Reducing Internet Gaming

The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders includes in
its research appendix a potential new diagnosis—Internet gaming disorder. This condition
primarily affects adolescent boys and young adult men, who rarely seek treatment on their
own. More often, parents express concerns about their child's game playing behaviors. This
psychotherapy development study will evaluate feasibility and effect sizes of an intervention
designed to help parents reduce their child's gaming problems; the intervention allows for
child participation, but it is geared toward parents, regardless of whether or not their
child is willing to participate. A total of 40 parents concerned about their child's gaming
behaviors will complete self and parental report inventories and structured diagnostic
interviews regarding gaming, substance use and psychosocial functioning. Children who elect
to participate will complete parallel versions of the instruments. Participants will be
randomized to a control condition consisting of referral for mental health issues and family
support services or to a 6-week behavioral intervention designed to assist with better
monitoring and regulating the child's game playing behaviors. Gaming and other problems will
be assessed pre-treatment, at the end of treatment and at a 4-month follow-up. This study
will be the first to evaluate the reliability and validity of a parental version of the fifth
revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders criteria for internet
gaming disorder in a clinical sample, and it will assess associations of internet gaming
disorder with substance use, mental health conditions, and family functioning as well. This
study will be the first randomized trial of an intervention designed to assist parents in
reducing their child's gaming problems, and results will help guide future development of
interventions for Internet gaming disorder. To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of
this intervention, the proportion of parents assigned to the intervention who complete 6
sessions will be examined, as will the proportion of youth who attend the sessions. Parent
and child ratings of satisfaction with the intervention will be assessed. To examine the
effect size of the intervention on reducing gaming, parental reports of proportion of days on
which their child played games and durations of game playing will be compared between
conditions, controlling for baseline indices.