School-based Prevention for Adolescent Internet Addiction: Prevention is the Key. A Systematic Literature Review.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Throuvala, Melina A. Griffiths, Mark D. Rennoldson, Mike Kuss, Daria J.
Copyright Year	2019
Abstract	Adolescents’ media use represents a normative need for information, communication, recreation and functionality, yet problematic Internet use has increased. Given the arguably alarming prevalence rates worldwide and the increasingly problematic use of gaming and social media, the need for an integration of prevention efforts appears to be timely. The aim of this systematic literature review is (i) to identify school-based prevention programmes or protocols for Internet Addiction targeting adolescents within the school context and to examine the programmes’ effectiveness, and (ii) to highlight strengths, limitations, and best practices to inform the design of new initiatives, by capitalizing on these studies’ recommendations. The findings of the reviewed studies to date presented mixed outcomes and are in need of further empirical evidence. The current review identified the following needs to be addressed in future designs to: (i) define the clinical status of Internet Addiction (IA) more precisely, (ii) use more current psychometrically robust assessment tools for the measurement of effectiveness (based on the most recent empirical developments), (iii) reconsider the main outcome of Internet time reduction as it appears to be problematic, (iv) build methodologically sound evidence-based prevention programmes, (v) focus on skill enhancement and the use of protective and harm-reducing factors, and (vi) include IA as one of the risk behaviours in multi-risk behaviour interventions. These appear to be crucial factors in addressing future research designs and the formulation of new prevention initiatives. Validated findings could then inform promising strategies for IA and gaming prevention in public policy and edu-cation.
ISSN	1570159X
Journal	Current Neuropharmacology
Volume Number	17
PubMed Central reference number	PMC6712298
Issue Number	6
PubMed reference number	30101714
e-ISSN	18756190
DOI	10.2174/1570159X16666180813153806
Language	English
Publisher	Bentham Science Publishers
Publisher Date	2019-01-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers
Subject Keyword	Internet addiction Social media Gaming Addiction prevention Schools Adolescents
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Neurology Neurology (clinical) Pharmacology Pharmacology (medical) Psychiatry and Mental Health