Developing and evaluating internet addiction prevention psycho-education program based on cognitive-behavioral approach for high school students

The aim of this research is to develop psycho-education programs based on cognitive-behavioral approach for prevention of Internet addiction for high school students and their parents and to examine the effects of the programs. For this purpose, an 8-session psycho-education program for high school students and a 4-session psycho-education program for their parents were developed. In this study, the embedded design, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, was used to test the effectiveness of the program. In the quantitative dimension of the research, the effectiveness of the psycho-education programs was tested using 2x3 quasi-experimental design. In the qualitative dimension of the research, focus group interviews were conducted with high school students and parents in the experimental groups. In the study, Internet Addiction Scale, Young Internet Addiction Test, Online Cognition Scale, Communication Skills Scale, Personal Information Form, Session Evaluation Form and Group Interview Form for students; Parent- Child Internet Addiction Test, Problem Behavior Scale - Parent Form - Coping, Parent Personal Information Form, Session Evaluation Form and Group Interview Form for parents were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, repeated measures ANOVA, Multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA), and content analysis were used. The quantitative findings obtained from the study indicate that there was a significant decrease in the mean scores of the Experimental 1 and Experimental 2 group's Internet addiction and online cognition scale compared to the Control 1 and Control 2 groups and this decrease was maintained in the follow-up test; there was a significant increase in the communication skills compared to the Control 1 and Control 2 groups, but this increase was not maintained in the follow-up test. In addition, it was found that there was a significant decrease in the evaluations related to the children's Internet addiction levels of the parents of Experimental 1 and Experimental 2 groups compared to the parents of Control 1 and Control 2 groups and this decrease was maintained in follow-up test; there was a significant increase in the problem-solving skills of the parents of Experimental 1 group, attended parent psycho-education program, compared to the parents of Experimental 2, Control 1 and Control 2 groups and this increase was maintained in the follow-up test. The findings obtained from the qualitative dimension of the study indicated that the content of the psycho-education program based on the cognitive-behavioral approach to prevent Internet addiction is sufficient; participation of the program decreases the levels of internet usage and contributes to socialization; the activities and materials used in the program are useful and enjoyable, the duration of the program is sufficient; the group leader has effective group management skills. In addition, the parent psycho-education program contributes to the reduction of internet usage time, improvement of parent-adolescent relationships and recognition of mistakes; it shows that the duration of the program is sufficient, the group leader is equipped and has effective communication skills. As a result, it was determined that the psycho-education program based on the cognitive-behavioral approach to prevent Internet addiction is effective in reducing students' Internet addiction levels and online cognition scale scores, and the simultaneous implementation of this program with the parent psycho-education program increases the effectiveness of the program further. Keywords: Internet addiction, cognitive behavioral approach, psycho-education