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention material, developed with high peer engagement, included four short videos, an interactive scenario game, and a risk assessment tool. An existing website promoting physical activities and healthy living was used as a control. Using the information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) approach to design the evaluation, questionnaires covering participants' sociodemographics and dating app characteristics, as well as the general self-efficacy scale (GSE) as the primary outcome and the risk propensity scale (RPS) as the secondary outcome were administered before, immediately after, and at 1 month after the intervention. Intention-to-treat analysis was adopted, and between-group differences were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. A post-hoc multiple linear regression model was used to examine the correlates of the GSE and RPS.
resultsA total of 578 eligible participants (290 in the intervention group and 288 in the control group) participated in the study with 36 lost to follow-up. There were more female participants (318/542, 58.7%) than male participants in the sample, reflecting the distribution of college students. Over half of the participants (286/542, 52.8%) reported the following reasons for using dating apps: being curious (170/498, 34.1%), trying to make new friends (158/498, 31.7%), and finding friends with similar interests (121/498, 24.3%). Overall, the participants in the intervention group reported favorable experiences when compared with the finding in the control group. There was significant improvement in the GSE score and reduction in the RPS score (P<.001) in the intervention group. University of Hong Kong students were more susceptible to risk reduction after the intervention when compared with students from the other two institutions.
conclusionsThe online intervention was effective in improving general self-efficacy and reducing risk tendency among young students. Future work is needed to determine if this approach is cost-effective and such behavioral change is sustainable.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03685643; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03685643. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.1186/s13063-018-3167-5.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.