Effectiveness of Stress-Based Mindfulness Therapy on the Students' Feelings of Loneliness and Internet Addiction

One of the most modern addictive behaviors is the phenomenon of Internet addiction, which is associated with criteria, such as withdrawal, depression, loneliness, and anxiety. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of stress-based mindfulness therapy on the studentschr('39') feelings of loneliness and Internet addiction.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all male high school students in Birjand in 2020-21. In total, 40 eligible individuals were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of experimental (n=20) and control (n=20). The experimental group participated in eight sessions of mindfulness therapy training based on Kabat Zayn stress reduction. On the other hand, the control group did not receive any intervention. Data collection tools included the Russell et al. and Young Internet Addiction Questionnaire. The obtained data were then analyzed using mean±SD, multivariate, and univariate analysis of covariance at the significance level of α=0.05.

The results showed that stress-based mindfulness therapy significantly reduced the studentschr('39') feelings of loneliness and Internet addiction (P<0.001).

According to the results of the study, stress-based mindfulness therapy can be used as a complementary therapy along with other therapies to improve loneliness and reduce studentschr('39') Internet addiction.