Internet-Based Intervention for the Treatment of Online Addiction for College Students in China: A Pilot Study of the Healthy Online Self-Helping Center

Internet addiction among college students has become a serious problem in China. This pilot study involved the development of an online expert system named Healthy Online Self-helping Center (HOSC) as an intervention tool to help those who wish to reduce online usage. The study also explored the effectiveness of HOSC for college students' Internet addiction behavior. Participants (N = 65) were recruited from a university in Beijing, and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: using HOSC within a laboratory environment, using HOSC within a natural environment, using a noninteractive program, and a control group. All the participants were asked to answer questionnaires at the baseline and at the 1-month follow-up. The questionnaires included the participants' online hours per week, the legitimate ratio of Internet usage, online satisfaction, and the Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire. The results revealed that HOSC under both natural and laboratory environments could effectively reduce the participants' online hours per week as well as their Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire score, and improve online satisfaction at a 1-month follow-up. Participants using a noninteractive program also had similar results. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study, as well as the implications of the findings and future research directions.

[1]  Nicki A. Dowling,et al.  Screening for Internet Dependence: Do the Proposed Diagnostic Criteria Differentiate Normal from Dependent Internet Use? , 2009, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[2]  K. Young.  Internet Addiction: Diagnosis and Treatment Considerations , 2009, Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy.

[3]  C. Beevers,et al.  Effectiveness of a Novel Integrative Online Treatment for Depression (Deprexis): Randomized Controlled Trial , 2009, Journal of medical Internet research.

[4]  Trang Thomas,et al.  A Preliminary Investigation of Abstinence and Controlled Gambling as Self-Selected Goals of Treatment for Female Pathological Gambling , 2009, Journal of Gambling Studies.

[5]  A. Sanabria,et al.  Randomized controlled trial. , 2005, World journal of surgery.

[6]  Jean-François Etter,et al.  Internet-based smoking cessation programs , 2006, Int. J. Medical Informatics.

[7]  MaryLouise E. Kerwin.  Evaluation of a computer-based instructional package about eating disorders , 2006, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[8]  R. Hester,et al.  Using technical innovations in clinical practice: the Drinker's Check-Up software program. , 2004, Journal of clinical psychology.

[9]  Sun Chao-yang.  A Survey of and Intervention Solution to the Endangered Healthy Behaviors of College Students , 2008 .

[10]  Bai Yu,et al.  The Effects of Group Counseling on Internet-Dependent College Students , 2007 .

[11]  J. Parsons,et al.  Internet Addiction: College Student Case Study Using Best Practices in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. , 2001 .

[12]  Ran Tao,et al.  Treatment of Internet Addiction , 2010, Current psychiatry reports.

[13]  LI Zhao-lian.  Effect of Internet Addiction Disorder on Mental Health of College Students , 2006 .

[14]  Daniel L. King,et al.  Assessing clinical trials of Internet addiction treatment: a systematic review and CONSORT evaluation. , 2011, Clinical Psychology Review.

[15]  Ye Jian-qun.  Efficacy of Family Therapy on Internet Addiction Among Adolescents , 2010 .

[16]  Gao Chao.  College Students Online Games Addition——An Analytical Study on Its Harmful Effects , 2008 .

[17]  Mariann Suarez,et al.  Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change, 2nd Edition , 2006 .

[18]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[19]  Amy Przeworski,et al.  Palmtop computer-assisted group therapy for social phobia. , 2004, Journal of clinical psychology.

[20]  Wang Jia-qi,et al.  The Difference of Mental Health Levels and Personality Traits Between Internet Social Addition and Internet Game Addition in College Students , 2008 .

[21]  J. Proudfoot,et al.  The development and beta-test of a computer-therapy program for anxiety and depression: hurdles and lessons , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[22]  David Smith,et al.  Treatment Goal Selection for Female Pathological Gambling: A Comparison of Abstinence and Controlled Gambling , 2007, Journal of Gambling Studies.

[23]  Kimberly Young,et al.  Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder , 1998, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[24]  W F Velicer,et al.  An expert system intervention for smoking cessation. , 1999, Addictive behaviors.

[25]  Ayelet Meron Ruscio,et al.  Internet-based intervention for mental health and substance use problems in disaster-affected populations: a pilot feasibility study. , 2006, Behavior therapy.

[26]  K. Young.  Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction--and a Winning Strategy for Recovery , 1998 .

[27]  Kimberly Young,et al.  Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Internet Addicts: Treatment Outcomes and Implications , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[28]  Steven P. Schinke,et al.  Preventing Drug Abuse Among Adolescent Girls: Outcome Data from an Internet-Based Intervention , 2010, Prevention Science.