Effect of a mindfulness-integrated positive psychology course on digital detox and smartphone addiction in nursing students
Acta Psychologica May 14, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106943 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental (pre-test, post-test, control group) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 66 |
| Population | Nursing students at Shandong Xiehe University, China |
| Intervention | Positive psychology course incorporating drawing-breathing meditation |
| Topics | Meditation Addiction |
| Keywords | Smartphone addiction Digital detoxification Nursing students |
| Key findings | The integrated positive psychology course significantly enhanced mindfulness and digital detoxification while reducing smartphone addiction in the experimental group. |
Abstract
Background: Positive psychology helps individuals enhance their attention, self-awareness, and positive thinking. Recent research has explored the impact of mindfulness—one of the core techniques in positive psychology—on behavioral addictions such as smartphone overuse. However, the effects of positive psychology courses that integrate mindfulness meditation, particularly in promoting digital detoxification and reducing smartphone addiction, have not been sufficiently studied.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a positive psychology course incorporating drawing-breathing meditation in promoting digital detoxification and reducing smartphone addiction among nursing students at Shandong Xiehe University, China.
Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed, consisting of a pre-test, post-test, and control group. Two classes were allocated as experimental and control groups without individual randomization to an experimental group (n = 33) and a control group (n = 33). Participants completed the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), and the Digital Detoxification Scale (DDS) at three intervals: before, during, and after the intervention.
Results: The findings demonstrated that the integrated positive psychology course significantly enhanced mindfulness and digital detoxification while reducing smartphone addiction in the experimental group. No significant changes were observed in the control group across any of the measured variables.
Conclusion: A positive psychology course integrated with drawing and breathing meditation was associated with improvements in digital mindfulness indicators and a reduction in smartphone addiction within the study sample. These findings can inform the design of future interventions that combine mindfulness and positive psychology to address technology-related behavioral issues among university students.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition | |
| Neural Correlates of Ongoing Conscious Experience: Both Task-Unrelatedness and Stimulus-Independence Are Related to Default Network Activity Participants performing a go/no-go task while undergoing functional neuroimaging | 2011 | Observational neuroimaging study using thought-probes during a go/no-go task | |
| Mindful attention reduces neural and self-reported cue-induced craving in smokers Treatment-seeking smokers, meditation-naïve, 12-hour abstinent | 2011 | Experimental study | n = 47 |
| DOI-Induced Activation of the Cortex: Dependence on 5-HT2AHeteroceptors on Thalamocortical Glutamatergic Neurons Rat | 2000 | Experimental study | |
| Noribogaine is a G-protein biased κ-opioid receptor agonist. | 2015 | Experimental study with binding experiments, functional assays, and computational simulations |