
Problematic internet use in adolescents and implementation of a social media hygiene protocol.
This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate whether a social media hygiene education intervention designed for adolescents with problematic internet use (PIU) receiving treatment at a pediatric outpatient mental health clinic reduced PIU and/or improved mental health outcomes in adolescents.Participants were 28 adolescents (71.4% females, mean age = 14.2 years) with PIU seeking outpatient mental health treatment. The most common associated diagnoses were anxiety (42.9%) and attention-deficit activity disorder (28.6%). A within-adolescent pre-post design was used to evaluate changes in PIU severity measured by the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 (GPIUS-2), depression and anxiety severity was assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS), and screen time defined as the average hours/day during past 7-days recorded of the adolescent's smartphone. The practice change was an ad hoc social media hygiene education intervention conducted by their provider over five, once-a-week, one-hour telehealth sessions.A significant reduction in screen time (paired t = 10.14, df = 27, p < 0.001), severity of PIU (paired t = 12.07, df = 27, p < 0.001), and severity of depression and/or anxiety symptoms (paired t = 8.3, df = 27, p < 0.001) was demonstrated. Large effect sizes were observed (Cohen d = 1.6 to 2.3). Attendance for each session was 100% for Weeks 1, 2 and 5, 93% for Week 3 and 89% for Week 4.The findings suggest administration of a social-media hygiene protocol conducted via telehealth may reduce the severity of PIU and improve mental health outcomes in adolescents seeking outpatient mental health treatment.
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- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Social Media
- Nursing
- Male
- Internet Use
- Internet
- Hygiene
- Humans
- Female
- Cross-Sectional Studies
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Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Social Media
- Nursing
- Male
- Internet Use
- Internet
- Hygiene
- Humans
- Female
- Cross-Sectional Studies