Cribado e intervención breve digital en el uso problemático de Internet: Programa piensaTIC

The integration of screening, brief interventions, and referral to treatment is a preventive and care strategy that has demonstrated effectiveness in improving the health of alcohol and other drug users. The implementation of this strategy in its digital form has facilitated its spread and acceptance among adolescents and young people. The objective of this study was to adapt this methodology in order to develop efficient actions to prevent and reduce the risk of problem internet use among the school population. The PiensaTIC Program is a web-based screening and brief intervention pilot application that has been administered to secondary school students in the city of Malaga (Spain). This article describes the features of this preventive program and its results regarding the different forms of internet usage by the adolescents studied. Differences were found between male and female students in relation to the most common types of online behavior, as well as differences in prevalence and the differential characteristics of problem internet use by gender.