The Effectiveness of tDCS on Internet Game Addiction

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

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

Conditions
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Internet Gaming Disorder, Addiction

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: tDCS with real stimulation
* Device: tDCS with sham stimulation


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 50 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Patients with internet gaming disorder will be randomly allocated into 1) actual real stimulation with tDCS group, and 2) sham stimulation with tDCS group.
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: tDCS with real stimulation<br>A total of 25 patients will be allocated into active comparator with real stimulation with tDCS. | Device: tDCS with real stimulation<br>* 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.<br>|
| Sham Comparator: tDCS with sham stimulation<br>A total of 25 patients will be allocated into sham comparator with sham stimulation with tDCS. | Device: tDCS with sham stimulation<br>* Sham stimulation includes 0mA current for 20 minutes per session. Two sessions a day for 5 consecutive days (Total: 10 sessions) will be applied.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) | The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100. | baseline | 
| Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) | The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100. | 1 week | 
| Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) | The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100. | 5 week | 
| Young Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) | The Y-IAT is rated on a five-point scale. Total scores for all 20 items range from 20 to 100. | 25 week | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Direction error and successful stop ratio in the Stop signal task | The stop signal task is a neurocognitive task for assessing response inhibition. | baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks | 
| Barratt impulsiveness scale-11 | 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. | baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks | 
| Anti-saccade error rate in the attentional bias task | The attentional bias task is measured by anti-saccade task using eye-tracking analysis for assessing attentional bias on Internet gaming stimuli. | baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks | 
| Late positive potential in the cue reactivity event-related potential | Event-related potential measures with cue reactivity task | baseline, 5 weeks, 25 weeks | 
| Visual analogue scale | Subjective craving for Internet gaming ranging from 0 to 10. Higher score represents higher craving for gaming. | baseline, 1 week, 5 weeks, 25 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Internet game addiction, Internet gaming disorder, transcranial direct current stimulation, response inhibition, craving, cue reactivity