The CATalist mindful smartphone program (CMSP): a quantitative randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigation of its impact on smartphone addiction and mindfulness among Malaysian adolescents

Abstract

This study aims to examine the efficacy of the CATalist Mindful Smartphone Program (CMSP) an eight-week, school-based, face-to-face mindfulness intervention in reducing smartphone addiction and enhancing mindfulness levels among Malaysian secondary school adolescents aged 13–15 years. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted involving 60 adolescents aged 13–15 years, recruited from a Chinese Independent Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1 allocation) using SPSS-generated random numbers to either the CMSP intervention group or a waitlist control group. Two self-reported measures were administered at baseline (pre-test) and post-intervention (post-test): the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), completed by participants themselves, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), also self-reported by participants. Analyses included paired-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA and linear regression. All analyses used a significance threshold of a = 0.05. The trial was not prospectively registered; this is acknowledged as a limitation. The CMSP intervention significantly reduced self-reported smartphone addiction (SAS) scores [t(27) = 2.87 and p = 0.008] and enhanced self-reported mindfulness (FFMQ) relative to the control group. Higher post-intervention mindfulness scores significantly predicted lower post-intervention smartphone addiction scores (R² = 0.788, ß = 0.888 and p < 0.001), accounting for approximately 78.8% of the variance in post-intervention smartphone addiction. The small, single-site sample of Chinese-ethnicity adolescents limits generalisability to other ethnic groups and cultural contexts. The trial was not prospectively registered and no a priori power analysis was conducted, which are acknowledged as limitations. Reliance on self-report measures without objective usage data reduces precision. Confounding variables such as stress, personality and family influences were not assessed. Only short-term outcomes were measured, leaving long-term effects uncertain. No adverse events were recorded during the intervention. Mindfulness-based programmes like CMSP can support schools in addressing problematic smartphone use among adolescents. The programme offers a structured, replicable template for educators and mental health professionals seeking evidence-based digital well-being interventions. Mindfulness-based interventions such as CMSP may help adolescents reduce reliance on smartphones for emotional regulation, thereby supporting healthier digital behaviours and improved academic and social functioning. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first Malaysian RCTs to demonstrate that a structured, school-based mindfulness programme can significantly reduce problematic smartphone use among Chinese-ethnicity secondary school adolescents. The CMSP represents a replicable, culturally contextualised intervention.