The Effectiveness of Systematic Desensitization and Self-Regulating on Students' Internet Addiction

The extreme use of digital tools is one of the most influential factors in academic achievement. Meanwhile, using the Internet is the most common occupation among students. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of systematic desensitization and self-regulation on the studentschr('39') dependence on the Internet.

The present study was a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. Forty-five students with the highest scores in the Kimberly Young (1995) Internet Addiction Questionnaire were selected by convenient sampling from Rasht city over the academic year 2018-2019, and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. After 12 sessions of systematic desensitization and self-regulation interventions, the Internet Addiction Questionnaire was administered again. Statistical data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance and SPSS-21 statistical software.

The results showed that regular desensitization and self-regulation training was effective on studentschr('39') dependence to the Internet (P <0.01). Also, self-regulation had a greater effect on studentschr('39') Internet dependence than the systematic desensitization (P< 0/001).

Systematic desensitization with behavioral changes, and self-regulation with cognitive changes, reduce the Internet dependence; therefore, these two educational approaches can be used to reduce studentschr('39') Internet dependence.