Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT03347643

The Effectiveness of tDCS on Internet Game Addiction

In this study, the investigators aimed to investigate the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on clinical status of Internet game addiction. The clinical status of Internet game addiction includes severity of addiction symptom, subjective craving for gaming, response inhibition and cue reactivity. The investigators hypothesized that real stimulation with tDCS on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex will have higher effectiveness on severity of addiction symptom, subjective craving for gaming, response inhibition and cue reactivity rather than sham stimulation with tDCS.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Addiction Behavior Behavior, Addictive Compulsive Behavior Impulsive Behavior Internet Addiction Disorder Internet Gaming Disorder Technology Addiction

Age range

18 year–50 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center

Seoul, 07061, South Korea

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of Internet gaming disorder based on diagnostic criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5.

Exclusion criteria

  • History of seizure
  • History of significant head injury
  • Mental retardation
  • Schizophrenia
  • History of stroke

Treatment and study plan

tDCS with real stimulation

Device

tDCS is a non-invasive brain stimulation. Real stimulation includes 2mA current for 20 minutes per session. Two sessions a day for 5 consecutive days (Total: 10 sessions) will be applied.

tDCS with sham stimulation

Device

Sham stimulation includes 0mA current for 20 minutes per session. Two sessions a day for 5 consecutive days (Total: 10 sessions) will be applied.

Primary outcomes

  1. Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT)

    Time frame: baseline

    The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100.

  2. Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT)

    Time frame: 1 week

    The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100.

  3. Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT)

    Time frame: 5 week

    The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100.

  4. Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT)

    Time frame: 25 week

    The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Direction error and successful stop ratio in the Stop signal task

    Time frame: baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks

    The stop signal task is a neurocognitive task for assessing response inhibition.

  2. Barratt impulsiveness scale-11

    Time frame: baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks

    Barratt impulsiveness scale-11 is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 30 items. Each question has a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (rarely/never) to 4 (almost always/always). This scale scores three subscales: attentional impulsiveness, motor impulsiveness, and nonplanning impulsiveness. The total score ranges from 30 to 120 and higher scores indicate greater impulsivity.

  3. Anti-saccade error rate in the attentional bias task

    Time frame: baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks

    The attentional bias task is measured by anti-saccade task using eye-tracking analysis for assessing attentional bias on Internet gaming stimuli.

  4. Late positive potential in the cue reactivity event-related potential

    Time frame: baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks

    Event-related potential measures with cue reactivity task

  5. Visual analogue scale

    Time frame: baseline, 1 week, 5 weeks, 25 weeks

    Subjective craving for Internet gaming ranging from 0 to 10. Higher score represents higher craving for gaming.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Seoul National University Hospital

Other

Collaborators

  • National Research Foundation of Korea
  • SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center

Registry information

Official study title

Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Internet Game Addiction

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Nov 20, 2017
Registry last updated
Mar 24, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.