Cessation on Internet Addiction in College Students (IAD)

Effect of Tai Chi Exercise and Its Cessation on Internet Addiction in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aimed to explore the intervention effect of Tai Chi exercise on internet addiction in college students and its maintenance effect after cessation, providing a scientific basis for the application of Tai Chi in internet addiction intervention among college students. Fifty-one non-sports-major college students with mild or moderate internet addiction were randomly divided into a Tai Chi group (n = 23) and a control group (n = 24). The Tai Chi group underwent 12 weeks of Tai Chi exercise, while the control group maintained their regular study schedule without additional physical exercise. The Chinese Internet Addiction Scale and serum dopamine and β-Endorphin levels were assessed at baseline, week 12, and week 16.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Internet Addiction Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Tai Chi

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 51
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Hanyu Li; Phone Number: +8618280314728; Email: hanyuli_cdsu@163.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants aged 18-25;
• CIAS scores of 26-53 (low internet dependence), 54-80 (moderate dependence), or 81-104 (high dependence). Only mild and moderate cases were included;
• non-sports majors; the study followed the Declaration of Helsinki, and all participants understood the purpose and signed consent forms.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe IAD (CIAS score >80);
• Tai Chi practice within 6 months;
• regular exercise habits;
• history of depression/anxiety or undergoing psychological treatment;
• use of medications affecting mental state or neurotransmitter levels.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group; Maintain your original lifestyle without engaging in regular physical exercise. Participants were contacted every two weeks via WeChat or in person to monitor their conditions and ensure no extra exercise or medication use.
Experimental: Tai Chi group; The Tai Chi group practiced 24-form simplified Tai Chi for 12 weeks, 3 times/week, 60 minutes/session (including 5-minute warm-up and 5-minute cool-down) at our university's track, under professional coaching, from 8:00-9:10 AM. The first 4 weeks were for learning, and the next 8 for consolidation. Then, we will observe all participants for an additional 4 weeks (Week 16) as a follow-up.	Other: Tai Chi; The Tai chi group practiced 24-form simplified Tai Chi for 12 weeks, 3 times/week, 60 minutes/session (including 5-minute warm-up and 5-minute cool-down) at our university's track, under professional coaching, from 8:00-9:10 AM. The first 4 weeks were for learning, and the next 8 for consolidation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Internet Addiction Scale Survey	The CIAS, tailored to Chinese college students' psychological traits, was used. It has 26 items across five dimensions: compulsive symptoms, withdrawal symptoms, tolerance symptoms, interpersonal and health problems, and time management problems. It's a 4-point self-report Likert scale (1="extremely disagree" to 4="extremely agree"). The scale has good reliability and validity, with factor consistency coefficients of 0.70-0.82 and internal consistency of 0.9446[21]. The total CIAS score is the sum of all items, with higher scores indicating greater dependence and addiction risk. The CIAS was administered at baseline, week 12, and week 16 for both groups.	16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum Dopamine	At baseline, week 12, and week 16, 2 ml of fasting venous blood was collected from participants between 7:00-8:00 AM. Serum dopamine levels was measured using radioimmunoassay on a Beckman DXC800 autoanalyzer, with reagents from IBL (Germany). All steps followed the kit instructions, and absorbance was measured at 450 nm to calculate concentrations.	16 weeks
Serum β-Endorphin	At baseline, week 12, and week 16, 2 ml of fasting venous blood was collected from participants between 7:00-8:00 AM. Serum β-Endorphin levels was measured using radioimmunoassay on a Beckman DXC800 autoanalyzer, with reagents from IBL (Germany). All steps followed the kit instructions, and absorbance was measured at 450 nm to calculate concentrations.	16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Chengdu Sport University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 16, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 29, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 8, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 8, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Tai Chi; Internet Addiction Disorder
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Technology Addiction; Compulsive Behavior; Impulsive Behavior; Internet Addiction Disorder; Behavior, Addictive
• Other Study ID Numbers: Internet Addiction Disorder

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No