ERIC Number: EJ1373832
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-8855
EISSN: EISSN-1938-3703
Available Date: N/A
Reducing Problematic Social Media Use via a Package Intervention
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, v56 n2 p323-335 Spr 2023
Problematic social media use can be characterized as that which interferes with relationships, work, school, or sleep. Currently, there are no empirically supported treatments for reducing problematic social media use. We tested a package intervention to reduce the daily duration of social media use measured by a smartphone application with nine undergraduate students who scored as "addicted" to social media via a version of the Internet Addiction Test. The package intervention included contingency management, automated notifications of application use, and the selection of alternative activities. The package intervention was effective at reducing the daily duration of social media use to goal levels, or below, for all participants. Eight out of nine participants showed a decrease in their Internet Addiction Test scores from pre- to postintervention, and overall, participants did not show an increase in the time spent engaged in their selected alternative activities. These findings demonstrate that social media use is amenable to behavioral treatment.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Social Media, Handheld Devices, Intervention, Addictive Behavior, Internet, Behavior Change
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A