A text at the right moment: can a 30-Second nudge curb emotional reactions?
NCT ID NCT07782398
First seen Aug 24, 2026 · Last updated Aug 28, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study explores whether brief, smartphone-delivered coping messages can help college students manage moments of intense emotion, potentially reducing reactive online posting, drinking, and emotional eating. Participants wear a wrist device and answer phone check-ins several times a day for about five weeks. At random moments when emotions seem to be shifting, the app may send a short coping prompt, and the study compares what happens afterward. An optional hair sample is also collected to measure stress hormones and see if they relate to in-the-moment responses.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Momentary coping prompts delivered via smartphone app
- What this could lead to
- If effective, this approach could offer a simple, scalable way to help college students manage emotional reactions, potentially reducing impulsive drinking, emotional eating, and online aggression.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study, so results may not be conclusive. The coping messages may not have a significant impact, and the findings may not generalize beyond this student population.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 80 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 89 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Currently enrolled University of Florida student * Age 18 years or older * Owns a smartphone used daily * Willing to wear a wrist-worn device and complete brief check-ins several times daily for approximately five weeks * For the optional hair biomarker sub-study only: at least approximately 1 cm of hair at the posterior vertex, no scalp wound, rash, or dermatologic treatment at the collection site, and natural hair growth accessible at the collection site Exclusion Criteria: * Varsity student-athlete governed by the university athletic association * Unable to complete study procedures in English
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida, 32611, United States
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- A nudge at the right moment: can a 30-second message curb emotional reactions?