Effects of Temporary Abstinence and Expressive Writing on Gaming

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Problematic Video Gaming

• Registration Number: NCT07068035
• Lead Sponsor: National University of Singapore

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate if an intervention combining temporary abstinence and expressive writing can mitigate gaming problems in young adult regular gamers. The main questions it aims to answer are:

- Does intervention combining temporary abstinence and expressive writing reduces problematic gaming and gaming time?

Researchers will compare the treatment group to a control group (gaming as per usual and control writing) to examine if the intervention works to mitigate gaming problems.

Participants will:

* Temporarily abstain from video games for a period of 7 days and engage in 4 expressive writing exercises during this intervention period

* Answer three surveys: a baseline survey before the start of the intervention, a post survey after the 7-day intervention, and a follow-up survey 1 month after the post survey.

Detailed Description

This clinical trial investigates the effectiveness of a self-administered intervention combining temporary abstinence and expressive writing in addressing problematic gaming behaviours among young adult gamers in Singapore. It aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing problematic gaming behaviours and improving emotional and health-related outcomes (e.g., psychological distress, physical health status) among young adult gamers by comparing the outcomes among two groups: temporary abstinence with expressive writing group and control group

Participants have to attend an online briefing, complete a baseline survey, take part in a 7-day intervention, complete a post-intervention survey one day later and a 1-month follow-up survey.

1. Online briefing: Participants attended an online briefing session where a member of the research team briefed them on the procedures, emphasised the importance of adhering to the intervention protocol, and addressed any questions that they might have.

2. Baseline survey: Participants were asked to report on their sociodemographics and internet and gaming-related habits, as well as psychosocial characteristics. The baseline survey had to be completed on the same day as the online briefing.

3. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups and to take part in the intervention that lasted for 7 consecutive days. In the treatment group, participants were instructed to abstain from gaming for a period of 7 days and to engage in expressive writing exercises for 15 minutes every other day for a total of 4 sessions on Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, and Day 7 of the intervention. Participants typed their writings online using the Qualtrics platform. In the control group, participants were instructed to continue with their usual gaming routine and engaged in control writing exercises for the same number of sessions and duration across the same days.

4. Post-intervention survey: Participants were asked to complete a subset of the baseline survey and a few questions about the intervention (e.g., manipulation checks, compliance).

5. 1-month follow-up survey: Participants were asked to complete a similar set of questionnaires as the baseline survey 1 month after the completion of the post-intervention survey.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-08-02
• Primary Completion: 2024-11-11
• Study Completion: 2024-11-11
• Status Verified: 2025-07
• Study First Submitted: 2025-07-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-07-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-07-07
• Study First Posted: 2025-07-16
• Last Update Posted: 2025-07-16

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 321

Inclusion Criteria

• Singapore citizens/Permanent Residents
• Between 18 and 35 years old
• Play video games regularly (on average at least 7 hours per week)
• Able to read and write English
• Non-professional gamers
• Experience some problems with gaming, use gaming for emotional comfort
• Willing to temporarily take a break from gaming for 7 days

Exclusion Criteria

• Non-Singapore citizens/Permanent Residents
• Below 18 or above 35 years old
• Do not play video games regularly (less than 7 hours per week)
• Unable to read or write English
• Professional gamers
• Experience no problems with gaming, does not use gaming for emotional comfort
• Unwilling to temporarily take a break from gaming for 7 days

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
maladaptive gaming cognitions	Baseline, 1 day after intervention completion, and 1 month after intervention completion	Based on the Internet Gaming Cognition Scale. Higher scores indicated greater maladaptive gaming cognitions
gaming hours	Baseline and 1 month after intervention completion	Participants self-reported the average number of hours spent playing video games per day in a typical week over the past 30 days. This measure quantifies the total time engaged in gaming activity, with higher hours indicating greater gaming engagement.
problematic gaming	Baseline and 1 month after intervention completion	Based on the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Form. Higher scores indicated greater problematic gaming
emotion dysregulation	Baseline, 1 day after intervention completion, and 1 month after intervention completion	Based on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18). Higher scores indicated greater emotion dysregulation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
physical health	Baseline, 1 day after intervention completion, and 1 month after intervention completion	A single self-report item where participants rated their physical health status at present on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 6 (excellent)
exercise frequency	Baseline, 1 day after intervention completion, and 1 month after intervention completion	A self-report item where participants reported number of days they engaged in moderate or vigorous physical activity that lasted for more than 10 minutes at a time in a typical week. This item was scored from 1 (never to 1 day per week) to 4 (every day)
psychological distress	Baseline, 1 day after intervention completion, and 1 month after intervention completion	Based on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Higher score indicated greater psychological distress
sleep quality	Baseline and 1 month after intervention completion	Based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Higher scores indicated poorer sleep quality

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore