Individual and Interpersonal Factors Associated with the Incidence, Persistence, and Remission of Internet Gaming Disorders Symptoms in an Adolescents Sample

Abstract

Video game playing behavior has serious consequences for adolescents on a personal, family, social, and academic level. This research aimed to examine risk and protective factors involving incidence, persistence, and remission of gaming disorders symptoms (IGDs) in Spanish adolescents after nine months of follow-up. Data were drawn from self-administered questionnaires completed on two occasions: at the beginning (T1) and end of the academic year (T2). A total of 950 adolescents aged from 11 to 20 years (M = 14, SD = 1.52, 48.5% female) completed the questionnaire at T1, while 550 adolescents aged from 11 to 18 years (M = 13.43, SD = 1.23, 48.9% female) took part in the follow-up study (T2). The incidence, persistence, and remission rates were 6%, 2.7%, and 4.2%, respectively. Significant relationships with IGDs were found between the male gender and studying at a private school in T1 and T2. The findings show that the time spent playing video games during T1 was positively associated with IGDs in T1 and T2. The incidence of IGDs was associated with emotional problems and low family affection. The persistence of IGDs was linked to higher motor impulsivity, agreeableness, and lower family resolve. Remission was related to a decrease in anxiety and hostility as well as an increase in the emotional stability of adolescents. These findings imply that emotional well-being and family adjustment could be relevant for the effective management of gaming behaviors.

Development and Validation of a Risk Assessment Tool for Gaming Disorder in China: The Gaming Hazard Assessment Scale

“…Considering that the original model's degree of fit was not satisfactory in this study, minor modifications were made to achieve sufficient model fitting (i.e., two correlations were added). One possible reason for the correlation between items 27 and 28, is that internet addiction and social phobia are considered relatively common; people with social phobia seldom go out or engage in social activities, and internet games provide them a way to reduce face-to-face contact with others while participating in game interaction ( 31 , 32 ). One reason for the correlation between 30 and 33, may be that patients with severe GD can experience sleep disturbance and spend large amounts of money on games ( 33 – 35 ).…”

Factors contributing to online game addiction in adolescents: a systematic review

“…Several studies explain some motivations why someone is interested in internet gaming, including entertainment and pleasure, emotional coping, seeking challenges, and escaping from reality [34]. Players who are addicted to playing to avoid dissatisfaction [35], could be exhibiting indications of withdrawal symptoms, they want to overcome it by playing compulsively.…”

“…Positive family factors, like positive impression of the family climate, the glow inside the family, or closeness among guardians and kids [39], additionally act as defensive variables against computer game compulsion [35]. Game addiction is associated with low emotional and affectionate family relationships.…”

Development of Gaming Disorder: Underlying Risk Factors and Complex Temporal Dynamics

“…When taking into account the developmental trends in risk factors, Aggression/hostility on the other hand would fit with the Impulsive/aggressive type (Lee et al, 2016) for which expression of aggression by engaging in extensive gaming is typical. The evidence accumulated from the longitudinal studies (for a systematic review see Zhuang et al, 2023) is however, ambiguous with regard to potential risk factors of GD, e.g., the predictive effect of anxiety was found for 6 and 12 months follow-up (Adams et al, 2018;Teng et al, 2021) but not for 9 months follow up (Chang et al, 2022;Marrero et al, 2021). More primary studies with both shorter and longer follow-ups are needed for future synthesis.…”