Body awareness therapy trial reports improvements in internet addiction symptoms
A study in university students found improvements in several psychological measures, while leaving the size and durability of the changes unclear.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The study reported lower internet addiction symptoms, boredom and decision-making deficits after body awareness psychotherapy, alongside improvements in time perception and executive functions. Its statistical analyses linked symptom improvements with changes in cognitive and emotional regulation. However, the abstract gives no effect sizes or clearly specified between-group estimates, limiting interpretation of the benefit.
The abstract does not report longer follow-up, adverse events or numerical changes on the symptom scales. Findings from students with a diagnosed disorder do not directly establish benefits for other internet users.
What the sessions targeted
The intervention trained participants in awareness of bodily signals and self-regulation. Assessments covered internet addiction symptoms, boredom, emotional regulation, time perception and cognitive tasks. This was a structured psychotherapy study, rather than a test of general screen-time advice.
A possible pathway remains a hypothesis
Mediation analyses suggested that cognitive flexibility, impulse control, response inhibition and emotional regulation helped explain the symptom changes. Such statistical relationships can support a proposed pathway, but they do not independently prove how the therapy produced its effects.
The original publication
Targeting Internet Addiction Through Body Awareness Psychotherapy: The Mediating Role of Executive Functions and Emotion Regulation.
Fallah M, Mohajerani H, Omidi A et al.
Brain Behav · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40898753
- Record checked
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