Internet Gaming Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduces Internet Gaming disorder (IGD) as a Substance-Related and Addictive Disorder in Section 3, Conditions for Further Study. Although research is in the nascent stages, existing studies demonstrate that IGD is associated with psychosocial distress including suicidality, and adverse vocational and educational outcomes in youth. Internet gaming disorder also shares substantial overlap with substance use, and it primarily affects adolescents, who rarely seek treatment on their own. Parents more often express concerns about their child's game playing behaviors, and data suggest that parents can have strong influences on it. This psychotherapy development study will evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and effect sizes of a behavioral intervention designed to help parents reduce gaming problems in their children. Sixty concerned parents and their children will complete parental and self-report inventories and structured diagnostic interviews regarding the child's gaming behaviors, substance use and psychosocial functioning. Participants will be randomized to either a control condition consisting of referral for mental health issues and family support services or to the same plus a 6-week family-based behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors and encouraging and rewarding alternatives to game playing. Gaming and other problems will be assessed pre-treatment, mid-treatment, at the end of treatment, and at a 4-month follow-up. This study is unique in evaluating initial psychometric properties of a parental version of a measure that uses the DSM-5 criteria for IGD in a clinical sample, and it will also assess associations of IGD with substance use, psychological symptoms, and family functioning over time. Most importantly, this study will be the first randomized trial of an intervention designed to reduce gambling problems, and results are likely to guide future research and treatment efforts related to this condition.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALReferral for care
referral for addictions support
BEHAVIORALBehavioral therapy
therapy focused on monitoring gaming behavior and replacing it with other activities and communication skills
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 10-19 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Child | 12 weeks | Examines whether the treatment group showed greater reductions in symptoms of Internet gaming disorder than the control group. Ratings of Internet gaming disorder symptoms were assessed using a clinical interview with the child, conducted by trained assessors blind to treatment condition. |
| Percentage of Participants Who Completed All 6 Sessions | 12 weeks | Completion of sessions is an indicator of treatment acceptability and feasibility |
| Number of Days of Gaming in Past Week - Reported by Child | 12 weeks | Number of days of game playing in past week is an indicator of severity of the gaming problem. |
| 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. |
| Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Parent | 12 weeks | Examines whether the treatment group showed greater reductions in symptoms of Internet gaming disorder than the control group. Ratings of Internet gaming disorder symptoms were assessed using a clinical interview with the parent, conducted by trained assessors blind to treatment condition. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Children were required to participate with a parent; therefore, all children had a parent enrolled in the study. A total of 60 dyads were enrolled in the study. The participant flow table represents the number of children enrolled in the study, as they were the primary target of the intervention.
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Referral for Care Referral for mental health issues and family support services
Referral for care: referral for addictions support | 28 |
| Behavioral Therapy 8-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors
Referral for care: referral for addictions support
Behavioral therapy: therapy focused on monitoring gaming behavior and replacing it with other activities and communication skills | 32 |
| Total | 60 |
Withdrawals & dropouts
| Period | Reason | FG000 | FG001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Study | Lost to Follow-up | 3 | 6 |
| Overall Study | Withdrawal by Subject | 0 | 1 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Referral for Care | Behavioral Therapy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 27 Participants | 31 Participants | 58 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 1 Participants | 1 Participants | 2 Participants |
| Age, Continuous | 13.18 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.29 | 13.84 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.2 | 13.53 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.25 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 7 Participants | 5 Participants | 12 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 21 Participants | 27 Participants | 48 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 1 Participants | 2 Participants | 3 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 4 Participants | 5 Participants | 9 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 0 Participants | 4 Participants | 4 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 1 Participants | 3 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 21 Participants | 20 Participants | 41 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 28 participants | 32 participants | 60 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 1 Participants | 0 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 27 Participants | 32 Participants | 59 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 28 | 0 / 32 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 28 | 0 / 32 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 1 / 28 | 0 / 32 |
Outcome results
Primary
Number of Days of Gaming in Past Week - Reported by Child
Number of days of game playing in past week is an indicator of severity of the gaming problem.
Time frame: 12 weeks
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in Past Week - Reported by Child | 5.04 days/week | Standard Deviation 1.81 |
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in Past Week - Reported by Child | 3.24 days/week | Standard Deviation 2.28 |
p-value: 0.004ANCOVA
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 participants included in these analyses were all participants who completed the post-treatment (12 week) assessment. This number differs from the Participant Flow module, which reports the number of participants who completed the final follow-up at 24 weeks.
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent | 6.19 days/week | Standard Deviation 1.58 |
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Days of Gaming in the Past Week - Reported by Parent | 4.04 days/week | Standard Deviation 3.02 |
p-value: 0.007ANCOVA
Primary
Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Child
Examines whether the treatment group showed greater reductions in symptoms of Internet gaming disorder than the control group. Ratings of Internet gaming disorder symptoms were assessed using a clinical interview with the child, conducted by trained assessors blind to treatment condition.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Population: The participants included in these analyses were all participants who completed the post-treatment (12 week) assessment. This number differs from the Participant Flow module, which reports the number of participants who completed the final follow-up at 24 weeks.
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Child | 1.28 Symptoms at post-treatment | Standard Deviation 1.34 |
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Child | 0.65 Symptoms at post-treatment | Standard Deviation 1.09 |
p-value: 0.059ANCOVA
Primary
Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Parent
Examines whether the treatment group showed greater reductions in symptoms of Internet gaming disorder than the control group. Ratings of Internet gaming disorder symptoms were assessed using a clinical interview with the parent, conducted by trained assessors blind to treatment condition.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Population: The participants included in these analyses were all participants who completed the post-treatment (12 week) assessment. This number differs from the Participant Flow module, which reports the number of participants who completed the final follow-up at 24 weeks.
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Parent | 2.81 Symptoms at post-treatment | Standard Deviation 1.81 |
| Behavioral Therapy | Number of Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder - Assessed Through a Clinical Interview With Parent | 1.84 Symptoms at post-treatment | Standard Deviation 1.65 |
p-value: 0.095ANCOVA
Primary
Percentage of Participants Who Completed 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 Completed All 6 Sessions | 40.6 percentage of participants |