Clinical Research Directory

Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Promoting Mental Health of Emerging Adults With Internet Addiction

Internet addiction, a growing epidemic among young adults, significantly impairs mental health, emotional regulation, and overall well-being. The pervasive overuse of digital technologies-particularly smartphones, social media, and the internet-has led to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and social isolation in this demographic. Traditional therapeutic interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) fail to address the underlying psychological processes contributing to addiction. This research explores the potential of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-a mindfulness-based, values-driven approach-as an effective treatment for internet addiction in young adults. By enhancing psychological flexibility, ACT aims to reduce addictive behaviors while promoting better emotional regulation and mental resilience. The study will assess the efficacy of ACT in improving mental health and mitigating internet addiction within a culturally relevant context for Pakistani youth. Introduction and Problem Statement: Young adulthood is a pivotal developmental phase (18-29 years), during which individuals are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of internet addiction. Excessive use of smartphones, the internet, and social media has become a ubiquitous issue, severely affecting the academic, social, and emotional well-being of young adults. While internet addiction is increasingly prevalent in Pakistan, with studies indicating that 25-35% of the youth are affected, conventional therapeutic models like CBT predominantly focus on symptom management rather than the psychological underpinnings of addictive behaviors. This research aims to fill a critical gap by investigating the application of ACT, which has shown promise in treating various forms of addiction, to internet addiction specifically. Literature Review: The relationship between internet addiction and mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and stress has been well-documented. Recent studies by Moreno et al. (2022) and Ghali et al. (2023) underscore the profound psychological consequences of excessive internet and social media use in young adults. In contrast to CBT, ACT focuses on enhancing psychological flexibility-the ability to accept distressing thoughts and feelings while pursuing value-driven actions. ACT has been shown to improve emotional regulation, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and enhance mindfulness, making it a promising intervention for internet addiction. This research builds on the foundational work of Swain et al. (2015) and Googhari et al. (2022), who demonstrated the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions, including ACT, in enhancing mental health outcomes. Rationale: Internet addiction is not only a growing public health crisis but also a barrier to personal development and social integration in young adults. While traditional therapies like CBT focus on symptom reduction, they do not sufficiently address the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that drive addictive behaviors. ACT offers a more comprehensive approach by fostering psychological flexibility and emotional resilience-key factors in the recovery from addiction. Moreover, ACT's adaptability to diverse cultural contexts makes it an ideal intervention for Pakistan's rapidly digitalizing youth population. This research seeks to evaluate ACT's effectiveness in reducing internet addiction and improving mental health outcomes in this group. Research Objectives and Hypotheses: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ACT in reducing internet addiction and enhancing mental health among emerging adults in Pakistan. The specific objectives are to: 1. Assess the impact of ACT on internet addiction behaviors (smartphone, internet, social media). 2. Evaluate improvements in mental health, including reductions in depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. 3. Examine changes in emotional regulation, mindfulness, and psychological flexibility. Hypotheses: 1. The experimental group will exhibit a significant reduction in internet addiction behaviors at post-test compared to the control group. 2. The experimental group will demonstrate substantial improvements in mental health indicators-specifically in reducing depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. 3. ACT will lead to enhanced psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and emotional regulation in the experimental group relative to the control group. Research Design and Methodology: The study will employ a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with pre- and post-test assessments. The sample will consist of 100 emerging adults(ages 18-29), with 50 participants in the experimental group and 50 in the control group. Participants will be recruited via social media platforms, using a snowball sampling technique. Inclusion criteria include self-reported internet addiction and high scores on screening tools.

Investigation of Spinal Health and Internet Addiction of Individuals Working Remotely

Low back pain and neck pain are common problems that affect people at certain times in their lives. These people constitute a significant part of the disease burden due to their recurrent complaints. People with low back and neck pain often seek medical attention. This situation causes individuals to apply to the hospital frequently and causes a serious cost at the social level. When the risk factors for neck pain are examined, many factors such as genetics, sleep problems, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, previous neck pain, trauma, back pain and poor general health cause neck pain to develop. Similarly, conditions such as age, obesity, and poor general health appear to be risk factors for low back pain. In addition to these risk factors, it has been reported that occupational factors such as long and sedentary working hours and unsuitable workplace conditions may also cause low back and neck pain. Fixed posture and prolonged sitting are thought to be risk factors for low back and neck pain, but opinions on this subject are not clear. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis since 2019 and caused a change in the lifestyle of all people around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that social distance should be increased and face-to-face contact should be reduced to prevent the spread of the pandemic. For this reason, many institutions have decided to work remotely and trainings have been carried out remotely. The increasing teleworking style with the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the average screen time of individuals. It was reported that time spent on the Internet increased by 52% compared to the pre-pandemic period. This study aims to investigate the relationship between increased teleworking hours and internet use during the pandemic period in individuals with low back or neck pain. Researchers think that postural changes that may occur with increased distance working time, increased fixed posture and asymmetrical loading may contribute to the uncertain relationship between low back and neck pain and posture.

Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Based Psychoeducation Program on Internet Addiction and Academic Procrastination Tendency in Nursing Students

This randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral approach-based psychoeducation program on internet addiction and academic procrastination tendency among undergraduate nursing students.

tDCS for Social Media Addiction

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation, can reduce "craving" and problematic levels of social media/internet use in university students. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does active tDCS reduce craving to use social media during the intervention period compared with sham stimulation and no stimulation? * Does active tDCS reduce internet/social media addiction severity (measured with the Internet Addiction Test, IAT) compared with sham stimulation and no stimulation, and are any effects still present at follow-up? Researchers will compare three groups-active tDCS, sham tDCS (a simulation where stimulation is stopped after the first seconds), and a control group (no stimulation)-to see whether changes are due to tDCS rather than placebo effects or time. Participants will: * Complete an initial screening and baseline questionnaires (a sociodemographic questionnaire and the IAT). * Be randomly assigned to one of three groups: active tDCS, sham tDCS, or control (no stimulation). * Complete the IAT again after the intervention and again about 5 weeks later (follow-up), along with questions about social media use habits. During intervention, participants in active tDCS and sham tDCS will: * Attend 10 sessions over 2 consecutive weeks (Monday-Friday), with each session lasting about 30 minutes; mobile phone use is not allowed during sessions. * Rate craving on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at the start and end of each session. This study will be conducted with university students in the Greater Lisbon area and will follow double-blind procedures for the active vs sham conditions (participants and researchers will not know the assigned condition until the end of the study).

Prevalence of Behavioral Addiction and Its Relation With Psychological Disturbance

Internet usage has increased greatly. It is expected to be more than 4 billion by the end of this year. About 80% of them spend most of their internet time on social media, and are expected by 2026 to be about 50% of the total population to use social media at least once a month. The internet is mainly used to connect with friends, relatives, learn new skills, or for entertainment, such as video gaming. However, with this increasing usage, internet addiction can easily increase. Internet addiction or pathological internet use is defined as uncontrolled, excessive use of it, with uncontrolled time consuming that can cause distress and impairment. The prevalence of internet addiction varied between regions. A study in the seven countries in Europe reported a prevalence of addiction among adolescents to be 1%, and an additional 12.7% at risk of having addiction. In Turkey, a recent cross-sectional study found a prevalence of 18.3%. In the Middle East, the prevalence varied greatly from 0.9% to 33% among adolescents. Additionally, internet video gaming is another addictive problem that can affect adolescents. A previous meta-analysis showed that gaming addiction prevalence ranged from 0.9% to 19.9%, with males being higher than females. Also, another study showed a prevalence of about 8.4% among Thailand medical students. On the other hand, overuse of the internet can lead to an increase in problematic pornography use. Another study found a significant association between increased usage of the internet and pornography addiction (P value: \<0.001). Additionally, previous studies showed a prevalence of porn addiction ranging from 3.2% to 16.6%. Also, a negative correlation between education level and porn addiction was observed. All these behavioral addictions increase depression, anxiety, and stress for addicts. Several cross-sectional studies have assessed the positive correlation between either internet, gaming, or porn addiction, and an increase in anxiety and depression. However, to our knowledge, no single study has assessed these three addictive behaviors together with depression, anxiety, and stress in Arab countries. Rational Medical students, in particular, use the internet frequently. Students use it in training, faculty assignments, research projects, and so on, which can make them depend greatly on the internet. This potentially can increase their addiction to the internet, subsequently increasing their addiction to video gaming and porn addiction. In the Middle East, few studies have tried to assess the prevalence of internet addiction and its association with increased depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students. Despite that, there is a lack of studies on gaming addiction and porn addiction. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of internet addiction alongside video gaming and porn addiction among medical students and interns in the Middle East (MENA region). Also, the study aimed to assess the relationship of these three addictive behaviors with each other and their relationship with increased stress, anxiety, and depression among this population.

Digital Parenting Education: Impact on Mothers' Social Media Use and Children's Tech Attitudes

The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of mothers regarding social media addiction and their children's technology use. The research is a randomized controlled trial. The universe of the research consists of all family health center affiliated with the Artvin Provincial Health Directorate, and the sample consists of mothers with healthy preschool children (3-6 years old) registered in family health center No. 1, determined by drawing lots. The sample size was determined as 152 participants, with 76 assigned to the experimental group and 76 to the control group. The digital parenting training to be given to mothers consists of 8 sessions of 20 minutes each. The digital parenting training content, presentation and brochure were prepared according to the Ministry of Family and Social Services' "Parental Guide for Protecting Children from Digital Risks", the Ministry of Health's "Technology Addiction Parental Guide" and the Presidency's Directorate of Communications' "Social Media Usage Guide". Opinions of 10 experts were received for the prepared training presentation and brochure. As a result of the evaluation, descriptive statistics; number (N) and percentage (%) for variables between groups, mean, standard deviation (SD), minimum (min), maximum (max) values for numerical data and significance level will be stated as p\<0.05.

Digital Addiction Among University Students

The aim of this study is to contribute to our understanding of digital media addiction by investigating the prevalence of digital addiction among university students and examining the relationship between variables such as body awareness, physical activity levels, hand grip strength, upper extremity function and pain-dash, quality of life, depression, stress, anxiety, sleep quality, and cognitive levels and digital addiction.