Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
NCT number |
NCT05479344 |
Other study ID # |
2021-22-CIR5-1 |
Secondary ID |
|
Status |
Completed |
Phase |
N/A
|
First received |
|
Last updated |
|
Start date |
August 15, 2022 |
Est. completion date |
April 15, 2023 |
Study information
Verified date |
February 2024 |
Source |
City University of Hong Kong |
Contact |
n/a |
Is FDA regulated |
No |
Health authority |
|
Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
The present study will explore the underlying mechanisms of problematic Internet and
smartphone use by focusing on how and when environmental factors affect the positive
psychological intervention factors. Hence, the present study will provide scientific
empirical evidence to design and formulate follow-up intervention strategies.
Aims:
I. Apply the dynamic system model of addictive behavior execution in Chinese adolescents with
problematic Internet and smartphone use and use longitudinal data to track and explore the
underlying mechanisms of environmental factors and personal factors on problematic Internet
and smartphone use.
II. Identify positive psychological intervention factors that effectively prevent and reduce
problematic Internet and smartphone use according to the interview and provide empirical
evidence for other intervention designs.
III. Conducting a positive psychological intervention in an adolescent population to verify
the protective effect of positive psychology factors on problematic Internet and smartphone
use.
Hypotheses:
I. Environmental factors (e.g., child abuse and trauma, parenting behaviors, teachers'
encouragement, peer support) will affect the problematic Internet and smartphone use through
personal characteristics (e.g., meaning in life); II. The effect of environmental factors on
problematic Internet and smartphone use through personal characteristics will be moderated by
other positive psychological intervention factors (e.g., character strengths); III. Positive
psychological intervention (e.g., meaning-based intervention, strengths-based intervention)
is an effective intervention strategy to prevent and reduce problematic Internet and
smartphone use.
Description:
Problematic Internet and smartphone use are a psychosocial phenomenon in which individuals
pay too much attention to and rely on the Internet, negatively affecting their mental and
physical health, lives, and work. Many studies have shown that problematic Internet and
smartphone use can bring adverse psychological effects (e.g., depression, anxiety, and
negative emotions) and unfavorable physiological conditions (e.g., poor sleep quality and
memory loss). The negative psychological and physiological effects can result in adverse
academic and work performance outcomes. Many existing studies mainly explore the underlying
mechanism of problematic Internet and smartphone use from personal factors such as mental
health, metacognition, coping strategies, personality traits, motivation, and attachment
styles. However, more and more studies have begun to focus on the effects of environmental
factors, such as peer relationships and parenting styles, on problematic Internet and
smartphone use. To fill the literature gaps, formulate effective preventive and remedial
interventions, and explore whether, when, and how environmental factors (e.g., child abuse
and trauma, parenting behaviors, teachers' encouragement, and peer support) affect
problematic Internet and smartphone use is crucial.
The previous psychological interventions for problematic Internet and smartphone use focused
on cognitive behavioral therapy, sand-play therapy, family programming, group programming,
counseling programming, and educational programming. Different types of interventions reduced
the severity of problematic Internet and smartphone use to varying degrees. However, the
existing intervention strategies ignore the perspective of positive psychology. In the
country, some scholars proposed to discuss the self-regulation of addicts from the
perspective of positive psychology and especially proposed a meaning-centered approach as an
essential supplement to mainstream addiction therapy. Besides, some scholars have also
noticed the role of positive psychological intervention factors, such as meaning in life and
the formation and development of problematic Internet and smartphone use. Therefore,
exploring the positive psychological intervention factors, especially the meaning in life and
the construction and development of problematic Internet and smartphone use, is the starting
point for developing evidence-based intervention strategies.
According to the Dynamic System Model of Developmental Psychopathology and the Interaction of
Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model, the present study will explore the underlying
mechanisms from environmental factors (e.g., child abuse and trauma, parenting behaviors,
teachers' encouragement, peer support) to problematic Internet and smartphone use by testing
the mediator role and moderator role of personal factors (e.g., the meaning of life, social
media flow), predominantly positive psychological intervention factors (e.g., character
strengths). Therefore, the present study integrated positive psychological intervention
factors into the dynamic system model of addictive behavior execution and applies it to
explore the formation and development mechanisms of problematic Internet and smartphone use
(see Figure 1 and Figure 2). In addition, this study will implement an interview and
meaning-centered intervention program among middle school students to validate the validity
of the dynamic system model of addictive behavior execution from the interpretation of
qualitative material and intervention practices.
Given the research variables' diversity and complexity, the present study intends to include
at least 500 adolescents over 12 years of age. The present study uses convenience and
snowball sampling in mainland China and Hong Kong. The present study will also invite
participants to accept longitudinal tracking. Participants willing to participate in the
subsequent two surveys will provide their contact information. Before the research, the
parents' and children's online informed consent forms will be obtained for the minors'
sample. This questionnaire survey was completed in the preliminary stage of this study
(approved: 2020-21-CIR8-3), and the intervention directions and techniques for problematic
Internet and smartphone use were determined based on the questionnaire survey results.
Semi-structured Interviews:
The investigators will use a method of semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions
to collect data. Individual interviews, lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, will be conducted
and recorded. All participants should provide consent to participate before being
interviewed. The interviews were conducted in Mandarin. All the materials used in the study
(e.g., the recruitment information and questionnaires) were presented in Chinese. Thirty
adolescents will be recruited to participate in the interviews.
Randomized Controlled Trial:
The investigators will pilot test the proposed meaning-focused intervention using a
randomized (1:1) parallel-group controlled, single-blind trial in middle school students. The
middle school collaborators will help launch the advertisement regarding this study, brief
potential participants, prescreen potential participants according to recruitment criteria,
and recruit participants using the opportunity sampling method. The participants' written
informed consent will be obtained before conducting the intervention. One hundred adolescents
will be recruited to participate in a randomized controlled trial. Four sessions will be
delivered to the intervention group 1 week apart, with around 90 minutes per session.
Descriptive analysis and latent profile analysis will be adopted to present the overall
situation of the research sample; psychology measurement attributes of the measures will be
tested using confirmatory factor analysis; the correlation and regression analysis will be
used to explore the relationships between environmental factors, personal factors, and
problematic Internet and smartphone use. The structural equation modeling will be conducted
to verify the mediator or moderator roles of positive psychological intervention factors in
the relationship between environmental factors and problematic Internet and smartphone use.