A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Group Gaming Interventions for Individuals With Problematic Gaming Behavior and Gaming Disorder.

This is a randomized, parallel-group, two-arm study design registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The study divides participants into an intervention group and a control group in the same ratio. The participants in the intervention group will receive a series of game-based activities and treatment. Firstly, we will distribute the recruitment advertisements for this intervention program in the school, including the project introduction, registration code, and contact details. Secondly, if students are interested in this project, they need to screen the code, and completely fill in personal information, and the screening questionnaire. Thirdly, students reaching the inclusion criteria and their parents will be invited to participate in a project briefing session and obtain their informed consent. Lastly, three times assessments in the whole process will be conducted, preintervention(T0), post-intervention(T1), and at a three-month(T3) follow-up. Importantly, participants can quit the project at any time during the whole process.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Gaming Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: group gaming interventions

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Na Zhong, MD; Phone Number: 008613671644472; Email: winco917@hotmail.com

Study Locations

• China
  • Shanghai Municipality
    • Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
      • Recruiting
      • Shanghai Mental Health Center
      • Contact: Na Zhong, MD; Phone Number: 008613671644472; Email: winco917@hotmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• (1) Clinical diagnosis of hazardous gaming defined in the ICD-11 (2) Fully comprehending the research's purpose and procedures and signing the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• (1)Serious physical illness or intellectual disability (2) Clinical diagnosis of gaming disorder (3) Not completing all the interventions or assessments

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: control group
Experimental: intervention group	Behavioral: group gaming interventions; Each intervention is once a week for 90 minutes. A total of 10 sessions are set up, divided into the beginning stage (the 1st and the 2nd sessions), the middle stage (the 3rd to 8th), and the end stage (the 9th and 10th sessions). At this stage, the leader distributes point cards and wish lists to each member and explains the scoring rules, updating scores at the end of each activity. The point system combines group and individual scoring for cumulative totals. Each member may list desired prizes on their wish list, which will be redeemed for rewards based on their point total when the group concludes. The main aim of the middle stage is to knowledge game types, learn game reward mechanisms, the concept of IGD and influencing factors, and how to play healthily. In the end stage, each subgroup needs to show their complete game design, including the game name, game character, game rule, and reward mechanism, and all participants will make a summary of the whole process and say farewell

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
the severity of gaming disorder	Description: Measured by Gaming Disorder Screening Scale	baseline, two months after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
frequency of gaming sessions	self-reported number of gaming sessions per week	baseline, two months after intervention
anxiety severity	Measured by: Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) Scale Scale Range: 0 to 21 (higher scores indicate worse anxiety)	baseline, two months after intervention
depression severity	Measured by: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Scale Range: 0 to 27 (higher scores indicate worse depression)	baseline, two months after intervention
self-esteem	Measured by: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) Scale Range: 0 to 30 (higher scores indicate better self-esteem)	baseline, two months after intervention
average daily gaming hours	self-reported number of gaming sessions per week	baseline, two months after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Shanghai Mental Health Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 23, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2026
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Gaming Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: NZhong-008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No