OBJECTIVE

To conduct the primary prevention of computer game addiction (PPCGA) in students of General education institutions (GEI), aimed at preventing the formation of CGA.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included 488 students in grades 7—10 of GEI aged 12—17 years (14.6±2.4 years), of which 393  adolescents, who made up the main group, received PPCGA and 95 — control, without PPCGA.

RESULTS

Preventive measures were carried out without interrupting the educational process; they were carried out by addiction psychiatrists and medical psychologists. PPCGA was aimed at teaching students a healthy lifestyle, the development of their personal resources, the formation of skills to overcome problem situations, a change in the value attitude to computer games and the formation of alternative interests. In the main group, a decrease in the time interval spent by students at the computer was found (p<0.05). There was a decrease in the number of students (p<0.05), experiencing affective disorders when abstaining from the computer, including mild depression and subclinically expressed anxiety/depression, for whom computer games could lead to problems and negative consequences. An increase in the interval of time spent by students at the computer (p<0.05); an increase in the number of students experiencing affective disorders when abstaining from the computer (p<0.05); a trend towards the increase in the frequency of problems and delayed meetings and personal matters related to spending time at the computer; an increase in clearly uncommunicative (p<0.05) were found in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary prevention of computer gaming increase the number of students who prefer a healthy lifestyle (physical education and sports, rational nutrition, sex education, family relationships) and reduce the number of people who prefer computer games as a form of leisure.