| Abstract: |
Adolescent smartphone addiction has emerged as a significant public health concern, with prevalence rates climbing steadily across urban and semi-urban populations in India and elsewhere. This empirical study examines the comparative effectiveness of three behavioral intervention approaches cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based digital detox programs, parental mediation strategies, and school-based digital literacy curricula in reducing problematic smartphone use among adolescents aged 13 to 17. Data were collected from 420 adolescents across six schools in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh using the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), supplemented by screen-time logs extracted from device usage trackers and structured interviews with parents and teachers. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design was employed across three intervention groups and one control group over a twelve-week period. Statistical analysis, including paired t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and regression modelling, revealed that the CBT-based digital detox group demonstrated the largest reduction in SAS-SV scores (mean reduction of 8.4 points, p |
