Depressive Symptoms, Loneliness, Social Isolation, Social Support
Conditions
Keywords
loneliness, work well-being, social well-being
Brief summary
The goal of this cluster randomized controlled trial is to learn if using Frendie PRO mobile application at workplaces improves social well-being in employees. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does using Frendie PRO mobile application at work for 6 months reduce loneliness in employees? Does using Fendie PRO mobile application at work for 6 months reduce social isolation in employees? Researchers will compare employees from workplaces that use the Frendie PRO mobile application to employees from workplaces that do not use the mobile application to see if there are differences in their levels of social well-being (loneliness, social isolation, perceived social support, depressive symptoms). Participants will be given access to the Frendie PRO mobile application and encouraged to use it by employers.
Detailed description
Participants will be recruited from workplaces that use the Frendie PRO mobile application. After collecting baseline data, each workplace will be randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. The unit of randomization is a workplace (or a team or department in bigger organizations). The intervention group will be encouraged to download and start using the Frendie PRO mobile application. The control group will be informed of the date when they will have access to it (six months after the baseline). Both groups are asked to participate in two follow-ups - a 3-month follow-up and a 6-month follow-up.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFrendie PRO mobile application
Frendie PRO mobile application offers employees an environment to manage their social relationships, organize leisure activities, and discuss personal or work-related matters.
Sponsors
Finnish Work Environment Fund
University of Eastern Finland
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Masking description
The baseline data collection is conducted before randomization. No masking will be used after the randomization.
Intervention model description
Participants of the intervention group are given access and encouraged to use Frendie PRO mobile application
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* All employees working at the company/team/department participating in the study and starting to use the Frendie PRO mobile application within the study period. * Ability to fill the questionnaires online in Finnish
Exclusion criteria
* incapable of using questionnaire online * does not know Finnish well enough to answer the questions
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Loneliness | Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale |
| Social Isolation | Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up | The Social Isolation scale was modified from an index used by Christiansen et al. (2021). Christiansen and colleagues, in turn, created it inspired by the detailed Social Network Index created by Berkman and Syme (1979). Communication frequency with the following groups is measured: * family members who live elsewhere * friends * colleagues or fellow students at the workplace/school and outside of the workplace/school * neighbors and local community * people from social clubs, hobby groups, and religious organisations at and outside the meetings. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Social support | Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up | Oslo Social Support Scale |
| Depressive symptoms | Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up | Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) |
| Workplace loneliness | Will be measured three times: baseline, 3-month follow-up and 6-month follow-up | Specific scale regarding loneliness experienced at workplaces. Includes 5 items that are modified from the UCLA loneliness scale. It was validated in Finnish adult population. Please see Kemppinen and Tanskanen (2023) for full description: Kemppinen, S., Tanskanen, J., 2023. Suomenkielisen työyksinäisyysmittarin validointi etä- ja hybridityöläisillä (Eng title: Validation of Finnish loneliness at work scale with remote and hybrid worker sample). Psykologia 58, 198-219. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Activity and behavior on the application | 6 months | Each individual user's activity on the mobile application will be measured. The data will be used for additional analyses. |
Countries
Finland
Outcome results
None listed