Internet Gaming Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders includes in its research appendix a potential new diagnosis-Internet gaming disorder. This condition primarily affects adolescent boys and young adult men, who rarely seek treatment on their own. More often, parents express concerns about their child's game playing behaviors. This psychotherapy development study will evaluate feasibility and effect sizes of an intervention designed to help parents reduce their child's gaming problems; the intervention allows for child participation, but it is geared toward parents, regardless of whether or not their child is willing to participate. A total of 40 parents concerned about their child's gaming behaviors will complete self and parental report inventories and structured diagnostic interviews regarding gaming, substance use and psychosocial functioning. Children who elect to participate will complete parallel versions of the instruments. Participants will be randomized to a control condition consisting of referral for mental health issues and family support services or to a 6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors. Gaming and other problems will be assessed pre-treatment, at the end of treatment and at a 4-month follow-up. This study will be the first to evaluate the reliability and validity of a parental version of the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders criteria for internet gaming disorder in a clinical sample, and it will assess associations of internet gaming disorder with substance use, mental health conditions, and family functioning as well. This study will be the first randomized trial of an intervention designed to assist parents in reducing their child's gaming problems, and results will help guide future development of interventions for Internet gaming disorder. To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention, the proportion of parents assigned to the intervention who complete 6 sessions will be examined, as will the proportion of youth who attend the sessions. Parent and child ratings of satisfaction with the intervention will be assessed. To examine the effect size of the intervention on reducing gaming, parental reports of proportion of days on which their child played games and durations of game playing will be compared between conditions, controlling for baseline indices.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALBehavioral therapy
6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors.
BEHAVIORALReferral for care
Referral for mental health issues and family support services
Sponsors
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
UConn Health
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* parent/guardian of a 10-22 year old residing in the same household \>8 months/year * reports significant problems with game playing
Exclusion criteria
* have a condition that may hinder study participation
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Participants Who Complete All 6 Sessions | 12 weeks | Completion of sessions is an indicator of treatment acceptability and feasibility |
| Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent | 12 weeks | Number of days of gaming is an indicator of the severity of the gaming problem. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Referral for Care Referral for care: Referral for mental health issues and family support services | 17 |
| Behavioral Therapy Behavioral therapy: 6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors. | 19 |
| Total | 36 |
Withdrawals & dropouts
| Period | Reason | FG000 | FG001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Study | Lost to Follow-up | 1 | 3 |
| Overall Study | Withdrawal by Subject | 2 | 0 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Referral for Care | Total | Behavioral Therapy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 17 Participants | 36 Participants | 19 Participants |
| Age, Continuous | 45.06 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.28 | 47.97 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.12 | 50.58 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 6.05 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 2 Participants | 2 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 15 Participants | 34 Participants | 19 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Number of days of gaming in the past week - reported by parent | 6.41 days STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.73 | 6.42 days STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.46 | 6.42 days STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.73 |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 1 Participants | 2 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 4 Participants | 5 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 1 Participants | 2 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 1 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 10 Participants | 26 Participants | 16 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 17 Participants | 36 Participants | 19 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 17 Participants | 34 Participants | 17 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 0 Participants | 2 Participants | 2 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 17 | 0 / 19 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 17 | 1 / 19 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 1 / 17 | 0 / 19 |
Outcome results
Primary
Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent
Number of days of gaming is an indicator of the severity of the gaming problem.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Population: The sample size for this analysis is smaller than the overall sample because several participants were lost to follow up.
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent | 5.79 days | Standard Deviation 2.19 |
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent | 5.06 days | Standard Deviation 2.34 |
p-value: 0.296ANCOVA
Primary
Percentage of Participants Who Complete All 6 Sessions
Completion of sessions is an indicator of treatment acceptability and feasibility
Time frame: 12 weeks
Population: This outcome is only reported for the Behavioral Therapy group because it is not relevant to the Referral to Care group. The Referral to Care group was not assigned to a structured 6 session intervention; thus, this outcome could not be measured in that group.
| Arm | Measure | Value (NUMBER) |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Percentage of Participants Who Complete All 6 Sessions | 78.9 percentage of participants |