SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2026
Effectiveness of Interventions for Internet, Smartphone, and Gaming Addictions: Umbrella Review and Meta-Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Digital addiction, including internet, smartphone, and gaming addiction, has emerged as a significant global health concern. Although a wide range of interventions has been evaluated, the fragmented and siloed nature of existing meta-analyses limits a clear understanding of the comparative effectiveness of different interventions across addiction subtypes. Objective: This umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis aimed to estimate the overall effectiveness of interventions for digital addiction and examine differential effects according to addiction subtype, intervention modality, study design, and control condition. Methods: A systematic search of 5 electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, APA PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library) was conducted from inception to June 24, 2025. Eligible studies were systematic reviews with meta-analyses evaluating interventions for internet, smartphone, or gaming addiction. Random-effects models were applied to synthesize standardized mean differences (SMDs). Methodological quality and certainty of evidence were assessed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework. Results: A total of 29 meta-analyses, comprising 52 effect sizes and 66,530 participants, were included (I2=95.13%). Overall, interventions demonstrated a large and statistically significant effect in reducing digital addiction symptoms (SMD=-1.44, 95% CI -1.67 to -1.21; P=.003). Subgroup analyses indicated that the largest effects were observed for internet addiction (SMD=-1.70, 95% CI -1.99 to -1.42), followed by gaming addiction (SMD=-0.82, 95% CI -1.09 to -0.56) and smartphone addiction (SMD=-0.80, 95% CI -1.39 to -0.21). Exercise-based interventions, particularly those integrated with psychological approaches, showed large effect sizes (SMD=-3.14, 95% CI -4.30 to -1.97); however, this finding was based on a very limited number of effect sizes and should be interpreted cautiously. In addition, randomized controlled trials yielded larger effects than mixed study designs, and no-intervention controls were associated with larger effect sizes than mixed control conditions. The certainty of evidence was generally low. Conclusions: Interventions for digital addiction are effective, although their magnitude of benefit varies by addiction subtype and intervention modality. These findings support the use of tailored and multimodal intervention strategies while highlighting the need for more rigorous, high-quality, and balanced evidence across different forms of digital addiction.
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