An Epidemiological Study and the Effect of Motivational Enhancement Therapy ‎Among Medical Students Having Internet Addiction

  • Authors

    • Kirti Anurag Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    • Lagnajit Dash Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    • Hiranmaya Mahapatra Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    • Rupesh Senapati Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    • Nirlipta Dash Department of Psychiatry, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
    • Dattatreya Kar Department of Medical Research, IMS & SUM Hospital, Siksha O Anusandhan(Deemed to be) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    https://doi.org/10.14419/had9yk13

    Received date: April 17, 2025

    Accepted date: July 4, 2025

    Published date: July 7, 2025

  • Internet addiction; Motivational Enhancement Therapy; IAT; SAS; GHQ-28

  • Abstract

    Internet addiction has been defined as a severe preoccupation, urges, or behaviours to use the internet, causing distress. Psychiatric comorbidities ‎associated are impulse control disorders, anxiety, depression, and overconsumption of pornographic materials. Some psychosocial ‎interventions have been applied, but no uniform guideline has been formulated to date. Motivational enhancement therapy has proved to be ‎an extremely efficient technique in curbing internet addiction. The study was a cross-sectional study subjects were selected through purposive sampling. Internet addiction test, Smartphone addiction scale, and general health questionnaires were used to screen the students. Pre-assessment was done to find out the associated psychopathology with internet addiction, and suspected cases of moderate to severe internet ‎addiction group were taken for further intervention using MET, followed by post-assessment. Among subjects who used internet for >2years ‎‎15.6% had high risk of smart phone addiction, 30.8% had smart phone addiction, 12.4% had moderate internet addiction and 3.6% had ‎severe internet addiction which was far more higher than subjects using internet for lesser duration It was evident that the scores of partici-‎pants on the scales of IAT, SAS and GHQ28 before and after MET had significantly reduced. This tells us that MET has a significant effect ‎in reducing moderate to severe internet addiction, leading to a decrease in distress. Smartphone addiction goes hand in hand with internet ‎addiction, so they both should be addressed together. MET is an effective modality of therapy for internet addiction, but more detailed studies ‎are needed to understand the intricacies of it‎.

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    Anurag , K. ., Dash, L., Mahapatra , H. ., Senapati , R. ., Dash , N. ., & Kar, D. (2025). An Epidemiological Study and the Effect of Motivational Enhancement Therapy ‎Among Medical Students Having Internet Addiction. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 14(2), 651-657. https://doi.org/10.14419/had9yk13