Reducing Internet Gaming

Reducing Internet Gaming: A Pilot Psychotherapy Development Study

The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders includes in its research appendix a potential new diagnosis-Internet gaming disorder. This condition primarily affects adolescent boys and young adult men, who rarely seek treatment on their own. More often, parents express concerns about their child's game playing behaviors. This psychotherapy development study will evaluate feasibility and effect sizes of an intervention designed to help parents reduce their child's gaming problems; the intervention allows for child participation, but it is geared toward parents, regardless of whether or not their child is willing to participate. A total of 40 parents concerned about their child's gaming behaviors will complete self and parental report inventories and structured diagnostic interviews regarding gaming, substance use and psychosocial functioning. Children who elect to participate will complete parallel versions of the instruments. Participants will be randomized to a control condition consisting of referral for mental health issues and family support services or to a 6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors. Gaming and other problems will be assessed pre-treatment, at the end of treatment and at a 4-month follow-up. This study will be the first to evaluate the reliability and validity of a parental version of the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders criteria for internet gaming disorder in a clinical sample, and it will assess associations of internet gaming disorder with substance use, mental health conditions, and family functioning as well. This study will be the first randomized trial of an intervention designed to assist parents in reducing their child's gaming problems, and results will help guide future development of interventions for Internet gaming disorder. To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention, the proportion of parents assigned to the intervention who complete 6 sessions will be examined, as will the proportion of youth who attend the sessions. Parent and child ratings of satisfaction with the intervention will be assessed. To examine the effect size of the intervention on reducing gaming, parental reports of proportion of days on which their child played games and durations of game playing will be compared between conditions, controlling for baseline indices.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Internet Gaming Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Referral for care; Behavioral: Behavioral therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 36
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • Farmington, Connecticut, United States, 06030
      • UConn Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• parent/guardian of a 10-22 year old residing in the same household >8 months/year
• reports significant problems with game playing

Exclusion Criteria:

• have a condition that may hinder study participation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Behavioral therapy	Behavioral: Behavioral therapy; 6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors.
Active Comparator: Referral for care	Behavioral: Referral for care; Referral for mental health issues and family support services

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent	Number of days of gaming is an indicator of the severity of the gaming problem.	12 weeks
Percentage of Participants Who Complete All 6 Sessions	Completion of sessions is an indicator of treatment acceptability and feasibility	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: UConn Health
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kristyn Zajac, Ph.D., UConn Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 31, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): April 4, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 28, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2022
• Last Verified: January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Compulsive Behavior; Impulsive Behavior; Behavior, Addictive; Internet Addiction Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16-114-3; P50DA009241 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO