The efficacy of a training program for social skills in reducing addictive Internet behaviors among Palestinian university students

Saida Affouneh,Marouf Shayeb,Denise Ziya Berte,Fayez Azez Mahamid,Ali Z Shaqour

doi:10.1186/s41155-021-00185-w

Saida Affouneh, Marouf Shayeb + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-021-00185-w

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Abstract

BackgroundFor youth in geopolitically at-risk environments, such as Palestine, the issues related to Internet overuse and addictions are complex. Youth residing in the occupied territories of Palestine as in other highly militarized zones have high levels of environmental stressors (e.g., militarization, poverty, lack of employment opportunities, cultural pressures, etc.) and few chemical or social outlets such as alcohol, intoxicants, and leisure activities. As such, the easily accessible and unrestricted opportunities for stress-reducing social contact of social media can lead easily to excessive and maladaptive Internet use. Therefore, interventions directly aimed at awareness and education on how to manage Internet use are critical for addressing these issues in high risk populations.AimsThe purpose of the current study was to test the efficacy of a time-limited group training program aimed at improving social skills and reducing addictive Internet behaviors among university students.Methods and resultsThe sample consisted of 30 university students who self-reported high scores on an Internet addiction scale. Participants were randomly assigned to either wait list or treatment group (15 in each condition). Results demonstrated that using a social skills training program over an 8-week period improved the level of social skills and reduced addictive Internet behaviors significantly in those who experienced the intervention when compared with a wait list control group.ConclusionsThese findings support the implementation of time limited training programs targeting social skills and addictive patterns of Internet use with university students identified with high levels of Internet addictive behaviors.

Highlights

The use of social media has grown exponentially in the past decade to the extent of engaging close to one third of the world’s population as of January 2017 (Hawi and Samaha 2017)
Results demonstrated that using a social skills training program over an 8-week period improved the level of social skills and reduced addictive Internet behaviors significantly in those who experienced the intervention when compared with a wait list control group
These findings support the implementation of time limited training programs targeting social skills and addictive patterns of Internet use with university students identified with high levels of Internet addictive behaviors

Summary

Introduction

The use of social media has grown exponentially in the past decade to the extent of engaging close to one third of the world’s population as of January 2017 (Hawi and Samaha 2017). This phenomenon is facilitated by numerous active social media sites. Individuals, especially youth, who have not yet fully developed the skills to manage situational stressors, may both loose critical exposure to non-virtual social and academic experiences while spending extensive use time and may have longer-term effects of over-use of the Internet due to having limited welltrained alternative problem-solving responses to environmental stressors later in life. Interventions directly aimed at awareness and education on how to manage Internet use are critical for addressing these issues in high risk populations

Methods

Results

Conclusion