The Effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) on Internet Addiction and Cognitive Emotion Regulation among Adolescents

Aim: This study aimed to investigate effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) on internet addiction and cognitive-emotional regulation among adolescents. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used which included pre-tests, post-tests, and follow-ups. In 2020-2021 academic years, all boy adolescents in Qazvin were included in study. Thirty adolescents were randomly selected and assigned to intervention or control groups based on convenience sampling (n=15). We provided ten 90-minute group metacognitive therapy sessions to the intervention group, whereas the control group received no intervention. The Internet Addiction Questionnaire and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) were used to collect data. Using SPSS software, we conducted a multivariate analysis of covariance, repeated measures, and Fisher's Least Significant Difference (LSD) post hoc test. Results of study demonstrated that group metacognitive therapy significantly affected adolescents' Internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation (p<0.05). In addition, analysis revealed that internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation among adolescents were significantly different between intervention and control groups. Treatment remained unchanged at the follow-up stage (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is recommended that school and family counselors could be trained and given executive duties in Group Metacognitive Therapy, which influences Iranian adolescents. These methods may assist overactive adolescents and their families in achieving their learning goals through empowerment, analysis, and interpretation workshops and meetings.