Psychological changes of an adolescent clinical simple with Internet Gaming Disorder

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has become the subject of study all around the world in
order to provide specialist mental health services for affected persons. Nevertheless, there
is a definite shortage of studies on the effectiveness of psychological treatments for IGD.
The main objective of this paper is to assess the psychological changes that take place during
the intervention process on the “Individualised Psycho-therapy Program for Addiction to
Information and Communication Technologies” (IPPAICT) in adolescents with IGD. Method:
The sample consisted of 31 adolescents (aged 12 to 18) from two public mental health centres,
assigned to (i) experimental IPPAICT group, or (ii) Standard Behavioural Cognitive Therapy
(SBCT). Interventional was assessed in the pre, during and post treatment stages. Results:
There were no significant differences between either of the groups in the pre-treatment stage.
In regard to the different types of intervention, significant differences were observed in tests
before and after in relation to the following variables: comorbid disorders, interpersonal skills
and therapy measures. Both groups reported a significant reduction in the symptoms related
to IGD, although the IPPAICT group reported more relevant significant improvements in
IGD and the rest of the variables. Discussion and conclusions: The results suggest that the
IPPAICT programme brought about more significant changes in IGD treatment and comorbid
symptoms and social skills than SBCT. On the other hand, attention is also brought to the fact
that standard SBCT also reported improvements in the participants in regard to the use of
videogames and IGD symptoms. Consequently, an integrating approach focussing on IGD and
comorbid symptoms, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills and family psychotherapy appear
to be more effective in bringing about psychological changes than an approach that exclusively
focusses on treating the addiction disorder.