Investigating the Effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy on Internet Addiction and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Among Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of group metacognitive therapy on internet addiction and cognitive-emotional regulation among adolescents. Methods: We used a quasi-experimental design that included pre-test s, post-tests, and follow-ups. In the 2020-2021 academic year, all the male adolescents in Qazvin City, Iran were included in this study. A total of 30 adolescents were randomly selected and assigned to intervention or control groups based on the convenience sampling method (n=15). We provided ten 90-min group metacognitive therapy sessions to the intervention group, while the control group received no intervention. The internet addiction questionnaire along with the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire was used to collect the data. We conducted the multivariate analysis of covariance, repeated measures, and Fisher least significant difference post hoc test via the SPSS software, version 26. Results: The results of this study demonstrated that group metacognitive therapy significantly affected adolescents’ internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation (P<0.05). In addition, the analysis revealed that internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation among adolescents were significantly different between intervention and control groups. The treatment remained unchanged at the follow-up stage (P<0.05). Conclusion: It is recommended that school and family counselors be trained and given executive duties in group metacognitive therapy, which influences Iranian adolescents. These methods may assist overactive adolescents and their families in achieving their learning goals through empowerment, analysis, and interpretation workshops and meetings.