Effectiveness of an intervention program to develop and enhance protective skills against game addiction among 4 ^th through 6 ^th grade students

Abstract

© 2018, Medical Association of Thailand. All rights reserved. Background: A significant percentage of children in Thailand are addicted to computer-based (online or offline) games. Protective factors in children and adolescents may help guard against or minimize the development of game addition. Objective: To study the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed at developing and enhancing protective skills against game addiction among 4 th through 6 th grade students in Bangkok, Thailand. Materials and Methods: The present study used a quasi-experimental research design, and a total of 12 students were included. The program consisted of 12 one-hour sessions that were designed to enhance student self-esteem, social skills, and self-discipline. Game Addiction Protection Scale (Game-P) (child version) was measured before and immediately after the program. Data between groups were compared using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test. Results: The results revealed that student participants had a higher level of protection against game addiction after completing the 12-hour intervention program, as demonstrated by a significant increase in Game-P scores-especially in the child- and family-related subscales. Conclusion: The intervention program aimed to enhance protective skills against game addiction among 4 th through 6 th grade students demonstrated significant effectiveness. Further study with a larger sample size and a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design is warranted. Moreover, there should be a longitudinal study to measure the long term effect of the intervention program.