Li Hongxia
School of Labor Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Oct 21;12:731708. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731708. eCollection 2021.
To test whether future imagination can reduce the delay discounting rate of the Internet addicts, we recruited 40 Internet addicts (treatment sample) and 39 non-problematic users (control sample). We used a 2 (participant type: individuals with Internet addiction vs. non-problematic users) × 2 (training type: future event imagination training vs. control condition) × 2 (training session: first session vs. final session) mixed-subjects design to test our hypothesis. The participant type and training type were between the subjects and the training session was within the subject. Half of each sample (the Internet addicts and non-problematic users) was randomly assigned to complete five sessions of future imagination training and the other half was assigned to describe some daily events they had observed. We used the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and delay discounting task to assess our outcome variable, such as addiction, impulsivity, and delay discounting rate. The results showed that the future imagination training significantly reduced the delay discounting rate (also for impulsivity and addiction) for both the Internet addicts and non-problematic users than the control condition. Besides, the negative effect of future imagination training on the delay discounting rates (for impulsivity and addiction) remained consistent across the five training sessions. These findings suggest that the future imagination training can be a useful approach to reduce the impulsivity among those who are addicted to the Internet.
为了测试对未来的想象是否能够降低网络成瘾者的延迟折扣率，我们招募了40名网络成瘾者（治疗样本）和39名无问题使用者（对照样本）。我们采用了2（参与者类型：网络成瘾个体与无问题使用者）×2（训练类型：未来事件想象训练与对照条件）×2（训练阶段：第一阶段与最后阶段）的混合受试者设计来检验我们的假设。参与者类型和训练类型为组间变量，训练阶段为组内变量。每个样本（网络成瘾者和无问题使用者）的一半被随机分配去完成五节未来想象训练课程，另一半被分配去描述他们观察到的一些日常事件。我们使用巴拉特冲动性量表（BIS）和延迟折扣任务来评估我们的结果变量，如成瘾、冲动性和延迟折扣率。结果显示，与对照条件相比，未来想象训练显著降低了网络成瘾者和无问题使用者的延迟折扣率（对于冲动性和成瘾也是如此）。此外，未来想象训练对延迟折扣率（对于冲动性和成瘾）的负面影响在五个训练课程中保持一致。这些发现表明，未来想象训练可能是一种降低网络成瘾者冲动性的有效方法。
