Dynamics and optimal control of an online game addiction model with considering family education

Abstract

<abstract><p>The problem of online game addiction among teenagers is becoming more and more serious in many parts of the world. Many of them are addicted to online games due to the lack of family education, which is an important factor that can not be ignored. To explore the optimal strategy for controlling the spread of game addiction, a new dynamic model of teenagers' online game addiction with considering family education is developed. Firstly, we perform a qualitative dynamic analysis of the model. We study the nonnegativity and boundedness of solutions, the basic reproduction number $ R_{0} $, and the existence and stability of equilibria. We then consider a model with control measures of family education, isolation and treatment, and obtain the expression of optimal control. In the numerical simulation, we study the global sensitivity analysis by the combination of Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) and partial rank correlation coefficient (PRCC) techniques, and show the relationship between $ R_{0} $ and each parameter. Then the forward backward sweep method with fourth order Runge-Kutta is used to simulate the control strategy in each scenario. Finally, the optimal control strategy is obtained by comparing incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and infection averted ratio (IAR) under all strategies. The results show that with sufficient financial resources, adding the family education measures can help more teenagers avoid being addicted to games and control the spread of game addiction more effectively.</p></abstract>