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. 2018 Apr 1;29(2):40-46.
doi: 10.5765/jkacap.2018.29.2.40.

A Preliminary Study on the Effectiveness of the Peer Relationship Enhancement Program in Adolescents at Risk for Internet and Smartphone Addiction

Tae-Ho Kim  1   2 , Young-Soon Jun  2 , Young-Tae Shin  3 , So-Hee Lim  3 , Joo-Won Seo  4
Affiliations

A Preliminary Study on the Effectiveness of the Peer Relationship Enhancement Program in Adolescents at Risk for Internet and Smartphone Addiction

Tae-Ho Kim et al. Soa Chongsonyon Chongsin Uihak. .

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the preliminary effects of the Peer Relationship Enhancement Program in adolescents deemed to be in an at-risk group for Internet and smartphone addiction.

Methods: The study group consisted of 33 adolescent participants (24 boys and 9 girls) at risk of Internet and smartphone addiction in small and medium-sized cities. The subjects participated in 8 consecutive sessions of the Peer Relationship Enhancement Program. The Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale, the Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, the Real-Ideal Self Discrepancy Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Peer Intimacy Scale, and the Escaping from the Self Scale were evaluated before the initial and after the final session. A paired t-test was performed to statistically analyze the data.

Results: The Peer Relationship Enhancement Program led to a significant decrease (p<0.05) in self-reported measures of The Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale, the Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, and the Real-Ideal Self Discrepancy Scale.

Conclusion: The Peer Relationship Enhancement Program reduces the risk of Internet and smartphone addiction and effectively prevents the associated problems.

Keywords: Adolescent; Internet addiction; Peer Relationship Enhancement Program; Smartphone addiction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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