The Effect of Art-Based Nursing Intervention Helping to Develop Healthy Digital Habits on Digital Addiction, Cyberbullying and Self-Efficacy in Adolescents
- Conditions
- Digital AddictionCyberbullyingArt TherapySelf EfficacyAdolescence
- Registration Number
- NCT07123194
- Lead Sponsor
- Selcuk University
- Brief Summary
In today's world where digital technologies are integrated into every aspect of life, adolescents' unhealthy and uncontrolled use of digital media causes important psychosocial problems such as digital addiction and cyberbullying. This research aims to examine the effects of an art-based nursing intervention program in order to help adolescents born into the digital world gain healthy digital habits. The art-based nursing intervention program that helps gain healthy digital habits aims to increase adolescents' expressive expression skills, develop their skills in coping with challenging situations in the digital environment and strengthen their self-efficacy levels through creative art activities. The research is a randomized controlled trial designed as an experimental type, pre-test-post-test design. The research will be carried out in Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Secondary School in Karatay district of Konya province. The sample group was determined as a total of 64 adolescents, 32 intervention and 32 control. Adolescents will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The pre-test data of the intervention and control groups were collected before the program started; The post-test data will be collected face-to-face by the researcher after the program is completed using the Personal Information Form, Digital Addiction Scale for Children, Revised Cyberbullying Scale (YSZE-II) and Self-Efficacy Scale for Children. It is expected that the digital addiction and cyberbullying levels of adolescents who are applied the art-based nursing intervention program that helps them gain healthy digital habits will be lower than the control group, and their self-efficacy levels will be higher than the control group. It is anticipated that the findings to be obtained as a result of the research will enable the development of creative and holistic intervention approaches that will increase the functionality of school health nurses against the risks posed by the digital age on young people. It is also thought that it can provide an evidence-based basis for the usability of art-based interdisciplinary practices in the field.
- Detailed Description
The rapid development of twenty-first-century technology and the integration of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers into daily life are leading to radical changes in individuals' lifestyles (Schulz van Endert 2021), and this has brought to the fore the concept of digital addiction, which is considered a significant public health problem (Bağatarhan and Siyez 2023). Digital addiction is not yet included in an official psychiatric diagnostic category according to the DSM-V or DSM-IV TR. However, within the relevant literature, digital addiction is defined as the compulsive and uncontrolled use of technological devices and is therefore considered under the umbrella of behavioral addictions (Dinç 2020, Karabulut 2023). Furthermore, it has been noted that, just like behavioral addictions, digital addiction causes various psychosocial problems in the individual (Ding et al. 2024). In this context, nursing interventions aimed at reducing the risk of digital addiction and strengthening public mental health are considered to be of increasing importance. According to Ögel (2020), the new world order is making technology a necessity, not a choice, for individuals. It is also noted that familiarity with digital tools is a significant factor influencing digital addiction (Meng et al. 2022). In this regard, it is frequently stated in many studies on the subject that adolescents, born in an era when digital tools are widely used, who can use technological devices with natural competence and are referred to as "digital natives," are a vulnerable group for digital addiction (Arslan 2019, Çimke et al. 2023, Ime et al. 2024). For example, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's Children's Information Technology Use Survey (2024), 91.3% of children aged 6-15 actively use the internet, and 76.1% of this age group own a personal mobile phone. The same study also reports that the proportion of children who use at least one information technology product for their own use is 63.8% (TÜİK 2024). Other studies on the subject emphasize that digital addiction and its subtypes lead to many negative biopsychosocial consequences on adolescent health, such as vision loss, obesity, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, and poor communication skills (Aziz et al. 2021, Domoff et al. 2019, Meng et al. 2022, Mun and Lee 2022). Furthermore, existing literature highlights a significant relationship between digital addiction and cyberbullying (Topan et al. 2024). These data demonstrate that digital devices are an indispensable part of daily life among adolescents, and digital addiction should be considered a significant risk factor threatening adolescent mental health. Therefore, nursing approaches to combating digital addiction specific to adolescence are of great importance in terms of instilling healthy digital habits and creating a safe environment in the digital world. Approaches such as psychoeducation and cognitive behavioral therapy have been primarily preferred in combating digital addiction (Agbaria 2023, Cirban Ekrem et al. 2024, Ding and Li 2023, Karabulut 2023, Khoshgoftar et al. 2019). In fact, studies on the subject frequently use terms such as problematic internet use or internet or technology addiction instead of digital addiction (Otsuka et al. 2023, Uysal and Balci 2018, Yanık and Arslan 2023). However, these traditional approaches may be insufficient to achieve behavioral change in individuals. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the effectiveness of arts-based nursing interventions that incorporate more holistic, expressive, and creative processes for digital addiction, which is considered a multifaceted problem. At this point, art therapy offers the opportunity to reveal emotions, explore the inner world, and increase self-efficacy without the need for verbal expression (Çalık and Doğan 2023, Hylton et al. 2019, Lim et al. 2024, Mittal et al. 2022, Pires et al. 2021, Ramirez and Haen 2021). It is anticipated that art therapy can contribute to the development of healthy digital habits by reducing excessive use of digital technology in adolescents and can be an alternative area of interest for a more productive use of free time. A review of national and international literature reveals that art therapy or art-based approaches applied to adolescents: Although positive effects have been observed on psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, depression, internet, smartphone or game addiction (Blomdahl and Goulias 2025, Bong et al 2021, Gong et al 2022, Gorowska et al 2022, Zhang et al 2024), no studies have been found on how it can have a direct effect on digital addiction. Also, see Karabulut (2023). Digital addiction, like other types of addiction, cannot be resolved with a "zero use" approach; in this increasingly digital world, completely removing adolescents from technological devices is both impossible and detaches them from the demands of the age. Based on this, we believe that supporting adolescents' healthy use of digital devices should be the primary goal. In this context, this original research aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining the effects of an arts-based nursing intervention that helps develop healthy digital habits on digital addiction, cyberbullying, and self-efficacy in adolescents. Based on the findings of this study, it is anticipated that individual self-efficacy can be strengthened through arts-based approaches in combating digital addiction, a new generation of behavioral addictions. Furthermore, arts-based interventions are expected to provide a scientific basis for school health services, adolescent mental health programs, and nursing practices.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- NOT_YET_RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 64
- Being a 6th-grade middle school student,
- The student and their parent must provide written consent to participate in the study,
- Understanding and speaking Turkish at a level sufficient to complete the data forms and participate in the sessions.
- Having participated in a similar program within the last 6 months,
- Having a serious psychiatric diagnosis or physical disability that prevents participation in art activities.
- Not attending any two sessions,
- Requesting to leave the sessions,
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Digital Addiction Level Baseline (Week 0) and immediately after the 8-week intervention Digital addiction will be measured using the Digital Addiction Scale for Children, a 25-item self-report instrument developed by Hawi et al. (2019) and adapted into Turkish by Kaçmaz et al. (2023). It evaluates interpersonal relationships and internalized factors using a 5-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate a higher risk of digital addiction.
Cyberbullying and Victimization Levels Baseline (Week 0) and immediately after the 8-week intervention Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization will be assessed using the Revised Cyberbullying Inventory-II (RCBI-II), developed and revised by Topçu and Erdur-Baker (2010; 2018). The tool consists of 20 items across two parallel forms (perpetrator and victim), using a 4-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate higher levels of cyberbullying behaviors or victimization.
Self-Efficacy Level Baseline (Week 0) and immediately after the 8-week intervention Self-efficacy will be measured using the Self-Efficacy Scale for Children, a 21-item instrument developed by Muris (2001) and adapted into Turkish by Telef and Karaca (2012). It consists of three subscales: academic, social, and emotional self-efficacy. Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-efficacy.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method