Gaming-based program for internet gaming disorder: feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a structured camp program

Although controlled trials support several psychosocial interventions for adolescent internet gaming disorder (IGD), short, highly structured residential camp formats remain underreported, particularly regarding feasibility, safety, and process data from routine service settings.

To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and short-term entry-to-exit signals of a structured gaming-based camp program using retrospective, de-identified routinely collected service data, with a focus on implementation evidence for a brief, highly structured residential format.

We conducted a single-group entry-to-exit evaluation of a 7-day structured camp in 12 adolescents aged 11-16 years clinically diagnosed with IGD by psychiatrists using DSM-5 criteria. Entry and exit assessments were organized hierarchically, with the Gaming Disorder Screening Scale (GDSS), the Game Addiction Scale-7 (GAS-7), and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) craving score as primary outcomes; the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), and Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C) as supportive secondary outcomes; and camp residential counselor-rated Conners scores and the Stroop task as exploratory external-rating and objective complementary indicators, respectively. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests reported effect size r and Hodges-Lehmann (HL) median difference with 95% CI. Exploratory Spearman correlations examined baseline characteristics and change.

Completion was 100% (12/12) and attendance 98.6% (142/144), with no serious adverse events; two participants had a brief single-session interruption (coded as non-attendance for that session-person) but completed subsequent sessions and exit assessment. Primary outcomes decreased at exit: GDSS 50.00 (SD 8.32) to 28.67 (SD 8.98), p<0.001, r=0.88, HL -20.5 (95% CI -27.0 to -16.5); GAS-7 21.50 (SD 6.57) to 13.33 (SD 4.44), p=0.003, r=0.89, HL -8.5 (95% CI -12.5 to -6.0); VAS 4.25 (SD 2.63) to 2.75 (SD 2.05), p=0.012, r=0.85, HL -2.0 (95% CI -3.0 to -1.0). High-risk GDSS decreased from 66.7% to 0%, GAS-7 positivity from 58.3% to 8.3%, and moderate-to-severe craving from 58.3% to 25.0%. BIS-11, SDS, and IRI-C showed supportive short-term changes, and counselor-rated Conners scores showed exploratory external-rating changes, whereas SAS and SADS did not. Stroop reaction time decreased and accuracy increased in both conditions, while interference effects did not change significantly. Baseline PSQI correlated with change in VAS craving (ρ=0.767, p=0.004).

This pilot program evaluation suggests that a short, highly structured gaming-based residential camp can be delivered feasibly and safely and may be associated with short-term reductions in IGD symptom severity and craving. Its main value is to provide early implementation and short-term signal data for a service-based camp format that should be tested in subsequent controlled studies with follow-up.