Tackling the 'digital pandemic': The effectiveness of psychological intervention strategies in problematic Internet...

Problematic Internet and smartphone use is associated with serious mental health problems. We thus investigated the effectiveness of psychological interventions on problematic Internet and smartphone use.

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis and searched in PubMed, PsyArticles, PsycInfo, Medline and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental research published between 2008 and 2021.

A total of 10 studies accompanied by 14 effect sizes were included in the meta-analyses for problematic Internet use and 3 studies accompanied by 4 effect sizes for problematic smartphone use. The total sample size was n = 1439 with a mean age of 20.34 (SD = 6.63) years. Psychological interventions were effective for both problematic Internet use (g = -1.41, 95% confidence interval = [-1.90, -0.91], p < 0.001) and problematic smartphone use (g = -0.40, 95% confidence interval = [-0.79, -0.01], p < 0.001).

Current evidence indicates that psychological interventions can be effective in reducing problematic Internet use/problematic smartphone use. However, the results must be considered preliminary due to the limited number of studies available in the respective fields.