Table 1.
Detailed descriptions of reviewed articles
| Author/year | Sample size | Age (years) | Participants’ details | Type of intervention | Control conditions of the RCTs | Number of sessions or duration of intervention | Intervention provider | Diagnostic tools of the severity of Internet addiction | Outcome measures | Quality score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Du et al. (2010) | n = 56 (E: 32, C: 24) | 12–17 | Adolescent students diagnosed with Internet addiction; 80.4% male | Multimodal school-based intervention (group CBT for 6–10 adolescents, group cognitive behavioral parent training, and psychoeducation for teachers) | No treatment | 8 sessions | Two child and adolescent psychiatrists | Internet Overuse Self-Rating Scale | Beard’s Diagnostic Questionnaire, Internet Overuse Self-rating Scale, Screen for Child Anxiety-related Emotional Disorders, Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, Time Management Disposition Scale | 5 |
| Kim et al. (2012) | n = 65 (E: 32, C: 33) | 13–18 | Adolescents with problematic online gameplay and major depressive disorder; all male | Group CBT and bupropion | Therapy as usual | 8 sessions for 8 weeks | Team including a psychiatrist, nurse, psychologist, and social worker | Young Internet Addiction Scale Score | Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Life Satisfaction Scale, online game-playing time (hours/week), School Problematic Behaviour Scale, Young Internet Addiction Scale | 6 |
| Çelik (2016) | n = 30 (E: 15, C: 15) | Not reported | Adolescents with Internet addiction tendencies | Educational (training) program to ensure increased academic motivation and efficient use of time | No treatment | 5 sessions for 5 weeks | Not reported | Problematic Internet Use Scale | Problematic Internet Use Scale | 4 |
| Shin and Jang (2016) | n = 32 (E: 16, C: 16) | 14–16 | Adolescents with smartphone addiction. Homogenous groups by gender | Sandplay therapy | No treatment | 10 sessions 10 weeks | Not reported | Youth Smartphone Addiction Self-Report Scale | Youth Smartphone Addiction Self-Report Scale | 5 |
| Uysal and Balci (2018) | n = 84 (E: 41, C: 43) | 11–16 | Adolescents with Internet addiction; 70.3% male | Educational (school-based training) program, i.e., Healthy Internet Use Program | No treatment | 8 sessions 12 weeks | Nurses | Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) | Internet Addiction Scale | 6 |
| Hou et al. (2019) | n = 38 (E: 21, C: 17) | Mage = 19.71, SDage = 1.43 | Adolescents with Internet addiction. Homogenous groups by gender | Two-stage intervention program (CBT approach) | No treatment | 1 session per week and 1 week of daily recording of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (part of CBT techniques) | Researcher | Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) | Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, daily social media use time, Self-Esteem Scale, sleep quality, adapted General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale – Student | 5 |
Note. E: study (experimental) group; C: control group; CBT: cognitive behavioral therapy; RCTs: randomized controlled trials.