Mindfulness-based cognitive program as a potential intervention for managing smartphone addiction and resilience in...

Smartphone Addiction (SA) is a rising global behavioral issue among adolescents. Extant studies rarely explore interventions to lower the risk of SA and increase resilience for adolescents.

To investigate the feasibility of the study protocol designed with a cluster-RCT and examine the preliminary effect of the first 4-week group mindfulness-based cognitive program (MBCP) on Smartphone Addiction risk and resilience in young adolescents.

A quasi-experimental approach was used. Two primary schools were randomly allocated into two study groups. 23 and 28 aged 10-11 adolescents were recruited for waitlist control and intervention groups, respectively. Intervention group received the first 4 weeks of the MBCP. The risk of Smartphone Addiction was measured by Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version. Smartphone behavior was evaluated by daily time spent on smartphone and frequency of using smartphone functions. Resilience was evaluated by Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Data was collected before intervention (T0) and after the fourth session (week 4,T1).

Attrition rate, participation rate, and compliance with daily home practice were 10.7%, 80%, and 64%, respectively. There were no significant differences in outcome variables between groups. In within-group comparison, the posttest resilience score was significantly greater than that of the pretest in intervention group (Z = -2.37, p = 0.02), with a moderate effect size (d) of 0.52. No significant within-group differences were found for all smartphone behavioral outcomes (p > 0.05). However, the within-group effect size (d) of total smartphone addiction score in the intervention(I) group was larger than that of the control(C) (d _I =-0.13; d _C = 0.06). It gives clue to the potential influence of mindfulness practice on adolescents' smartphone behavior.

The preliminary findings suggest that MBCP may be a potential intervention to manage smartphone addiction problems in young adolescents in Hong Kong's school context. Further refinement of intervention protocol to boost parents' participation and compliance with daily practice is needed to ensure practice adherence.