A review of psychological interventions for internet addiction.

• This systematic review was designed to relate theories of IA to treatments, describe the studies of psychotherapies for IA, and propose a model of intervention and addiction based on extant studies. • The investigated targeted domains and intervention methods employed are not mutually exclusive, and further research is needed to identify the effective components and mechanisms of action for treatments of IA. • Interventions based on different aspects of IA have been shown to have different effects. To intervene the addiction more effectively, a targeted intervention scheme should be designed based on the individual's extant susceptibility factors and combined with the emerging behavioral and cognitive characteristics. Internet addiction (IA) may constitute a widespread and serious mental problem. Previous reviews have not fully considered potential factors that may contribute to therapeutic outcomes or predict behavioral changes. Such information is relevant to understand the active ingredients of interventions and to develop more efficacious treatments that target features of IA. This systematic review was designed to relate theories of IA to treatments, describe studies of psychotherapies for IA, and propose a model of addiction and interventions based on extant studies. A computer database search of PubMed, PsychINFO, ScienceDirect, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify all available research evidence on psychological treatments for IA (N = 31 studies). Among these psychological interventions, the targeted reduction of addiction-related impulsivity and craving, improvement of cognitive maladjustment, and alleviation of family problems have been investigated in IA interventions. The targeted domains and intervention methods are not mutually exclusive, and further research is needed to demonstrate the effective components and mechanisms of action for treatments of IA. Such research will help generate more efficacious evidence-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]