The Effectiveness of Self-Help Cognitive Behavioural Treatment (SHCBT) in Reducing Social Media Addiction Among Young Adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46799/jhs.v7i9.2875Keywords:
Self-help Cognitive Behavioral Treatment, Social media addiction, Early Adulthood, Cognitive Behavioral TherapyAbstract
Social media addiction is increasingly prevalent among young adults and may disrupt psychological well-being, emotional regulation, productivity, and daily functioning. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Self-Help Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (SHCBT) in reducing social media addiction among young adults. A quasi-experimental two-group pretest–posttest design was employed with eight participants aged 25–29 years who were selected through purposive sampling and assigned to guided and non-guided SHCBT groups. Social media addiction was measured using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, while data were analyzed using paired-samples and independent-samples t-tests in SPSS. The guided group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in social media addiction scores between the pretest and posttest (p = 0.016). The most consistent improvements occurred in salience and withdrawal symptoms, indicating reduced cognitive preoccupation and psychological discomfort when social media access was limited. However, the mean N-Gain score was 0.19, indicating a low magnitude of improvement, and the posttest difference between the guided and non-guided groups was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that SHCBT has preliminary potential to improve awareness of maladaptive thoughts and support greater control over social media use. Nevertheless, its comparative effectiveness remains inconclusive because of the small sample size, short intervention period, and absence of follow-up assessments.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ghina Devina Xaviera, Eneng Nurlaili Wangi, Irfan Fahmi
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