Effectiveness of sports intervention: A meta-analysis of the effects of different interventions on adolescent internet addiction

Unraveling the core symptoms across distinct trajectories of problematic Internet use among 27,577 adolescents: Cross-lagged panel network analyses

Problematic Internet Use (PIU) often begins in adolescence and develops along diverse trajectories. Understanding the interaction between PIU symptoms and identifying the core PIU symptoms that drive distinct trajectories among adolescents are crucial. We employed cross-lagged panel network analyses to examine temporal relationships of PIU symptoms among Chinese adolescents across four developmental trajectories over two time points. A total of 27,577 adolescents (Mean age = 13.8, SD = 1.5) participated in this study. Demographic variables and PIU symptoms were collected from December 17 to 26, 2021 (T1) and from May 17 to June 5, 2022 (T2). The symptom "Reluctant to stop" in the resilient group and "Uncontrollable checking" in the alleviating group at T1 were most predictive of remission of other symptoms at T2, while "Empty life" in the deteriorating group and "Feeling of missing" in the persistent dysfunction group were most strongly associated with worsening of other PIU symptoms. Improving self-control is likely to promote healthy and beneficial Internet use among adolescents, while enhancing social connection and fostering exercise habits may help mitigate negative emotions and reduce the emergence of additional PIU symptoms among adolescents who have developed PIU.

A chain mediation model of physical exercise and BrainRot behavior among adolescents

This study aims to explore the impact of physical exercise on BrainRot behavior, as well as the mediating roles of Resilience and Ego depletion in the relationship between Physical exercise and BrainRot behavior. A total of 1091 adolescents from Sichuan and Hunan provinces completed self-report surveys on physical exercise, BrainRot behavior, resilience, and ego depletion. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation effect testing were conducted. After controlling for demographic variables, ego depletion was found to have an independent mediating effect between physical exercise and BrainRot behavior. Physical exercise was found to negatively predict ego depletion, which in turn significantly and positively predicted BrainRot behavior. The hypothesis that resilience played a mediating role between physical exercise and BrainRot behavior was not supported. Physical exercise significantly predicted resilience, but resilience did not significantly predict BrainRot behavior. Resilience and ego depletion exhibited a chained mediating effect between physical exercise and BrainRot behavior. Resilience could negatively predict ego depletion. Physical exercise could significantly predict BrainRot behavior. Moreover, during the analysis of the indirect effect, it was revealed that the negative predictive effect of physical exercise on BrainRot behavior remained significant. This study further investigates the multivariate mechanisms of influence between physical exercise and BrainRot behavior among adolescents.

The Emotional Reinforcement Mechanism of and Phased Intervention Strategies for Social Media Addiction

Social media addiction has become a global public health challenge, and understanding its mechanism's complexity requires the integration of the transitional characteristics of addiction development stages and breaking through the traditional single-reinforcement-path explanatory framework. This study is based on the dual pathway of positive and negative emotional reinforcement, integrating multidisciplinary evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and computational behavioral science to propose an independent and dynamic interaction mechanism of positive reinforcement (driven by social rewards) and negative reinforcement (driven by emotional avoidance) in social media addiction. Through a review, it was found that early addiction is mediated by the midbrain limbic dopamine system due to immediate pleasurable experiences (such as liking), while late addiction is maintained by negative emotional cycles due to the dysfunction of the prefrontal limbic circuit. The transition from early addiction to late addiction is characterized by independence and interactivity. Based on this, a phased intervention strategy is proposed, which uses reward competition strategies (such as cognitive behavioral therapy and alternative rewards) to weaken dopamine sensitization in the positive reinforcement stage, enhances self-control by blocking emotional escape (such as through mindfulness training and algorithm innovation) in the negative reinforcement stage, and uses cross-pathway joint intervention in the interaction stage. This study provides a theoretical integration framework for interdisciplinary research on social media addiction from a dynamic perspective for the first time. It is recommended that emotional reinforcement variables are included in addiction diagnosis, opening up new paths for precise intervention in different stages of social media addiction development.

The relationships between positive/negative metacognitions and Internet gaming disorder among Chinese adult gamers: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence

Previous research investigating Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in China involved mainly youth samples despite the large population of adult gamers. Drawing on the self-regulatory executive function model, this study aimed to demonstrate the psychometric robustness of negative and positive gaming-specific metacognitions assessed by the short-form Metacognitions about Online Gaming Scale (MOGS; Study 1). Then, Study 2 aimed to explore bidirectional associations between these two factors of the MOGS and IGD among a broad age spectrum of Chinese adult gamers. Through online surveys, we obtained data from Chinese community adults: Study 1 surveyed 409 past-month gamers (Mage = 42.45, SD = 11.66; 53.8 % female) and Study 2 surveyed 266 past-month gamers (Mage = 34.76, SD = 11.78; 65.8 % female). Results of Study 1 supported the robustness of the two-factor structure, demonstrated the short-form MOGS' satisfactory convergent validity and reliability, and displayed its scalar invariance between community adults and university students. Study 2 found bidirectional associations between negative metacognitions only and IGD, in which baseline negative metacognitions were associated with higher levels of individuals' follow-up vulnerability to developing IGD. In contrast, IGD had a prospective effect on negative metacognitions 6 months later. IGD also showed a significant prospective effect on positive metacognitions. These findings demonstrate that the short-form MOGS is a cost-effective tool for measuring gaming-specific metacognitions in Chinese adults, highlighting the prominent role of negative metacognitions in the vicious circle of maladaptive metacognitions and IGD, which has implications for IGD preventions.