Promoting Digital Resilience and Mindfulness-Based Prevention of Media-Related Disorders in Schools (mindfulmedia): Results of a Pilot Study

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The increasing prevalence of problematic digital media use among children and adolescents has become a major public health concern. Adolescence represents a particularly vulnerable developmental period for the emergence of addictive behaviors such as problematic social media use or internet gaming disorder. These behaviors are characterized by diminished control over online activities despite negative consequences for social functioning, mental health, academic achievement, and overall well-being. Growing evidence suggests that mindfulness may represent a promising protective factor against the development and maintenance of media-related addictive behaviors. Several facets of mindfulness have been associated with healthier patterns of digital media use, and emerging intervention studies indicate that mindfulness-based approaches may reduce problematic media use. However, research on these relationships in children and adolescents remains limited, and further work is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and to develop effective, age-appropriate prevention and intervention strategies. This pilot study belongs to the OSF project "Mindfulness and Problematic Digital Media Use in Children and Adolescents" and explores the role of mindfulness in understanding and preventing problematic digital media use among children and adolescents. Mindfulmedia is a school-based prevention project that combines addiction prevention strategies with mindfulness-based techniques to promote healthy, self-determined digital media use and strengthen digital resilience among adolescents. Developed as a collaborative project between Deutsches Zentrum für Suchtfragen des Kindes- und Jugendalters am Universitätsklinikum Hamburg and the Fachstelle für Suchtprävention update (Caritas/Diakonie Bonn), the intervention aims to foster impulse control, emotion regulation, and mindful media use as potential protective factors against the development of problematic digital media use. The project is funded by the Ministerium für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales NRW). The pilot study employed a (non-randomized) pre–post controlled design across ten secondary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The six-session classroom-based intervention was delivered by trained teachers who had received instruction from experienced mindfulness-based addiction prevention specialists. The evaluation assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the program as well as a range of psychological and behavioral outcomes, including trait mindfulness, mindful social media use, social media use patterns, media-related stress, habitual media use, and readiness to change. This project is expected to contribute to the growing evidence base on mindfulness-based prevention approaches for media-related disorders in children and adolescents.

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