Abstract
This pilot study aimed to explore the effect of solution-focused group counseling intervention on Internet addiction among college students. Eighteen college students participated in this study, out of which nine subjects were assigned into the experimental group and the rest (n = 9) to a control group. The experimental group received group counseling for five weeks, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The revised version of the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) was used to capture pre-test and post-test excessive use in the two groups. The experimental group was also subjected to a follow-up test and self-reported Internet addiction scores six months after the end of group counseling. Results showed that after the five-week solution-focused group counseling, the scores of four dimensions of the CIAS-R in the experimental group had CIAS-R decreased, and the reduction trend of the total score of CIAS-R was similar across all subjects in this group. The treatment effect was larger than the placebo reduction in the control group in two dimensions: compulsive and withdrawal (Sym-C & Sym-W) and tolerance (Sym-T) symptoms. Qualitative research confirmed the conclusions from the quantitative data, showing that the experimental group reduced its Internet addiction symptoms. Overall, the findings suggested that solution-focused group counseling had positive intervention effects on Internet addiction.
Highlights
The Internet can serve as a double-edged sword
Scores as well as in the dimensions of compulsive use, withdrawal (Sym-C & Sym-W) and tolerance (Sym-T) were significantly larger in the intervention compared to the control group
The satisfaction score of the experimental group for every-week group counseling was above 8.5 points, which showed that members valued the provided group counseling
Summary
The Internet can serve as a double-edged sword. Its use can be highly alluring, which may result in excess consumption, which manifests in behavioral addiction-like symptoms [1]. Since Goldberg [2] proposed the concept of “Internet Addiction Disorder”, many researchers have used similar concepts, such as Pathological Internet Use, Problematic Internet Use, Excessive Internet Use, and Internet Addiction [3]. These concepts are slightly different, they all have two common characteristics: (1). Addiction-like symptoms: compulsive use of Internet, withdrawal reactions, and tolerance, combined.
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