Abstract
To test whether future imagination can reduce the delay discounting rate of the Internet addicts, we recruited 40 Internet addicts (treatment sample) and 39 non-problematic users (control sample). We used a 2 (participant type: individuals with Internet addiction vs. non-problematic users) × 2 (training type: future event imagination training vs. control condition) × 2 (training session: first session vs. final session) mixed-subjects design to test our hypothesis. The participant type and training type were between the subjects and the training session was within the subject. Half of each sample (the Internet addicts and non-problematic users) was randomly assigned to complete five sessions of future imagination training and the other half was assigned to describe some daily events they had observed. We used the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and delay discounting task to assess our outcome variable, such as addiction, impulsivity, and delay discounting rate. The results showed that the future imagination training significantly reduced the delay discounting rate (also for impulsivity and addiction) for both the Internet addicts and non-problematic users than the control condition. Besides, the negative effect of future imagination training on the delay discounting rates (for impulsivity and addiction) remained consistent across the five training sessions. These findings suggest that the future imagination training can be a useful approach to reduce the impulsivity among those who are addicted to the Internet.
Highlights
One increasingly prominent issue we are facing in the current technological era is Internet addiction (Lai et al, 2013; Wang et al, 2013; Cheng and Li, 2014; Kuss and Lopezfernandez, 2016)
The results of our study confirmed that the future imagination training can decrease the delay discounting rates and is an effective intervention for Internet addiction
The results showed that the delay discounting rates of participants with the Internet addiction and non-problematic users were significantly lower in the future imagination training condition than those in the control condition
Summary
One increasingly prominent issue we are facing in the current technological era is Internet addiction (Lai et al, 2013; Wang et al, 2013; Cheng and Li, 2014; Kuss and Lopezfernandez, 2016). We believe that all kinds of Internet addiction are a kind of impulsive behavior disorder. The behavior of staying online despite the long-term negative consequences among the Internet addicts is a representation of delay discounting. Delay discounting means that compared with current or recent benefits, people tend to give future benefits less weight, and choose current or recent benefits (Green and Myerson, 2004). Delay discounting occurs when less weight is given to the future rewards or benefits in comparison with the current benefits (Loewenstein, 1988; Frederick et al, 2002). When faced with the choice between a smaller, more immediate reward and a bigger but delayed one, people tend to choose the former rather than the latter
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