Development and Validation of a Parent-Based Program for Preventing Gaming Disorder: The Game Over Intervention

Exploring the association between online gaming addiction and academic performance among the school-going adolescents in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

Background and Aims

The pervasive nature of online gaming, notably accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic, has spurred concerns regarding gaming addiction among children. This study explores the intricate ramifications of online gaming addiction on the academic performance and social dynamics of children in Bangladesh. Our primary objective is to gauge the extent of online gaming addiction and unravel its profound effects on academic performance.

Methods

Conducting a nationwide survey from January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023, we analyzed 502 responses from participants aged 6-17 years. The survey encompassed sociodemographic details, gaming addiction assessment, and academic performance following a simple random sampling method. We analyzed participant demographics utilizing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression.

Results

Key findings revealed a majority within the 13-17 age bracket (75.50%), predominantly male (58.57%), and enrolled in secondary education (83.27%). A robust inverse relationship showed that nonaddicted students towards online gaming had higher academic performance. Therefore, it is important to implement targeted strategies to address online gaming addiction among Bangladeshi children.

Conclusion

Recommending early intervention, academic initiatives, and holistic therapy, we advocate for collaboration among educational institutions, mental health professionals, parents, and policymakers. All of these initiatives are essential to navigate the evolving challenges presented by gaming addiction. Furthermore, our call for ongoing research seeks to deepen our understanding of enduring consequences on academic and social dimensions, fostering a digitally supportive environment conducive to the holistic well-being of children.

Preventive Interventions for Internet Addiction in Young Children: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

In this digital age, children typically start using the internet in early childhood. Studies highlighted that young children are vulnerable to internet addiction due to personal limitations and social influence (eg, family and school). Internet addiction can have long-term harmful effects on children's health and well-being. The high risk of internet addiction for vulnerable populations like young children has raised questions about how best to prevent the problem.

OBJECTIVE

This review study aimed to investigate the existing interventions and explore future directions to prevent or reduce internet addiction risks in children younger than 12 years.

METHODS

The systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. We searched for relevant literature from 4 research databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO). We included 14 primary studies discussing the interventions to prevent or reduce internet addiction risks in young children and their efficacy outcomes.

RESULTS

The preventive interventions identified were categorized into four approaches as follows: (1) children's education, (2) parenting strategy, (3) strategic physical activity, and (4) counseling. Ten interventions showed promising efficacy in preventing or reducing internet addiction risks with small-to-medium effect sizes. Interventions that enhance children's competencies in having appropriate online behaviors and literacy were more likely to show better efficacy than interventions that force children to reduce screen time. Interventions that shift children's focus from online activities to real-world activities also showed promising efficacy in reducing engagement with the internet, thereby preventing addictive behaviors. We also identified the limitations of each approach (eg, temporariness, accessibility, and implementation) as valuable considerations in developing future interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest the need to develop more sustainable and accessible interventions to encourage healthy online behaviors through education, appropriate parenting strategies, and substitutive activities to prevent children's overdependence on the internet. Developing digital tools and social support systems can be beneficial to improve the capability, efficiency, and accessibility of the interventions. Future interventions also need to consider their appropriateness within familial context or culture and provide adequate implementation training. Last, policy makers and experts can also contribute by making design guidelines to prevent digital product developers from making products that can encourage overuse in children.

The prevalence and possible risk factors of gaming disorder among adolescents in China

BACKGROUND

Nowadays, moderate gaming behaviors can be a pleasant and relaxing experiences among adolescents. However, excessive gaming behavior may lead to gaming disorder (GD) that disruption of normal daily life. Understanding the possible risk factors of this emerging problem would help to suggest effective at preventing and intervening. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of GD and analyze its possible risk factors that adolescents with GD.

METHODS

Data were collected between October 2020 and January 2021. In total, a sample of 7901 students (4080 (52%) boys, 3742 (48%) girls; aged 12-18 years) completed questionnaires regarding the Gaming-Related Behaviors Survey, Gaming Disorder Symptom Questionnaire-21 (GDSQ-21); Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System Scale (BIS/BAS Scale); Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ); Short-form Egna Minnenav Barndoms Uppfostran for Chinese (s-EMBU-C); and Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC).

RESULTS

The prevalence of GD was 2.27% in this adolescent sample. The GD gamers were a little bit older (i.e., a higher proportion of senior grades), more boys, with more gaming hours per week in the last 12 months, with more reward responsiveness, maternal rejecting and occurrence of negative life events (e.g., interpersonal relationships, being punished and bereavement factors).

CONCLUSION

These possible risk factors may influence the onset of GD. Future research in clinical, public health, education and other fields should focus on these aspects for provide target prevention and early intervention strategies.

Treatment effects of therapeutic interventions for gaming disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The prevalence of gaming disorder is assumed to be between 2%-5%. The treatment effect of different therapeutic interventions of gaming disorder has not been studied extensively. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to identify all intervention studies on gaming disorder with a control group, determine the effect of the interventions, and examine moderators. Studies applying a therapeutic intervention and using an appropriate comparison group were identified by searching electronic databases, previous reviews, and reference lists. Data on type of treatment, name of outcome measurement, symptom level and other study characteristics were extracted and analyzed using meta-analysis and meta-regression. A total of 38 studies and 76 effect sizes, originating from 9524 participants were included. RoB2 and ROBINS-I risk of bias tools were used to assess within-study risk of bias. Correlational hierarchical models with robust variance estimation were fitted to effect size data and yielded a moderate summary estimate. Egger's sandwich test, funnel plot inspections, and other tests were conducted to assess risk of bias between studies. Results indicate that there may be an overall effect of therapeutic interventions for gaming disorder, but confidence in these findings is compromised by small-study effects, possible publication bias, a limited study pool, and a lack of standardization. The field needs more higher quality studies before the evidence-base can support reliable meta-analytic estimates.

Does Problematic Use of Social Network Mediate the Association between Bullying Victimization and Loneliness among Lebanese Adolescents?

(1) Background: Bullying victimization has been associated with several behavioral outcomes, particularly loneliness. Similarly, an increase in social network use has been identified in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been shown to be associated with bullying and loneliness. Investigating the mediating factors of loneliness among bullied adolescents is useful for taking preventive measures in the Lebanese population. This study aims to examine the association between bullying victimization and loneliness among Lebanese adolescents while considering the indirect effect of problematic social network use. (2) Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study, between January and April 2022, that enrolled 379 adolescent Lebanese students (64.9% females, mean age 16.07 ± 1.19 years) who were current residents of Lebanon (15 to 18 years), and were from the five governorates of Lebanon (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North, South and Bekaa). The snowball method was applied to select our sample; an electronic copy of the questionnaire was created using the Google Forms software and an online strategy was designed to collect the data. (3) Results: Negative social comparison and addictive consequences of problematic use of social network mediated the association between bullying victimization and loneliness. Higher bullying victimization was significantly associated with higher negative social comparison and addictive consequences of problematic use of social network, which in turn were significantly associated with more loneliness. Finally, higher bullying victimization was directly significantly associated with more loneliness. (4) Conclusions: Studying the mediating factors of loneliness in bullied adolescents can improve our understanding of this topic, allowing us to propose new interventions to prevent psychological problems in adolescents. Future studies are needed to further clarify the physiological processes that underlie the associations between social triggers and loneliness during adolescence.

Digital game addiction of preschool children in the Covid-19 pandemic: social emotional development and parental guidance

The Covid 19 pandemic has caused children to spend more time at home and an increase in their digital addiction tendencies. Children's digital game addictions were affected by parents' strategies and negatively affected their social and emotional development. The study was carried out in order to determine the digital game addiction tendency levels of children and the strategies applied by the parents, and to examine the correlation between the results obtained and the social-emotional development of the children. The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. 142 children attending pre-school education for 60-72 months were included in the study. Personal Information Form, Digital Game Addiction Tendency Scale, Digital Game Parental Mediation Scale and Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional were used. As a result, the increase in digital game addiction in children has negatively affected social and emotional development. The level of digital game addiction tendency is associated with parents' digital game manipulation strategies. Active parental guidance strategy prevented children's digital game addiction tendency, while digital oriented guidance and free parental strategies increased addiction tendency.

Effective interventions for gaming disorder: A systematic review of randomized control trials

Objective

To identify effective intervention methods for gaming disorder (GD) through a rigorous assessment of existing literature.

Methods

We conducted a search of six databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP) to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that tested GD interventions, published from database inception to December 31, 2021. Standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using a random effects model. Risk of bias was assessed with the Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool.

Results

Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Five interventions were tested in these studies: group counseling, craving behavioral intervention (CBI), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), the acceptance and cognitive restructuring intervention program (ACRIP), and short-term cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Four of the five interventions (the tDCS was excluded) were found to have a significant effect on GD. The results of the quality assessment showed that the included studies had a medium to high risk in the randomization process and a medium to high risk of overall bias.

Conclusion

Rigorous screening identified that four interventions are effective for GD: group counseling, CBI, ACRIP, and short-term CBT. Additionally, a comprehensive review of the literature revealed that improvements could be made in the conceptualization of GD, experimental design, sample representativeness, and reporting quality. It is recommended that future studies have more rigorous research designs and be based on established standards to provide more credible evidence to inform the development of GD interventions.

A randomized controlled trial to assess effectiveness of GamE- an e-Health intervention to self-manage gaming with an aim to prevent gaming disorder

Gaming disorder is a health concern associated with significant impairment. Digital technology can be helpful for implementing preventive measures for gaming disorder. This randomized trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of an e-Health intervention to prevent gaming disorder among college students. This randomized trial compared an online intervention module aimed at improving knowledge, skill and attitude of the students and empower them with self- help strategies to monitor and regulate their gaming behavior with an aim to prevent gaming disorder, with wait list control. The sample comprised of 30 cases and 33 controls. The understanding of the concept of gaming, understanding of difference between gaming and gaming disorder, understanding of adverse effects associated with gaming disorder, understanding of screening of gaming disorder and self-help techniques of regulating gaming disorder increased more in the intervention group than control. The participants most favored self-monitoring and strategies to promote healthy lifestyles for regulating gaming. Online digital intervention can be effectively used as a strategy to prevent gaming disorder among college students. Such an intervention can empower students with strategies to regulate their extent of gaming.

Randomized Controlled Evaluation of a Group-Based Training for Parents of Adolescents with Gaming Disorder or Social Network Use Disorder

BACKGROUND

Internet Use Disorder (IUD), Gaming Disorder (GD), and Social Network Use Disorder (SNUD) are common phenomena among adolescents and young adults. Negative consequences of such disorders can be observed in the individuals themselves and in the family system. Although parents can influence their children in many ways, they are rarely considered in interventions. The present study examines the effectiveness of a group-based training for parents of adolescents with IUD, GD, or SNUD.

METHODS

A total of 76 parents of adolescents (12 to 20 years) were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) or the waiting list control group. Parents in the IG participated over eight weeks in six sessions of training (topics: psychoeducation, parenting behaviour, parent-child relationships, parent-child communication, and stress and relaxation). Questionnaires on adolescent symptomatology, parent-child relationships, and parental burden were collected before and after the intervention/waiting period.

RESULTS

The training reduced the IUD symptomatology of adolescents from the parents' perspective. GD symptomatology improved for at-risk users, though not for pathological users. Some aspects of the parent-child relationships improved in the mothers' judgment. Parental stress was already low before the training.

CONCLUSIONS

The presented parent group training can be used to improve IUD symptomatology in adolescents and is effective in the context of early intervention for at-risk computer gamers.

Vorbereitung eines Onlinetrainings für Eltern von Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen mit Internetnutzungsstörungen

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Eltern von Jugendlichen oder jungen Erwachsenen mit Internetnutzungsstörungen (INS), im Speziellen Computerspielstörungen (CSS) und Soziale Netzwerknutzungsstörungen (SNS), können auf die Symptomatik ihrer Kinder Einfluss nehmen. E-Mental-Health Angebote fehlen für diese Zielgruppe jedoch. Fragestellung: Welche Bedarfe haben Eltern, die die Internetnutzung ihres Kindes als problematisch betrachten, an ein Onlinetraining? Methode: 217 Elternteile wurden online befragt. Der Fragebogen enthielt die Compulsive Internet Use Scale in einer Elternperspektive, Fragen zu den Bedarfen an ein Onlinetraining (z. B. Umfang, Dauer, Kontaktmöglichkeit) und zur eigenen Belastung durch die Problematik des Kindes. Ergebnisse: 57 % der Eltern äußerten Interesse an einem Onlinetraining. 82 % gaben an, dass persönlicher digitaler Kontakt in einem solchen Training für sie wichtig sei. Diskussion und Schlussfolgerung: Da viele der befragten Eltern Interesse an einem Onlinetraining zeigten, wurde ein solches entwickelt, dessen Umrisse in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt werden.

Resource-Strengthening Training for Parents of Adolescents with Problematic Gaming (Res@t-P): A Clinical Pilot Study

Background: Problematic gaming (PG) has become an increasing mental health issue among adolescents during the preceding years. The role of parents and the family environment in the development of PG has been repeatedly emphasized. However, the structured involvement of parents in the therapy is still largely insufficient. Resource-strengthening training for parents of adolescents with PG (Res@t-P) is a new parent-centered 8-week group intervention to fill this substantial gap. The present pilot study aimed to collect first information on its potential effectiveness in improving parental and family factors. Methods: The study was conducted in a clinical setting with N = 43 parents of adolescents with PG, applying a pre- and post-follow-up design. Standardized questionnaires on psychological stress perception, family communication, family functioning, media rules, and adolescent PG symptoms were applied at three measurement points (before, at the end of, and 6 weeks after the training). Conditional growth models were estimated. Results: Over time, an improvement in parental and family aspects as well as a reduction in adolescent PG symptoms could be observed. Conclusions: The results of the present pilot study on the effectiveness of Res@t-P are promising. No causal inferences can be drawn at this stage. A randomized-controlled intervention study is highly warranted.

Effectiveness of multimodal psychotherapeutic intervention for internet gaming disorder

BACKGROUND

Large number of studies on Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have primarily focused on ascertaining its psychological correlates. Few studies have focused on developing and assessing effectiveness of multimodal psychotherapeutic intervention programs. This intervention focused on minimizing salience, pre-occupation, conflict related to gaming and enhancing the overall quality of life, inclusive of psychological health, physical health, and environmental problems in individuals with IGD. At present, there appear to be no such studies in the Indian context.

METHODS

In this study, we developed and assessed the effectiveness of an intervention manual for IGD. The intervention program consisted of ten 60-minutes sessions with one therapist administering sessions once in each week. The interventions included motivational enhancement strategies, cognitive restructuring, behavioral strategies and relapse prevention. The outcomes from intervention were measured in terms of improvement in IGD, IAT, and overall quality of life. Our assessments, both at baseline and post-intervention consisted of Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGD-20) and the Whoqol-Bref. A total sample of 40 was selected out of which 33 individuals completed the 10 sessions of multimodal psychotherapy program and post assessments.

RESULTS

A total of 40 participants (age: M = 20.25, SD = 5.39) enrolled, out of which 33 completed the entire intervention program of 10 sessions and showed significant improvements. The IAT and IGD-20 showed significant difference in the scores for before treatment (M = 52.88, SD = 16.25) and after treatment (M = 42.87, SD = 11.31; t (32) = 5.10, p = 0.000) conditions; and right before treatment (M = 56.88, SD = 19.25) and after treatment (M = 47.87, SD = 15.31; t (32) = 6.94, p = 0.000) conditions respectively. The internet addiction and internet gaming disorder scores showed a similar degree of severity reductions on the IAT and IGD-20 respectively at the end of week 8. In addition, the participants showed significant improvements in the quality of life inclusive of physical and psychological health post the completion of intervention program.

LIMITATIONS

The sample size of the study was small and assessments for evaluation of other psychological symptoms like depression, anxiety could have been conducted.

CONCLUSION

The intervention program indicated a substantial change in the IGD scores at post- assessment. A study on a larger sample to assess the validity of the manualized multimodal psychotherapy program for IGD needs to be conducted. In addition, this manualized intervention program can be useful for administering structured intervention for IGD by mental health professionals working in the area of internet gaming disorder.

Parenting in the Prevention of Internet Gaming Addiction

Game addiction, smartphone addiction, and Internet disorder in children and adolescents have become the subject of parental concern in recent years. Parenting interventions are the most appropriate choice for parents to reduce excessive use of problematic games, and this review has not been carried out by other researchers before. The purpose of this review was to describe the preventive management of parenting in children and adolescents who are at risk for game addiction, smartphone addiction, and Internet disorders. This paper reviews findings, trends, and new developments in the field concerned (n = 5 studies). The current research was conducted based on a literature search with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses, and articles were searched with five databases: ProQuest, Ebscohost, Springer Link, PubMed, and Scopus. Furthermore, the keywords used are MeSH determination based on PICOS framework using keywords of Game Disorder OR Smartphone Addictions OR Internet Disorder, parenting, as well as prevention without a time limit for publishing articles. In conclusion, parenting programs are a preventive method that needs to be understood and developed in order to provide significant results in long-term management of game addiction, smartphone addiction, and Internet disorders.

Parental Depression and Leisure Activity Engagement on Children's Gaming Disorder: A Dyadic Study

Nowadays, playing both online and offline video games is a popular leisure activity among youngsters, but excessive gaming activity engagement may lead to gaming disorder that disrupts daily functioning. Identifying risk and protective factors of this emerging problem is thus essential for devising prevention and intervention strategies. This mixed-method, cross-sectional study aimed to examine the roles of parental depressive symptoms and children’s leisure activity engagement on children’s gaming disorder symptoms. Furthermore, the moderating roles of risky and protective leisure activity engagement were investigated. The sample comprised 104 parent-child dyads recruited from a population-based survey (parents: M_age = 45.59 years, SD = 6.70; children: M_age = 11.26 years; SD = 4.12). As predicted, parental depressive symptoms and children’s gaming activity engagement were positively associated with children’s gaming disorder symptoms, whereas children’s literacy activity engagement was negatively associated with these symptoms. Moreover, engagement in these two types of leisure activity moderated the association between parental depressive symptoms and children’s gaming disorder symptoms in distinct manners, further indicating literacy activities as beneficial and gaming activities as risk-enhancing. These new findings imply that parental depressive symptoms and children’s leisure activity engagement should be considered when designing parent-based programs for gaming disorder prevention and intervention.

Social Media Addiction during COVID-19-Mandated Physical Distancing: Relatedness Needs as Motives

In the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, national lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were implemented by many countries to curb the rate of infection. An extended stay-at-home period can frustrate people’s need for relatedness, with many turning to social media to interact with others in the outside world. However, social media use may be maladaptive due to its associations with social media addiction and psychosocial problems. Our study was set at this special context to examine the associations among social media addiction, two aspects of relatedness needs (i.e., satisfaction and frustration), and two prominent psychosocial problems (i.e., depressive symptoms and loneliness). The participants were 1048 residents of the U.K. or U.S. (46% men, mean age = 44.10 years, SD = 12.59, age range: 18–65). The results indicated significant positive associations between relatedness need frustration and social media addiction as well as significant positive associations between social media addiction and the two types of psychosocial problems. More importantly, both of these significant associations were strong enough to partially explain the significant positive associations between relatedness need frustration and the two types of psychosocial problems. These findings provided some support for relatedness need frustration as a motivation of social media addiction.

The Associations Between Gaming Motivation and Internet Gaming Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

There has been a surge in interest in examining internet gaming disorder (IGD) and its associations with gaming motivation. Three broad components of gaming motivation have been proposed: achievement, immersion, and social. Achievement-oriented players are motivated by gaining in-game rewards, immersion-oriented players are motivated by the experience of immersion in the virtual world, and social-oriented players are motivated by the need to socialize with other players through gaming.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to (1) quantitatively synthesize the growing body of literature to systematically examine the discrepancies in the magnitude of associations between various components of gaming motivation and IGD and (2) examine the moderating role of cultural dimension on the association between escapism gaming motivation and IGD.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic search of multiple databases between 2002 and 2020. Studies were included if they (1) included quantitative data, (2) used measures assessing both gaming motivation and IGD, and (3) contained sufficient information for effect size calculation.

RESULTS

The findings revealed IGD to have a stronger association with achievement motivation (r=0.32) than with immersion (r=0.22) or social motivation (r=0.20), but the strongest such association was found to be with escapism motivation (r=0.40), a subcomponent of immersion motivation. Our cross-cultural comparison further showed a stronger association between escapism motivation and IGD in studies conducted in individualistic (vs collectivistic) regions.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis highlights the importance of acknowledging the discrepancies among different components of gaming motivation with respect to their role in the development of IGD, as well as the potential cultural variations in the strength of such associations.

Safety.Net: A Pilot Study on a Multi-Risk Internet Prevention Program

Many programs exist to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Nevertheless, despite evidence of the numerous overlapping risks of the Internet, programs that jointly and adequately address large sets of risks are not presently described in the scientific literature. This study's main objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Safety.net program in a pilot sample. This program prevents eight Internet risks: cyberbullying, sexting, online grooming, cyber dating abuse, problematic Internet use, nomophobia, Internet gaming disorder, and online gambling disorder. The Safety.net program comprises 16 sessions and 4 modules (digital skills, relational risks, dysfunctional risks, and change of attitudes and cognitions). Each session lasts one hour, but the program has a networked instructional design to recall previous content in later sessions. For its assessment, a pre/post-test repeated measures design with a control group and an intervention group was used. The study sample was 165 adolescents between 11 and 14 years old (M = 12.11, SD = 0.89). The intervention group demonstrated improvements compared to the control group concerning online grooming, problematic Internet use, Internet gaming disorder, and nomophobia. These results suggest that the Safety.net program is effective in preventing the increase of most of the assessed risks and that it reduces some of them with a small number of sessions.

Internet-Related Addictions: From Measurements to Interventions

Ever since the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 [...].

Internet Gaming Disorder: Exploring Its Impact on Satisfaction in Life in PELLEAS Adolescent Sample

Among adolescents, heavy video game use and socializing online may be valued socially by peers, depending on gender and age, which can increase life satisfaction. However, heavy video gaming may also be linked to symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder, which can decrease life satisfaction. Overall, when symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder are present, do subjects experience decreased or increased life satisfaction, all other things being equal? The aim of this study was to explore the association between Internet Gaming Disorder symptoms and life satisfaction, while controlling for gender, age, and other conditions that may impact life satisfaction. More than 2000 adolescents filled out an anonymous questionnaire at school, and 43 patients in a care center filled out the same questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics, family life conditions, use of screens (videos, video games, and social networks), mental health screenings, and a life satisfaction measure were collected. Distribution of participants' characteristics was provided, and stratified multivariate analyses by young male, older male, young female, and older female school populations were carried out. Results suggested that Internet Gaming Disorder symptoms had similar prevalence before and after the age of 15 in males (21% vs. 19%) and in females (6% vs. 7%) respectively and was significantly associated with decreased life satisfaction in older males, even after adjusting for parental support, depression, and economic conditions. Associations between symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder and life satisfaction may be different depending on adolescent gender and age group.

Gamification for Internet Gaming Disorder Prevention: Evaluation of a Wise IT-Use (WIT) Program for Hong Kong Primary Students

Internet gaming disorder and risky online behavior (e.g., cyberbullying, exposure to online violent content) have emerged as serious problems in the digital age. Prevalence rates range from 4% to 40% across the globe, with Asia being one of the hardest-hit regions. To address these pressing problems, our team designed the Wise IT-use (WIT) program, a universal prevention program that (a) enhances students' awareness of Internet gaming disorder and an array of common risky online behaviors, and (b) equips them with sufficient knowledge to handle such problems. The WIT program design was based on gamification principles and flow theory to enhance users' motivation and learning experience. A program evaluation study was conducted to assess the social impact of this program in mitigating symptoms of Internet gaming disorder and risky online behavior, and in bolstering emotional well-being. The participants were 248 students aged 7 to 13 from four primary schools in various regions of Hong Kong. They completed validated questionnaires 1 month before and 2 months after participating in the program to evaluate changes in their symptoms of Internet gaming disorder, the frequency with which they displayed risky online behaviors, and their ratings of emotional well-being across the period. The results revealed that both the symptoms of Internet gaming disorder and the proportion of students at risk of the disorder were reduced after the program. The changes observed in students were related to higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. Evidence from this study indicates that Internet gaming disorder and risky online behavior are detrimental to the emotional well-being of Hong Kong primary school students. More importantly, the findings demonstrate that our newly developed WIT program can have a social impact in successfully mitigating the symptoms of Internet gaming disorder and enhancing emotional well-being over time. The implications of these findings for the program's broader impact on society and culture are discussed.