Macur, M. and Pontes, Halley (2021) Internet Gaming Disorder in adolescence: investigating profiles and associated risk factors. BMC Public Health 21 (1547), pp. 1-9. ISSN 1471-2458.
|
Text
s12889-021-11394-4.pdf - Published Version of Record Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (588kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Background: Electronic gaming is a popular free-time activity and its deleterious effects have been considered by the American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization. More recently ‘Gaming Disorder’ (GD) has been added to the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, while ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ (IGD) remains as a tentative disorder in the 5th revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of young gamers at risk for developing IGD. Methods: To achieve this, a quantitative and nationally representative study was conducted in primary schools in Slovenia with eighth grade as the primary sampling unit (N = 1071, Meanage = 13.44 years, SDage = 0.59). Psychometric testing assessing IGD was conducted to identify participants’ IGD risk levels and to compare ‘high risk gamers’, ‘low risk gamers’, and ‘non-gamers’ in relation to free-time activities, self-control, and parent-child relationship. A one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted with Games-Howell post-hoc test to compare the three groups of participants. Statistically significant IGD factors were then included in a multinomial logistic regression analysis to identify the most relevant predictors of IGD. Results: About 4.7% (n = 48) [95% CI: 3.4–6.0%] of Slovenian adolescents were found to be ‘high risk gamers’ when considering risk of IGD. These were mostly males (n = 42, 87.5%), and their preferred leisure activities involved more screen time activities (e.g., watching TV, playing video games, using social media). Moreover, ‘high risk gamers’ showed significantly lower levels of self-control compared to ‘low risk gamers’, and poorer understanding with their parents. Perceived satisfaction with life and mental health did not differ significantly between the three groups. The multinomial logistic regression identified four key predictors of IGD: male gender, gaming as a frequent free-time activity, attending music school or a choir and self-control. Conclusion: Public health measures should target adolescents at increased risk of developing IGD in early age because they are particularly drawn to excessive gaming behaviors and present greater IGD vulnerability.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Internet Gaming Disorder, Behavioral addiction, American Psychiatric Association, Adolescents, Self-control, IGDS9-SF |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Halley Pontes |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Aug 2021 10:43 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2023 16:19 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/45426 |
Statistics
Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.
Archive Staff Only (login required)
