A research team led by Professor Anderson Sungmin Yoon and Minah Kim of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) has developed a "Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Gaming (MBCT-G)" program to address internet gaming disorder among college students and has found promising evidence of its therapeutic effectiveness.
The research was conducted under the close supervision of Willem Kuyken, director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, and has drawn attention from academic circles worldwide for presenting a new therapeutic alternative using psychological intervention to ease internet gaming disorder, a growing public health issue among young adults.
The work is published in the journal Mindfulness.
Internet gaming disorder refers to excessive immersion in gaming severe enough to seriously disrupt daily life. This is particularly common among college students, who often turn to gaming to relieve academic or career-related stress as they begin living independently, away from parental supervision.
To address this problem, Yoon's research team adapted and modified mindfulness-based cognitive therapy—previously used to treat depression—to fit the specific characteristics of gaming disorder. The program combines mindfulness meditation training—which helps students observe their thoughts, emotions and impulses objectively when a strong urge to game arises—with cognitive therapy that helps them decenter from these urges and respond more skillfully.
