Gaming and Social Media Addiction in University Students: Sex Differences, Suitability of Symptoms, and Association With Psychosocial Difficulties

Abstract

Background: Previous research has shown that addictions to digital media can have negative impact on psychosocial health. Although Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has received most scholarly recognition, the potential negative consequences of Social Media Disorder (SMD) have also been found. However, few studies have assessed the symptoms of these two digital media addictions in the same way, making comparisons difficult. The present study aims to fill this gap by investigating differences and similarities regarding how common the symptoms are, sex differences, the suitability of the symptoms, and their association with psychosocial difficulties.Method: A total of 688 university students (63.2% women, Mean age = 25.98) completed a questionnaire measuring symptoms of IGD and SMD, as well as psychosocial difficulties (i.e., psychosomatic symptoms, low self-concept, and social problems).Results: Results showed that 1.2% of the men and 0.9% of the women met the symptom criteria for IGD (non-significant difference), whereas 3.2% men and 2.8% women met the symptom criteria for SMD (non-significant difference). Dimensional analyses indicated that men had higher IGD scores compared to women, whereas the opposite was found for SMD. Symptoms of heavy involvement in digital media (i.e., Preoccupation, Tolerance, Withdrawal, Unsuccessful attempts to control, and Escape) had high sensitivity, but low positive predictive value (PPV). However, symptoms associated with negative consequences of digital media use (i.e., Loss of interest, Continued excessive use, Deception, and Jeopardizing career/relationships) had low sensitivity, but high PPV. These symptom patterns were similar for IGD and SMD. Meeting the criteria for IGD or SMD as well as being at risk of these disorders were significantly associated with psychosocial difficulties. Symptoms of SMD generally had stronger associations with psychosomatic symptoms compared to symptoms of IGD.Conclusions: We conclude that heavy involvement in digital media seems common among individuals with IGD or SMD, but also among those not meeting the symptom criteria, whereas negative consequences are less common but highly predictive of digital media addictions once present. Further attention to SMD is warranted, as it seems more common than IGD and also seems to be equally or more strongly associated with psychosocial difficulties.

Internetfüggőség: a 21. század orvosi kihívása?

“…Szintén intenzív vita tárgya, hogy globális internethasználati problémáról beszélünk, vagy csupán egyes aspektusai okoznak gondot. Eldöntendő kérdés, hogy az online szexfüggőség (cybersex), szerencsejáték (gambling), közösségimédia-függőség, az online kapcsolati függőség (cyber relationship addiction), a túlzott információfüggés (compulsive information seeking), illetve a játékfüggőség (compulsive gaming) vajon külön entitások-e, vagy pedig a probléma más-más aspektusát jelentik [13][14][15][16][17].…”

The role of executive function deficits, delay aversion and emotion dysregulation in internet gaming disorder and social media disorder: Links to psychosocial outcomes

“…For problematic use of social media, there is no officially recognized disorder within the DSM-5. However, similarly to previous research, we chose to use the term Social Media Disorder (SMD) within the present study, and it is operationalized using the same symptom criteria as presented in DSM-5 ( APA, 2013 ) to describe IGD ( Bouna-Pyrrou et al., 2018 ; Burén, Nutley, Sandberg, Ström Wiman, & Thorell, 2021 ; Moretta, Buodo, Demetrovics, & Potenza, 2022 ; van den Eijnden, Lemmens, & Valkenburg, 2016 ). The terms “digital media” and “IGD/SMD symptom severity” are used as overarching constructs, which includes both gaming and social media.…”

“…At least five of nine symptoms need to be endorsed to meet the criteria for IGD. It has been argued that because there are many similarities between IGD and SMD, the same symptom criteria used to assess IGD could be adopted for SMD by replacing the word “gaming” with “social media use” (e.g., Bouna-Pyrrou et al., 2018 ; Burén et al., 2021 ; Moretta et al., 2022 ; van den Eijnden et al., 2016 ).…”

Screen time and addictive use of gaming and social media in relation to health outcomes

“…As the validity of these nine symptom criteria have been questioned (e.g., Griffiths et al, 2016 ; Castro-Calvo et al, 2021 ), it should be considered important to investigate how each one of these symptoms are related to both screen time and negative health outcomes. To better understand the importance of specific DSM-5 symptoms, some previous studies have made a distinction between symptoms linked to heavy involvement (i.e., criteria 1 to 4 as presented above) and those associated with negative consequences (criteria 5 to 9), with the former being more strongly associated with screen time but less strongly associated with negative psychosocial outcomes ( Wichstrøm et al, 2019 ; Burén et al, 2021 , 2023 ). Few studies have included both social media and gaming within the same study, even though it has been argued that the DSM-5 criteria presented for IGD can also be used for SMD (e.g., van den Eijnden et al, 2016 ).…”