50. Research on the impact of youth labor education on internet addiction patients

Abstract Background Adolescent internet addiction has become a global public health issue. Existing intervention methods mostly focus on psychological and medical aspects, while research on preventive and developmental interventions derived from daily educational activities is relatively lacking. Labor education emphasizes practical experience and value creation, and may combat internet addiction by occupying time, reshaping behavior patterns, and enhancing self-efficacy. The research aims to empirically test the intervention effect of structured labor education curriculum on adolescent internet addiction, in order to explore a feasible and low-cost school-based intervention path. Methods The study adopted a randomized controlled trial design and used the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) as the screening scale. 80 adolescents who meet the diagnostic criteria for internet addiction (IAT score ≥ 50) were selected from a certain high school and randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40). The experimental group received a structured labor education course intervention lasting 12 weeks, twice a week, with each session lasting 90 minutes. The course content included three types of activities: life skills, productive labor, and volunteer service, emphasizing practical participation, cooperation, and reflection. The control group did not receive any specific intervention during this period and maintained regular learning and life. The study measured two groups of participants using IAT and Self Control Scale (SCS) at three time points: before intervention, immediately after intervention, and 3 months after intervention (follow-up). Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 25.0, with the main method being repeated measures analysis of variance. Results After intervention, the level of internet addiction in the experimental group significantly decreased. The IAT total score decreased from 58.3 ± 5.1 before intervention to 45.2 ± 6.8 after intervention, significantly lower than the control group's 56.1 ± 5.3 during the same period (interaction effect F = 32.15, p<.001). During follow-up, the scores of the experimental group (48.7 ± 7.2) were still significantly lower than those of the baseline and control group. At the same time, the self-control ability of the experimental group significantly improved after intervention and follow-up (p<.01), and the increase in SCS was significantly negatively correlated with the decrease in IAT (r = -0.68, p<.01). The results indicate that labor education can effectively and sustainably alleviate symptoms of internet addiction and enhance individuals' self-regulation abilities. Discussion Research has shown that using labor education as a systematic intervention can effectively alleviate the symptoms of adolescent internet addiction. The mechanism may be related to enhancing individual self-regulation ability, transferring excessive dependence on the virtual world, and improving the sense of achievement and connection in real life. This result supports the theoretical viewpoint that physical labor and active activity can serve as alternative and corrective strategies for internet addiction behavior, and has clear practical significance. Suggest incorporating structured labor education courses into the school's mental health education or comprehensive prevention and treatment system for internet addiction. Future research can extend the follow-up period, optimize curriculum design, and explore its underlying mechanisms in depth. In short, labor education, as a positive and developmental intervention method, has important application prospects in the field of preventing and treating internet addiction. Funding No. ZJGB2023086.