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

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.