Digital dilemmas and existing recommendations for healthy screen time use for children and adolescents.

As technology continues to play an integral role in our daily lives, concerns regarding the appropriate and healthy use of screen time have prompted health organizations and authorities worldwide to establish guidelines and recommendations. This paper comprehensively summarizes existing recommendations and guidelines for screen time use from various countries, highlighting key similarities, differences, and emerging trends. However, there is a dire need to expand the existing repertoire of guidelines and recommendations to different age groups and strategies depending on user engagement for healthy screen time use.

Yoga as an Adjuvant with Multimodal Psychological Interventions for Excessive Use of Technology: A Randomized Controlled Trial from India.

Background: Multimodal approach of psychotherapy has been found to be effective for managing the excessive use of technology. Yoga, a holistic mind-body therapy, has been observed to be a useful adjuvant in managing substance use disorders. Yoga is also known to reduce stress and enhance overall well-being. The aim of this study was to examine whether yoga as an adjuvant treatment to psychotherapy is better than psychotherapy alone in reducing dysfunction and severity due to excessive technology use. Methods: A two-arm randomized controlled prospective study design was followed with assessor blinding and allocation concealment. Thirty consenting young adults (22 males), scoring above 36 on the Internet Addiction Test, were randomly allocated to either: Group A = psychotherapy + yoga or Group B = psychotherapy alone. Both groups received 8 sessions of psychotherapy in the 1st month. In addition, Group A received additional 10 sessions a specific yoga program (by trained professionals). After that, monthly booster sessions (supervised yoga sessions performed with direct one-on-one contact with the yoga therapist) were organized and post-assessment was conducted at 12 weeks. Each subject was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test-Short Form, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results: As compared to Group B, Group A had significantly reduced Internet use (F = 5.61, P = 0.02, ηp 2 = 0.17), smartphone use (F = 4.76, P = 0.03, ηp 2 = 0.15), psychological distress (F = 7.71, P = 0.01, ηp 2 = 0.22), and weekday use (Z = -2.0, P = 0.05, ηp 2 = 0.15) along with enhanced treatment adherence and retention. Conclusion: Yoga as an adjuvant therapy with multimodal psychological intervention for excessive use of technology was found to be effective. This carries clinical implications for mental health professionals.

An Integrated Yoga and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention for Managing Excessive Use of Internet among the Youth: A Case Series.

Background: Internet addiction is a behavioral problem that is managed by pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods. The nonpharmacological methods focus on enhancing skills for healthy use of technology and promoting mindfulness and mental relaxation. Yoga therapy is an effective tool to reduce psychological stress and promote self-regulation and mindfulness. Thus, present work focused on developing an integrated yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy intervention (Y-CBT) for the management of excessive use of technology amongst adolescents and young adult students. Methods: Feasibility of the Y-CBT program was tested by implementing 10 sessions of yoga and 6 sessions of CBT program for 2 weeks by certified Yoga therapist and psychologist, respectively. This was followed by online booster sessions once a week, and post assessments were conducted at 12 weeks. A total of 4 college-going students with the excessive use of technology were recruited from tertiary specialty service for promotion of healthy use of technology. Each participant was assessed using short-version of internet addiction test (s-IAT), Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, Kessler's Psychological distress scale for baseline, and follow-up assessment after completion of the program. Results: The Y-CBT program was found feasible and useful in reducing internet use, smart phone use, and psychological distress. There were no reported side-effects. A trend was observed for increase compliance toward treatment at follow-up. Future studies should explore this further with robust methodology.

Effectiveness of multimodal psychotherapeutic intervention for internet gaming disorder.

BACKGROUND: Large number of studies on Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have primarily focused on ascertaining its psychological correlates. Few studies have focused on developing and assessing effectiveness of multimodal psychotherapeutic intervention programs. This intervention focused on minimizing salience, pre-occupation, conflict related to gaming and enhancing the overall quality of life, inclusive of psychological health, physical health, and environmental problems in individuals with IGD. At present, there appear to be no such studies in the Indian context. METHODS: In this study, we developed and assessed the effectiveness of an intervention manual for IGD. The intervention program consisted of ten 60-minutes sessions with one therapist administering sessions once in each week. The interventions included motivational enhancement strategies, cognitive restructuring, behavioral strategies and relapse prevention. The outcomes from intervention were measured in terms of improvement in IGD, IAT, and overall quality of life. Our assessments, both at baseline and post-intervention consisted of Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGD-20) and the Whoqol-Bref. A total sample of 40 was selected out of which 33 individuals completed the 10 sessions of multimodal psychotherapy program and post assessments. RESULTS: A total of 40 participants (age: M = 20.25, SD = 5.39) enrolled, out of which 33 completed the entire intervention program of 10 sessions and showed significant improvements. The IAT and IGD-20 showed significant difference in the scores for before treatment (M = 52.88, SD = 16.25) and after treatment (M = 42.87, SD = 11.31; t (32) = 5.10, p = 0.000) conditions; and right before treatment (M = 56.88, SD = 19.25) and after treatment (M = 47.87, SD = 15.31; t (32) = 6.94, p = 0.000) conditions respectively. The internet addiction and internet gaming disorder scores showed a similar degree of severity reductions on the IAT and IGD-20 respectively at the end of week 8. In addition, the participants showed significant improvements in the quality of life inclusive of physical and psychological health post the completion of intervention program. LIMITATIONS: The sample size of the study was small and assessments for evaluation of other psychological symptoms like depression, anxiety could have been conducted. CONCLUSION: The intervention program indicated a substantial change in the IGD scores at post- assessment. A study on a larger sample to assess the validity of the manualized multimodal psychotherapy program for IGD needs to be conducted. In addition, this manualized intervention program can be useful for administering structured intervention for IGD by mental health professionals working in the area of internet gaming disorder.

Affective symptoms as a predictor of internet addiction among young adults.

Objectives: Mental health difficulties have been found to be associated with internet addiction, which makes it a multifaceted problem. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between internet addiction and affective states (depression, anxiety, and stress). Material and Methods: The study sample consisted of 731 individuals (403 males and 328 females) ranging in age from 18 to 25 years. We used an observational survey design to study participants with an internet addiction test and depression, anxiety, and stress scale. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation of the sample was 22.58 ± 2.80 years. Stress and depression were found to play a major role in internet addiction in the regression analysis. Conclusions: The study supports the association between internet use and stress and depression. The findings imply the need for early identification and intervention of affective states in the context of unhealthy internet use.

Influence of technology usage on family communication patterns and functioning: A systematic review.

The upsurge of technological advancement and the introduction of the internet has impacted face to face communication. BACKGROUND: The advances in this field have gained much interest in implying increased technology usage on various psychosocial factors, mainly mental health and changing communication patterns in the family system. METHODOLOGY: This paper provides a systematic review of the literature published between 1990-2020, examining the relationship between technology usage and its impact on family factors like communication and family relationships. RESULTS: A database search was conducted using certain keywords, and in total, 20 papers were selected according to inclusion criteria. The results are categorized into domains of 1) technology use of the family, 2) family communication 3) family bonding 4) rules for technology use 5) boundaries maintained by the family members related to technology use. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that technology usage in families is very high, and maximum daily communication happens through technology. Family leisure time, offline family bonding and communication is negatively affected due to technology use. A model was developed which has implications in the family psychiatry field and specifically in working with families having difficulties managing healthy use of technology.

Pathways of migration from gaming to gambling.

Gaming and gambling have been studied in terms of similarity of its manifestations. There is a dearth of empirical-based evidence for the exploration of pathways to understand the shift from gaming to gambling. A 23-year-old male from a nuclear family was assessed using clinical interview for the pathways for shifting from gaming to gambling. The pathways were personality predispositions, maladaptive coping, interpersonal distress, peer pressure, variable reward anticipation, addiction characteristics in the form of craving, loss of control and use despite having consequences. These findings suggest that there is a need to create awareness among young adults about these potential causes related to transition from gaming to gambling.