Comparison of the Effectiveness of Narrative Therapy for Internet Addiction and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Social Anxiety and Rejection Sensitivity in Adolescent Girls with Symptoms of Internet Addiction
Keywords:
narrative therapy for internet addiction, cognitive-behavioral therapy, social anxiety, rejection sensitivity, adolescent girlsAbstract
Objective: Internet addiction can create various problems for adolescents. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of narrative therapy for internet addiction with cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety and rejection sensitivity in adolescent girls with symptoms of internet addiction.
Methods and Materials: This research employed a quasi-experimental design with three phases: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all female students with symptoms of internet addiction in Lenjan County, Isfahan City, during the winter of 2025. From this population, 60 students were purposefully selected and assigned to three groups (20 participants in each group). The Social Anxiety Scale (Connor et al., 2000) and the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey & Feldman, 1996) were used to measure the dependent variables across the three phases. The two treatment groups each received eight sessions of therapy, lasting 75 to 95 minutes per session, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests through SPSS version 26.
Findings: The results showed that, for social anxiety, there was a significant difference between the narrative therapy for internet addiction group and the cognitive-behavioral therapy for internet addiction group compared with the control group (p < .01). However, there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of the two therapies (p > .01). For the variable of rejection sensitivity, a significant difference was observed only between the cognitive-behavioral therapy for internet addiction group and the control group (p < .01). No significant difference was found between the effectiveness of the two treatments on rejection sensitivity (p > .05).
Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of both narrative therapy for internet addiction and cognitive-behavioral therapy in reducing social anxiety and rejection sensitivity, it is recommended that these two therapies be used in psychotherapy and counseling centers for adolescent girls with symptoms of internet addiction.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sholeh Amani (Author); Mohsen Golparvar (Corresponding Author); Zahra Yousefi (Author)
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