An investigation of the effect of mindfulness-based psychoeducation program on university students' digital addiction, cognitive flexibility and mindfulness levels

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a mindfulness-based psychoeducation program on university students' digital addiction, cognitive flexibility, and mindfulness levels. An experimental design with pretests, post tests, follow-up tests, and experimental and control groups was used to test the program's effectiveness. A pilot study conducted for the initial evaluation of the program employed a pretest and posttest. In the 2x3 split-plot design, the first factor represents the treatment groups (one experimental, one control); the second factor represents the measurements related to the dependent variable (pretest, posttest, follow-up test). Because the pilot study demonstrated that the program produced the expected results on the variables, the actual implementation was initiated. The research model includes one independent and four dependent variables. The independent variable of the study is "Mindfulness-Focused Psychoeducation Program," and the dependent variables are digital addiction, mindfulness, and cognitive flexibility levels. To collect data within the scope of the study, the "Personal Information Form," "Digital Addiction Scale," "Cognitive Flexibility Scale," and "Conscious Awareness Scale" scales were used as data collection tools. The study group consisted of 311 students studying at Hakkari University who volunteered to participate in the study. Scales whose validity and reliability studies were conducted were applied to the study group, and 44 students were included in the study based on the average scores obtained from the scales. From among the students who wanted to participate in the program, they were randomly assigned to the experimental (22) and control groups (22). Sessions of the Mindfulness-Focused Psychoeducation Program were applied to the experimental group for 8 weeks, while the control group received no intervention. Follow-up measurements were taken approximately 2 months after the program application ended. SPSS 26.0 program was used in the statistical analyses of the study. In the data analysis, t-test was used to compare the initial scores of the experimental and control groups, and ANOVA was used for repeated measures. Additionally, the Bonferroni post-hoc test was used to compare the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test scores of the scales. The accepted margin for error for all analyses was set at 0.05. iv According to the results of the analyses, the digital addiction, cognitive flexibility, and mindfulness levels of the students in the experimental group were significantly different from those in the control group at the end of the program, and the difference remained in favor of the experimental group in the follow-up measurements taken 2 months later. The cognitive flexibility and mindfulness levels of the students in the experimental group at the end of the program were significantly higher than before, while their digital addiction levels were significantly lower than before. The follow-up measures showed that the program's effect on the dependent variables was like the post-test levels. These results demonstrate that the benefits of the program are not limited to the program duration but continue after the program ends. The results of this study demonstrate that the developed program has an effective effect on dependent variables.