The Effect of Instructing Proper Internet Use through Group Discussion on Aggression in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder

Abstract

Objectives: Determining the effects of instructing proper Internet use through group discussion on aggression in adolescents with IAD.

Study Design: In this randomized control trail, 76 secondary high school female students with multistep cluster sampling were assigned to experimental (N=37) and control (N=39) groups. The control group didn’t receive any intervention but the experimental group received the instructional program through group discussion on the strategies for proper and optimal use of the internet for three sessions.

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Tehran/ Iran 3d district from February to august 2020.

Material and Methods: Data was collected using three questionnaires: the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, YIAT (Young Internet Addiction Test) and Buss and Perry's aggression (BPAQ) questionnaire. Descriptive (means, standard deviations and frequencies) and inferential statistics (independent t-test, chi-squared test, and repeated measure ANOVA) were used for data analysis via the SPSS v.22 software.

 Results: Within-subject tests of Sphericity (F (2,148) = 18.644, p <.001) and (F (2,148) = 19.798, p<.001), and between subject test (F (1,74) = 14.700, p =.000) showed the significant effect of intervention on the total aggression score (error level=%1).

Conclusion: Instructing proper Internet use through group discussion can decrease aggression in female adolescents. So employing this education in school by school health nurses and other parts of society that can hold group discussion are useful.