Clinical Research Directory

Community-Based Intervention to Reduce Problematic Video Game Use in First-Year Secondary School Students: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

This cluster randomised controlled trial will evaluate whether a community-based, multicomponent intervention can reduce problematic video game use and gaming disorder among first-year secondary school students in Pontevedra, Spain. The intervention combines three coordinated components: a participatory community programme in which adolescents identify local leisure resources and co-design healthy screen-free activities; a classroom-based mindfulness programme for adolescents; and an online mindfulness programme for parents, caregivers, teachers, healthcare professionals, and other adults in the adolescents' environment. Schools will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or a control group that continues with usual educational practice. Adolescents will be assessed before the intervention, after the intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. Adults will be assessed before and after the intervention. The main hypothesis is that adolescents in intervention schools will show a greater reduction in problematic video game use and gaming disorder than adolescents in control schools. The study will also examine whether the intervention improves mindfulness, psychological well-being, perceived social support, and self-regulation, and reduces impulsivity and involvement in cyberbullying. In addition, it will explore whether changes in mindfulness and other psychological factors help explain the intervention's effects, and whether family involvement, adult mindfulness, cyberbullying, and baseline severity influence the results.