A three-wave longitudinal study on the underlying metacognitive mechanism between depression and Internet gaming disorder

Abstract

Background and aims: Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and depression have negative consequences on individuals' mental health, but their relationships are complex. This three-wave longitudinal study aimed to detect the metacognitive mechanisms underlying the association between IGD tendency and depression based on the self-regulatory executive function model. Methods: A total of 1,243 Chinese undergraduate student gamers (57% female, M = 19.77, SD = 1.29) were recruited at the baseline survey (Wave 1 [W1]), with 622 and 574 of them taking part in the two follow-up surveys (Wave 2 [W2] at 6 and Wave 3 [W3] at 12 months later), respectively. Results: The three-wave path model demonstrated, after controlling for the autoregressive effect of each variable, that depression consistently predicted IGD tendency but not vice versa, while negative but not positive metacognitions about online gaming (MOG) significantly predicted both depression and IGD tendency. Moreover, two statistically significant mediation paths: (i) negative MOG [W1] → depression [W2] → IGD tendency [W3]; and (ii) depression [W1] → negative MOG [W2] → IGD tendency [W3] were identified. Discussion and conclusions: These findings extend the understanding of the associations among depression, IGD tendency, and MOG, highlighting how negative MOG has a stronger prospective effect than positive MOG on depression and IGD tendency, and also reveal the mutual mediation effects of depression and negative MOG on IGD tendency. Integrated programmes with both emotional regulation training and Metacognitive Therapy are recommended for IGD treatment.

Psychometric Properties of the Metacognitions About Online Gaming Scale in the Chinese Population and Its Relationship With Internet Gaming Disorder: Cross-Sectional Study

“…This indicates that metacognition may partially mediate or explain the impact of these factors on IGD. This finding is consistent with previous research, suggesting that metacognitions about online gaming may mediate the influence of other psychological factors, such as psychological dependence, anxiety, and depression, on IGD [ 55 , 72 - 75 ]. These results indicate that specific metacognitions about online gaming are important predictors of IGD, which is consistent with previous studies [ 13 , 54 , 55 ].…”

Psychometric Properties of the Metacognitions About Online Gaming Scale in the Chinese Population and Its Relationship With Internet Gaming Disorder: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

“…This indicates that metacognition may partially mediate or explain the impact of these factors on IGD. This finding is consistent with previous research, suggesting that metacognitions about online gaming may mediate the influence of other psychological factors, such as psychological dependence, anxiety, and depression, on IGD [55,[72][73][74][75]. These results indicate that specific metacognitions about online gaming are important predictors of IGD, which is consistent with previous studies [13,54,55].…”