Effects of a Life Skills Enhancement Program on the Life Skills and Risk Behaviors of Social Media Addiction in Early Adolescence

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to develop and investigate the effects of a life skills enhancement program on the life skills and risk behaviors of social media addiction in early adolescence. METHODS: This research used a quasi-experimental design for a controlled study with a pre-test and post-test that collected data through a general information questionnaire, Social Media Addiction Screening Scale: S-MASS, and a life skills test. There were 48 samples recruited by purposive sampling from 5 schools in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The life skills enhancement program was developed under the theory of cognitive and behavioral therapy in combination with group therapy or occupational therapy. The program had a total of 10 sessions, with 1 session per week for 60 minutes and 10 weeks in total. RESULTS: For the results, a statistically significant difference in post-test SMASS scores between the control and experimental group was found (p<0.01). Moreover, a statistically significant difference in the experimental group between pre-test and post-test using S-MASS scores decreased significantly after participating in the program but not in the control group. This result is similar to the comparative data of life skills scores that revealed there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test only in the experimental group. For the comparative data between the control and experimental group, however, there were no statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test life skills scores between the two groups. CONCLUSION: From the results, it can be summarized that the life skills enhancement program had affected an increase in life skills and a decrease in risky social media usage among adolescents.