SynthesisJournal of behavioral addictions2020
Treatments for internet addiction, sex addiction and compulsive buying: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Interventions for Internet, Smartphone, and Gaming Addictions: Umbrella Review and Meta-Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Emotional Regulation in Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders Treatment: A Systematic Review.Journal of gambling studies · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions for Digital Addiction: Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Internet-based interventions for behavioral addictions: A systematic review.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Pooled it
- Therapeutic management of buying/shopping disorder: A systematic literature review and evidence-based recommendations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of a mobile-based approach-avoidance task training (PROTECTapp) for problematic usage of the internet in young adults: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Trial
- The impact of life satisfaction in the treatment of gaming disorder and other internet use disorders: Results from a randomized controlled trial.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2023Trial
- Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines for Periodic Health Examination: Lifestyle Interventions for Adults and Adolescents.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Food addiction in behavioral addictions: a network approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Impact of Spousal Addiction on Women's Marital Satisfaction and Family Peace in Turkey.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- The Brain in the Age of Smartphones and the Internet: The Possible Protective Role of Sport.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Psychotherapy research for compulsive buying-shopping disorder: Quo vadis?Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- Exploring Food Addiction Across Several Behavioral Addictions: Analysis of Clinical Relevance.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Physical and emotional abuse with internet addiction and anxiety as a mediator and physical activity as a moderator.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A meta-review of screening and treatment of electronic "addictions".Clinical psychology review · 2024Review
- The PornLoS Treatment Program: Study protocol of a new psychotherapeutic approach for treating pornography use disorder.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2024Article
- Review
- The Interest in Betting, Smoking, Alcohol, and Drugs in Malawi: Changing Trends between 2012-2022.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2024Article
- STAT: schema therapy for addiction treatment, a proposal for the integrative treatment of addictive disorders.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Efficacy of a short-term webcam-based telemedicine treatment of internet use disorders (OMPRIS): a multicentre, prospective, single-blind, randomised, clinical trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsInternet addiction, sex addiction and compulsive buying are common behavioral problems, which share similarities with gambling disorder and substance use disorders. However, little is known about the efficacy of their treatments. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of the treatments of such problem behaviors, and to draw parallels to gambling disorder and substance use disorders in terms of treatment response.
methodsLiterature search yielded 91 studies totaling 3,531 participants to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the short-term and long-term efficacy of psychological, pharmacological and combined treatments for internet addiction, sex addiction, and compulsive buying.
resultsPsychological, pharmacological, and combined treatments were associated with robust pre-post improvements in the global severity of internet addiction (Hedges's g: 1.51, 1.13, and 2.51, respectively) and sex addiction (Hedges's g: 1.09, 1.21, and 1.91, respectively). For compulsive buying, psychological and pharmacological treatments were also associated with a large-sized pre-post reduction in global severity (Hedges's g: 1.00 and 1.52, respectively). The controlled pre-post and within-group pre-follow-up effect sizes were in the similar range, with few exceptions. Moderator analyses suggest that psychological interventions are effective for reducing compulsive behaviors, especially when delivered face-to-face and conducted over extended periods of time. Combinations of cognitive-behavioral approaches with medications showed an advantage over monotherapies. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionsThe results suggest that treatments for common behavioral addictions are effective in the short term, similar to those implemented for gambling disorder and substance use disorders, but more rigorous clinical trials are needed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.