Efficacy of Internet Use Disorder Prevention (PROTECT)

Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Mental Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: PROTECT intervention group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02907658

PHHD-PROTECT-101030906

Details and patient eligibility

About

Background. The reduction of prevalence rates of Internet Use Disorder (IUD) and its effective treatment are at high priority in both public health and educational policies. School-based preventive interventions facilitate a low-threshold approach for individuals with IUD, who are typically characterized by high therapy avoidance. Moreover, indicated approaches which target adolescents at high-risk show larger effects than universal prevention approaches. Simultaneously, they reduce unnecessary burden for the majority of high-school students that is not at-risk. The PROTECT intervention for indicated prevention of IUD in school settings was developed based on these preventive strategies.

Methods. Three-hundred and forty adolescents, aged 12-18 years, from 40 secondary schools in Germany, screened for high-risk of IUD onset, will be randomly assigned to a) PROTECT intervention group or b) assessment only control group. The tested intervention consists of a cognitive-behavioral 4-session brief-protocol. Follow-up assessments are at 1, 4 and 12 months after admission. Primary outcome is the 12-months incidence rate of IUD. Secondary outcomes are the reduction of IUD and comorbid symptoms and the promotion of problem solving, cognitive restructuring and emotion regulation skills.

Discussion. The indicated preventive intervention PROTECT follows the APA-guidelines for psychological prevention. It is theory- and evidence-based (guideline 1) and addresses both risk-reduction and strength-promotion (guideline 3), it considers current research and epidemiology (guideline 4) and ethical standards (guideline 5) such as professional secrecy and is designed as a systemic intervention (guideline 8) at the school-level. It is expected that the intervention decreases risk of IUD onset (incidence rate).

Enrollment: 480 patients

Sex

Ages: 12 to 18 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adolescents aged 12 to 18 years
• Written informed consent
• High-risk for IUD (Screening: CIUS >= 20)

Exclusion criteria

• Current IUD diagnosis or treatment
• Comorbid depression
• Comorbid anxiety disorder (social phobia or performance anxiety)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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480 participants in 2 patient groups

PROTECT intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

The PROTECT intervention group receives the preventive intervention PROTECT (4 modules in 4 subsequent weeks à 90 min). Participants are assessed at T1 (baseline), T2 (post treatment, 1-month follow-up), T3 (4-months follow-up), and T4 (12-months follow-up).

Treatment:

Behavioral: PROTECT intervention group

Assessment-only control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The assessment-only control group is an observational condition without intervention. Participants are assessed at T1 (baseline), T2 (1-month follow-up), T3 (4-months follow-up), and T4 (12-months follow-up).