Effects of an Internet Use Disorder and Internet Gaming Disorder Early Intervention Program

NCT03582839 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: PH Heidelberg
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 54
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Background. In the last two decades Internet usage has grown vastly. Pathological Internet usage (IUD; Internet Use Disorder) is associated with severe mental health problems affecting social, academic and daily life functioning. Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been already included in the DSM-V. Recently, the WHO declared to include Gaming Disorder (GD) in the upcoming ICD-11. Despite the increasing rates of adolescents with IUD and (I)GD, affected people are treated unsystematically and there is a lack of evidence based treatment programs. PROTECT+ is a low-threshold, cognitive behavioral short-term group intervention. Methods. 54 patients, aged 9-19 years, received PROTECT+ intervention in Heidelberg, Germany. The PROTECT+ intervention group underwent a cognitive-behavioral 4-session group therapy. Follow-up data were collected at 1, 4, and 12 months after admission. Primary outcome was the change in (I)GD and IUD related symptoms at the 12-months follow-up. Secondary outcomes were changes in comorbid symptoms as well as in problem solving, cognitive restructuring and emotion regulation skills Discussion. Treatment of IUD and IGD is still in its early stages. Recent reviews report increasing research on treatment but also a lack of well-designed studies and evidence based treatment programs. The PROTECT+ intervention is a theory driven and evidence based therapy program which is based on the PROTECT preventive intervention in school settings. In the intervention group a reduction of (I)GD and IUD symptom severity is expected over 12 months.

Conditions

Mental Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Changes in IUD symptom severity (self-report)

  IUD symptom severity is assessed by the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS; Meerkerk, Van Den Eijnden, Vermulst \& Garretsen, 2009). The CIUS is a broadly used and validated questionnaire including 14 Items assessing IUD.

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Changes in (I)GD/IUD symptom severity (self-report and parental report)

  (I)GD/IUD symptom severity is assessed via self-reports and via parental reports by the Video Game Dependency Scale (Computerspielabhängigkeitsskala; CSAS; Rehbein, Baier, Kleimann \& Mößle, 2015). The CSAS questionnaire has been adapted by including non-gaming IU.

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Changes in (I)GD/IUD symptom severity (Clinical Interview based on DSM-5)

  At 12-months follow-up, we conduct a clinical interview based on the criteria of IGD according to the DSM-5. We adapted the criteria by non-gaming subtypes to assess IUD.

  12-months

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Emotion Regulation

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Depressive Symptoms

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Comorbid emotional, oppositional, antisocial and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorders

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Anxiety Disorders: Social Anxiety

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

• Anxiety Disorders: Performance and School Anxiety

  baseline, 1 month, 4-months, 12-months

Study Arms (1)

PROTECT+

EXPERIMENTAL

The PROTECT+ intervention group is a self-selected sample, which receives the PROTECT+ group therapy (4 modules in 4 subsequent weeks à 100 min). Participants are assessed at T1 (baseline), T2 (post treatment, 1-month follow-up), T3 (4-months follow-up), and T4 (12-months follow-up).

Behavioral: PROTECT+

Interventions

PROTECT+ BEHAVIORAL

The early intervention PROTECT+ consists of a cognitive-behavioral 4-session brief-protocol (100 minutes) and targets empirically identified risk factors of (I)GD/IUD, i.e. (1) boredom and motivational problems, (2) procrastination and performance anxiety, (3) social behavior and (4) emotion regulation. It addresses both risk-reduction and strength-promotion by cognitive behavioral (CB) interventions such as (1) psychoeducation, (2) cognitive restructuring (identification and modification of dysfunctional cognition), (3) behavior modification (improving problem solving skills, training of functional behavior and reinforcement) as well as (4) improving emotion regulation (training of sensory, imaginative and mindfulness based techniques).

PROTECT+

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 9 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Adolescents aged 9 to 19 years Self-selection

You may not qualify if:

• Severe comorbid mental health disorder

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg: lead
• Heidelberg University: collaborator

Related Publications (1)

• Szasz-Janocha C, Vonderlin E, Lindenberg K. Treatment outcomes of a CBT-based group intervention for adolescents with Internet use disorders. J Behav Addict. 2020 Nov 16;9(4):978-989. doi: 10.1556/2006.2020.00089.

  PMID: 33216013 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Katajun Lindenberg, PhD

  Institut für Psychologie der Pädagogischen Hochschule Heidelberg

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Jun.-Prof. Dr. K. Lindenberg

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 4, 2018
• First Posted: July 11, 2018
• Study Start: April 14, 2016
• Primary Completion: December 23, 2018
• Study Completion: April 1, 2019
• Last Updated: July 11, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-06