An Empirical Review of Internet Addiction Outcome Studies in China

Objectives: The authors systematically reviewed the outcomes and methodological quality of 24 Internet addiction (IA) treatment outcome studies in China. Method: The authors used 15 attributes from the quality of evidence scores to evaluate 24 outcome studies. These studies came from both English and Chinese academic databases from 2000 to 2010. Results: Among the 15 attributes, only sequence generation and intention-to-treat were reported by more than 50% of the 24 studies. None of the studies contained treatment adherence ratings or collateral reports. Cognitive behavior therapy combined with family therapy or group therapy emerged as possibly efficacious treatments. Conclusions: More rigorously designed studies, accompanied by transparent reporting of methods and findings are needed to identify promising IA treatments.