Cross-Cultural Efficacy of the Acceptance and Cognitive Restructuring Intervention Program (ACRIP) on the Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms of Selected Asian Adolescents

Empirical evidence shows that Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) with poor psychological well-being increases. IGD has become an emerging issue of significant public health concern and the World Health Organization has recently recognized it as a mental health condition. This study examined the efficacy of the Acceptance and Cognitive Restructuring Intervention Program (ACRIP) in reducing the symptoms of IGD and improving the psychological well-being of adolescent gamers from select Asian cultures after proving it effective in a prior study in the Indian setting. The development of the ACRIP employed a sequential exploratory research design and randomized controlled trial on thirty participants. Internet Gaming Disorder (IGDS9-SF) and Ryff’s Psychological well-being (PWB) scales were used to measure the severity of the gaming disorder and the state of psychological health of the experimental and control groups. Power analysis ascertained the study with a power of 0.90, indicating a strong probability of obtaining a statistically significant effect. Statistical analyses using paired t-test and MANOVA on post-test mean scores on IGD and PWB of the experimental group showed a significant difference which suggested that the ACRIP is efficacious and culture-free.