JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Numerous studies have explored interventions to reduce digital addiction outcomes, but inconclusive evidence makes it difficult for decision-makers, managers, and clinicians to get familiar with all available literature and find appropriate interventions.

Objective:

o summarize and assess the certainty of evidence of interventions proposed to decrease the digital addiction from published systematic reviews.

Methods:

An umbrella review of published systematic reviews was undertaken. Included studies were systematic reviews and meta-analyses of quantitative primary studies assessing an intervention that aimed to reduce digital addiction.

Results:

5 studies assessing 21 associations were included in the umbrella review, of which 4 (80%) were high-quality systematic reviews. Weak evidence was observed in 19 associations, whereas null associations appeared in the rest 2 associations. These associations pertained to nine interventions (group counseling, intergrated internet addiction prevention program, psychosocial intervention, reality therapy, self-control training program, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), interventions to reduce screen time in child and exercise) and ten outcomes (self-control, self-esteem, IGD symptoms, time spent gaming, IA scores, screen use time, interpersonal sensitivity longlines, anxiety and depression). CBT could reduce anxiety (0.939, 95% CI, 0.311 to 1.586), IGD symptoms (1.394, 95% CI, 0.664 to 2.214) and time spent gaming 1.259, 95% CI, 0.311 to 2.206) and IA scores (-2.097, 95% CI, -2.814 to -1.381). Group counseling had a large effect size on improving self-control (1.296, 95% CI, 0.269 to 2.322) and reduced internet addiction levels (-1.147, 95% CI, -1.836 to -0.997). Exercise intervention reduced IA scores (-2.322, 95% CI, -3.212 to -1.431) and depression (-1.421, 95% CI, -2.046 to -797) and interpersonal sensitivity (-1.433, 95% CI, -2.239 to -0.627).

Conclusions:

The evidence indicates that current interventions to reduce digital addiction are weak. Data from more and better-designed studies with larger sample sizes are needed to establish robust evidence. Clinical Trial: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement [14]. Our study protocol has been registered with PROSPERO.