Evaluation of a Therapeutic Education Application in the Treatment of Young People with Moderate or Problematic Screen Use

Plain-language summary

This single-center, controlled, and randomized study evaluates the effectiveness of the Phonix Care app in regulating screen use among young people aged 11 to 25. Faced with high and often concerning levels of screen consumption among youth, this research aims to provide an innovative intervention method beyond current psychotherapeutic and pharmacological approaches, which are often limited by the risk of relapse and the difficulty in delaying the short-term rewards offered by screen activities \[1, 2, 3\]. Phonix Care is designed to encourage awareness and self-regulation of screen use, thus promoting more responsible and autonomous behavior. The primary outcome measure is based on a problematic screen use score derived from the Digital Addiction Scale. Secondary objectives include examining the effects of the app on screen consumption, physical health, mental health, and motivation towards studies, measured through a series of questionnaires and objective evaluations. The study is conducted on 138 subjects, divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group, over a participation period of six months. Statistical analyses will include descriptive analyses, multiple linear regression, and mediation models to assess the impact of Phonix Care. The expected outcomes of this research include significant contributions to the scientific literature regarding screen use among youth, as well as advances in adolescent and young adult health and psychology. In practice, the evaluation of Phonix Care could lead to the development of an effective medical device to quantify and treat problematic screen use, offering a complementary therapy to existing methods to prevent or remedy this issue. 1. Winkler A, Dörsing B, Rief W, Shen Y, Glombiewski JA. Treatment of Internet addiction: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review. 2013;33(2):317-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.12.005 2. Xu LX, Wu LL, Geng XM, Wang ZL, Guo XY, Song KR, Liu GQ, Deng LY, Zhang JT, Potenza MN. A review of psychological interventions for Internet addiction. Psychiatry Research. 2021;302: 114016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114016 3. Zajac K, Ginley MK, Chang R, Petry NM. Treatments for Internet gaming disorder and Internet addiction: A systematic review. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 2017;31(8):979-94. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000315

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