This week I used evidence-based strategies to redesign my digital wellness tool.

My Digital Wellness project focuses on adults aged 50 and over who are navigating significant life transitions, including retirement, grey divorce, the empty nest phase, identity reformation, and caregiving responsibilities for aging parents. In middle adulthood, technology use can be purposeful and meaningful in supporting individual and familial needs; however, these behaviours can also shift into problematic internet use when engagement becomes distracted or lacks intentionality. For this week’s challenge, I explored how evidence-based cognitive strategies can be used to redirect problematic internet use toward healthier digital behaviours.

In my initial research, Chen et al. (2025) position digital wellness in middle adulthood as not just the absence of digital addiction, but as a balance between meaningful engagement, emotional regulation and digital competence. Beyond the digital detox, I wanted to examine how cognitive strategies can act as a protective factor for healthy digital behaviour.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) provides a strong evidence-based framework for this work. CBT is a structured, short-term, goal-oriented form of psychotherapy that supports individuals in identifying and modifying unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour that contribute to emotional distress (Mayo Clinic, 2025). Key components of CBT include cognitive awareness, cognitive restructuring, and behavioural change. Within a digital wellness context, CBT-informed strategies may involve tracking screen time, setting intentional technology-use goals, and replacing passive scrolling with purposeful engagement. Through the development of self-regulation skills, CBT fosters practical coping strategies such as emotional regulation, problem-solving, and stress management (Mayo Clinic, 2025).

These CBT processes align directly with both the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) framework and Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence (EI) model. CBT’s emphasis on recognizing and restructuring thought patterns parallels CASEL’s competencies of self-awareness and self-management, as individuals learn to identify emotional triggers related to digital use and regulate their responses. Goleman’s EI domains, especially self-awareness, self-regulation, and social awareness are activated when individuals reflect on how digital behaviours impact both their own well-being and their relationships. This alignment strengthens the theoretical foundation of digital wellness as both a cognitive and emotional process.

After examining these models and frameworks, I performed OMNI and ProQuest searches using the keywords cognitive behaviour therapy, cognitive strategies, adults, and problematic internet use. 

I found a Level 3 empirical study by Spek et al. (2007) that examined the effectiveness of Internet-based CBT intervention (iCBT) compared to traditional group CBT among adults 50 and older experiencing depression. Depression is a known risk factor associated with problematic internet use in middle adulthood. The study found that both iCBT and group CBT were significantly more effective than the control group, with no significant difference between the two treatment methods. These findings position CBT as an effective intervention for addressing problematic behaviours. The success of self-guided iCBT highlights the potential for digital platforms to support behavioural change through self-monitoring and goal setting. In a digital wellness context, these strategies align with CASEL’s self-management competency and Goleman’s self-regulation domain, supporting individuals and couples in moving from self-awareness to intentional behavioural change.

I also found a Level 1 empirical study by Yilmaz and Karaoglan Yilmaz (2022). The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between problematic internet use and psychological variables in adults, including happiness, psychological resilience, dispositional hope, self-control and self-management. The study found that higher levels of happiness, resilience, and hope were associated with lower levels of problematic internet use. These emotional variables mediated the relationship between self-control/self-management and problematic internet use. This finding reinforces the role of emotional state as a key mediator of digital behaviour. From a theoretical perspective, this aligns with CASEL’s emphasis on emotional competence and Goleman’s domains of motivation and emotional regulation, suggesting that strengthening emotional intelligence can directly support healthier digital engagement.

Considering the developmental transitions of middle adulthood, individuals may experience increased emotional vulnerability, which can contribute to problematic internet use. Cognitive behavioural strategies can therefore function as protective factors by promoting reflection, intentionality, and emotional regulation. Engaging in structured reflection, both individually and within relationships, encourages individuals to pause and examine not only their digital behaviours but also the underlying motivations driving those behaviours.

Through evidence-based strategies, my Couples Check-In tool evolves into an integrated CBT–SEL–EI model, where CBT provides the cognitive restructuring and behavioural framework, CASEL offers a competency-based structure for self- and social regulation, and Goleman’s EI model deepens the emotional and relational dimensions of digital decision-making. This integrated approach supports individuals and couples in developing self-awareness, strengthening emotional regulation, and enhancing relationship skills, ultimately fostering more intentional, balanced, and healthy digital behaviours in everyday life.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2026). What is the CASEL framework? https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/ 

Goleman, D. (2017). EI overview: The four domains and twelve competencies. Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence. https://danielgolemanemotionalintelligence.com/ei-overview-the-four-domains-and-twelve-competencies/ 

Hvenegaard, M., Watkins, E. R., Poulsen, S., Rosenberg, N. K., Gondan, M., Grafton, B., Austin, S. F., Howard, H., & Moeller, S. B. (2015). Rumination-focused cognitive behaviour therapy vs. cognitive behaviour therapy for depression: study protocol for a randomized controlled superiority trial. Trials, 16(1), 344. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-015-0875-y

Mayo Clinic. (2025, February 26). Cognitive behavioural therapy. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/about/pac-20384610 

Spek, V., Nyklicek, I., Smits, N., Cuijpers, P., Riper, H., Keyzer, J., & Pop, V. (2007). Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for subthreshold depression in people over 50 years old: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Psychological Medicine, 37(12), 1797-806. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291707000542

Yilmaz, R., & Karaoglan Yilmaz, F. G. (2022). Problematic Internet use in Adults: The Role of Happiness, Psychological Resilience, Dispositional Hope, and Self-control and Self-management. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy : RET, , 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-022-00482-y

Yilmaz, R., & Karaoglan Yilmaz, F. G. (2022). Problematic Internet use in Adults: The Role of Happiness, Psychological Resilience, Dispositional Hope, and Self-control and Self-management. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy : RET, , 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-022-00482-y

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2725440786/Record/A9223AB12C84445EPQ/2?accountid=14694&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals#