MODEration strategies of SCREEN abuse for Generation Y(outh) Erasmus Project

Project Title

MODEration strategies of SCREEN abuse for Generation Y(outh)

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

All material for this project can be found here: http://www.repository.erasmusplus.website/inscreenmode/

Context/Background
InscreenMode successfully accomplished its goal to empower young individuals (16-25 years old) to deal effectively with situations concerning excessive preoccupation with Internet or screen abuse.

Objectives
Our objectives were to design, develop, test, implement and disseminate an innovative online application to modify computer behaviour for young people and help them use all online devices in a healthy manner.

Undertaken Activities
We started with detailed research, led by Professor Daria Kuss who is an Associate Course Leader in MSc Cyberpsychology at Nottingham Trent University. It was her knowledge and drive that allowed all partners to really delve deep into understanding Internet Addiction and the repercussions it has on young people. This research allowed us to understand growing literature in the Internet Addiction field so we could then create the user models that would be addressed.

We then developed a survey in which 197 young individuals took part. The survey focused on sociodemographic data of the user, their psychological constitution, behavioural data, desirable situations and moderation goals of participants (i.e. previous attempts, the success of previous attempts, moderation in terms of time spent, importance of certain aspects of their personal, familial, social and physical context. This allowed us to disseminate the project at a very early stage and gather interest as well as contact details from all partner countries.

Based on the user models identified, withdrawal plans were identified in two main categories; “Time management” and “Coping with negative urges for online use” and specifications for the development of the Online Genie were developed and reviewed by CIVIC, who translated this specification into requirements and built the alpha, beta and final versions of the Genie.

The Genie works by asking the user to create an account and complete a questionnaire combining different information such as individual data, urges that may trigger the need to use the Internet, active engagement with online applications on a daily basis, and behaviours/feelings that you may have been experiencing due to Internet overuse. Based on this information, the Genie provides the individual with a personalised report that explains their current state of Internet use for Social Media, Online Music, Online Dating, Gaming, Online Shopping, Pornography, Emailing, Watching Videos and surfing the web reading news and whether they are at a High, Medium or Low risk of being a victim of psychological issues due to excessive use. This report can also be exported as a PDF.

The tool then recommends strategies and actions that will help them manage their time spent online and/or cope with prior negative feelings and states that they might experience due to Internet use. For some individuals, the recommended strategies and actions will be obligatory, while other suggestions are optional, as they are not considered high risk.

Once an individual has implemented and completed the suggested actions, they will be asked to evaluate their progress and identify those that helped them to reach your desired moderation goal via a questionnaire. This will allow us to evaluate and analyse improvements for the Genie in the future, gaining more knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work.

The Pilot workshops in each partner country clarified some comments for improvement but also validated the effectiveness of the tool.

Genie: https://genie.inscreenmode.eu/

Participants
During the project we involved the following participants:
– Young people (16-25 years old) including students, professionals, refugees
– Teachers
– Youth educators
– NGOs
– Parents

Results
Our results comprised of an Internet Addiction Genie that based on personal data input provides a High, Medium or Low score of excessive use for different internet activities, as well as all relevant withdrawal plans (35 in total). Found here: https://inscreenmode.eu/results

Impact
– Raising awareness of Internet Addiction and the detrimental effect it can have on young people. This project got people talking about what constitutes an addiction, particularly to something that we use and rely on every day.
– Providing a multilingual Internet Addiction genie that helps the user reduce their time online, leading to healthier behaviours and well-being in their personal, professional or familial contexts.

Long-term benefits
The project equips addiction therapists, NGOs and clinicians with a useful tool their clients can use, as well as help parents/teachers seek guidance on such issues with their children/students. We also helped youth educators and practitioners help their trainees using our pedagogical approach to addiction and instead of just diagnosing young people, we provide solutions to reduce this.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 194001 Eur

Project Coordinator

CIVIC COMPUTING LIMITED & Country: UK

Project Partners

• ASOCIATIA DIRECT
• VSI PASAULIO PILIECIU AKADEMIJA
• A & A Emphasys Interactive Solutions Ltd
• CRYSTALCLEARSOFT ANONYMOS ETAIREIA PAROCHIS YPIRESION LOGISMIKOU
• THE NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
• STOWARZYSZENIE INSTYTUT NOWYCH TECHNOLOGII