Vol. 2026 No. 5 (2026)
Articles

Clinical exploration of filiform needle acupuncture in treating adolescent internet addiction

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  • Lee Seo-ah,
  • Choi Ji-an,
  • Park Do-yun
Lee Seo-ah
SmartStudy,94 Myeong Dal, Soochow-dong, Souchong, Seoul, South Korea
Choi Ji-an
SmartStudy,94 Myeong Dal, Soochow-dong, Souchong, Seoul, South Korea
Park Do-yun
SmartStudy,94 Myeong Dal, Soochow-dong, Souchong, Seoul, South Korea

Published 24-09-2026

Keywords

  • Internet addiction,
  • adolescents, acupuncture,
  • 90-Item Symptom Checklist

Copyright (c) 2026 The Young Thinker's Review

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

[1]
L. . Seo-ah, . C. . Ji-an, and P. . Do-yun, “Clinical exploration of filiform needle acupuncture in treating adolescent internet addiction”, The Young Thinker's Rev., vol. 2026, no. 5, pp. 7–11, Sep. 2026, doi: 10.62852/ytr/2026/313.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture in treating adolescent internet addiction. Methods: A total of 17 adolescents with internet addiction admitted to the clinical department were enrolled as study subjects. They received combined acupuncture therapy targeting acupoints including Nei guan, Shen men, Sayajirao, Susanti, Guan yuan, and Taichung for a duration of 4 weeks. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed using the Internet Addiction Disorder Diagnostic Scale (IADSS) and the SCL-90 scale; psychological assessment data before and after treatment were analyzed. Results: The IADSS score in the treatment group post-treatment (54.76±6.71) was significantly lower than the pre-treatment score (64.12±3.22), with a statistically significant difference (t = 6.899, P <0.001). Prior to treatment, all factor scores on the SCL-90 in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P <0.01). At the conclusion of the treatment, the scores for five factors—somatic symptoms, depression, anxiety, hostility, and other symptoms—on the SCL-90 were lower compared to pre-treatment levels (P <0.05); however, the scores for the depression and anxiety factors did not differ significantly from those in the control group (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy demonstrates favorable efficacy in treating adolescent internet addiction.

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