A Stress-Coping Model of Problem Online Video Game Use

Problematic video game use as an emotional coping strategy: Evidence from a sample of MMORPG gamers

“…This finding supports the view that ED is related to PG (Billieux et al, 2011;Estévez et al, 2017;Gaetan et al, 2016). Moreover, our results are consistent with other research showing that difficulties in emotion regulation are a part of, or give a rise to, psychological symptoms such as depression and social anxiety (Klemanski, Curtiss, McLaughlin, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2017;Paulus, Vanwoerden, Norton, & Sharp, 2016), which have been established as risk factors for PG (Maroney et al, 2018;Yen et al, 2018).…”

“…In addition, Billieux et al (2015) postulated that among participants characterized by increased negative affect in their sample of 1,057 WoW players, PG was probably the result of a maladaptive coping strategy to overcome negative affect and negative life events. Finally, Maroney et al (2018) recently found that escapism motivations partially mediated the significant effects of depression, loneliness, and social anxiety on PG among first-person shooter and MMORPG players. However, to date, no studies have explored the link between ED and escapism motivations in problematic MMORPGs use.…”

“…To account for this contradiction, some authors have argued that the negative potential of escapism is related to its interactions with other vulnerability factors, such as psychological distress, poor psychosocial well-being, or poor coping resources (Ballabio et al, 2017;Bowditch et al, 2018;Demetrovics et al, 2011;Kardefelt-Winther, 2014b, 2014c. Moreover, some studies have suggested that an interaction between negative affect and escapism is likely to play a pivotal role in PG (Billieux et al, 2015;Bowditch et al, 2018;Chang, Hsieh, & Lin, 2018;Kardefelt-Winther, 2014a;Maroney et al, 2018). For example, Kardefelt-Winther (2014a) showed that escapism mediated the relationship between distress and problematic use of WoW.…”

“…Although PG has often been conceptualized within a biomedical model of addiction (Petry et al, 2014), alternative etiological hypotheses have emerged. These include PG resulting from maladaptive coping strategies displayed to deal with negative affect states (Maroney, Williams, Thomas, Skues, & Moulding, 2018;Reinecke, 2009;Schimmenti & Caretti, 2010;Snodgrass et al, 2018). In this respect, Kardefelt-Winther (2014b) proposed that some individuals might use the online environment to alleviate negative feelings arising from stressful or adverse life situations, potentially leading to problematic use and addictive-like symptoms.…”

Problematic Internet Use In Adolescence: A Study On Dissociative Experiences

“…Karderfelt-Winther (2014) suggested that activities related to the use of the Internet should be considered not only as conducts that contribute to possible patterns of addiction, but also as compensatory strategies to meet the needs of the individual and to cope with psychosocial problems. In line with this theoretical perspective, PIU can be conceptualized as a scaffold of coping strategies used to escape the problems and difficulties of real life through a temporary withdrawal in the activities carried out on internet (Deleuze et al, 2019;Di Blasi et al, 2019;Kardefelt-Winther, 2014;Maganuco et al, 2019;Maroney et al, 2018;Reinecke, 2009;Schimmenti et al, 2019;Snodgrass et al, 2018).…”