A Meta-Analysis of Group Interventions for Internet Addiction Among Korean Adolescents

Background and Purpose: According to a 2014 survey on Internet usage by the Korean National Information Society Agency, about 12.5% of Korean adolescent Internet users meet the criteria for Internet addiction. Although there is a growing body of research on the determinants of Internet addiction, and the negative effects of Internet addition on adolescent development, little is known about the effectiveness of intervention programs for Internet addiction for adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively examine the effect of adolescent Internet addiction treatment programs through a meta-analysis.

Methods: We analyzed 37 domestic master’s and doctoral theses and articles in academic journals published from 2000 to 2015 that had an experimental design with experimental and control groups and involved pre- and post-test analysis. The effect analysis of adolescent Internet addiction programs and the analysis of subgroups were done through total effect analysis, meta-ANOVA, and meta-regression using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis ver 3.0 program (CMA).

Results: Effect size estimation revealed that treatment interventions for Internet addiction were quite effective (effect size, 2.014). Meta-ANOVA analyses showed differences among groups based on program duration, intervention model, and number of participants. Programs longer than 8 weeks in duration had larger effect sizes than did their counterparts that lasted fewer than 8 weeks. Also, cognitive behavioral art therapy had larger effect sizes. The greatest effects were seen when the study group consisted of 10 to 12 people, compared to groups with fewer or more people.

Conclusions and Implications: Evidence-based practice can be understood as the optimal intervention process that considers the characteristics of the clients and is based on scientific evidence. For a policy or practice to be effective, it should rely on the results of meta-analysis. To treat adolescent Internet addiction, relevant programs should be actively developed and implemented. Moreover, increasing the effectiveness of these programs requires long-term intervention (more than 8 weeks) and a diverse and comprehensive intervention model. As programs are most effective when the total number of subjects is between 10 and 12, it can be concluded that the members of groups of this size can mutually interact with each other and each one can develop a sense of belonging to the group.