School-based prevention programs are designed to help protect adolescents from gaming disorder and problematic online habits. But how effective are these interventions in promoting responsible use of video games and the internet?
A research team led by Dr. Katajun Lindenberg of the Institute of Psychology at Heidelberg University investigated this question as part of a statewide study involving approximately 1,800 adolescents from 44 secondary schools in Baden-Württemberg.
The results, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, show that, in the long run, a four-week behavioral therapy-based program achieved greater effects among participants at high risk of addiction than a media education program.
"Against the backdrop of ongoing debates about effective measures to protect the mental health of young people in the digital age, the question of effective interventions is highly relevant," emphasizes Lindenberg, professor of clinical psychology of childhood and adolescence at Heidelberg University and director of the Psychotherapeutic University Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents.
Two school programs, different aims
