Effectiveness of Quality of Life Based on Glasser's Reality Therapy on Internet and Computer Game Addiction According to Adolescents' Lived Experiences

Abstract

Objective: Nowadays, internet addiction has become a social problem that can disrupt an individual's health and productive presence in society. Everyone spends a significant amount of time on various programs and using the internet daily, but some people excessively engage in these activities to the extent that their mental health, behavior, and social life are adversely affected. Therefore, it is essential to intervene and prevent internet addiction. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of quality of life intervention based on reality therapy according to adolescents' lived experiences on internet and computer game addiction.

Methods and Materials: The first part of the research employed a qualitative phenomenological approach. The statistical population consisted of all adolescents with internet addiction under counseling in counseling centers in Isfahan. Fifteen adolescents were purposefully selected and interviewed until saturation. After analyzing the interviews using Colaizzi's method and MAXQDA software, nine main concepts (lifestyle, identity formation, self-efficacy, psycho-physical factors, family structure, parent-adolescent relationship, family demographic characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and society) and 33 sub-concepts were categorized. Consequently, the quality of life intervention based on reality therapy was developed based on the extracted themes. The second part of the research was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test, post-test control group, and follow-up period. The statistical population included all adolescents with internet addiction under counseling in counseling centers in Isfahan. Thirty adolescents were purposefully selected based on the inclusion criteria (scoring above 50 on the Internet Addiction Questionnaire) and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the quality of life intervention based on reality therapy over two months in ten 120-minute sessions. The questionnaires used included the Internet Addiction Questionnaire by Kimberly Young (1998) and the Computer Game Addiction Questionnaire by Soltani and Farhadi (2016). The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with SPSS23 software.

Findings: The results indicated that the quality of life intervention based on reality therapy according to adolescents' lived experiences had a significant effect on internet and computer game addiction (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the quality of life intervention based on reality therapy according to adolescents' lived experiences, utilizing the principles and techniques of changing conditions and enhancing quality of life based on Glasser's reality therapy theory, can be an effective intervention for improving internet and computer game addiction.