Potential Correlates of Internet Gaming Disorder Among Indonesian Medical Students: Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background Internet gaming disorder has been a controversial topic for nearly a decade. Although internet addiction has been studied in medical students, there is a paucity of evidence regarding internet gaming disorder. Previous studies in Indonesia explored only the prevalence rate and characteristics. Objective This study aimed to determine the prevalence rate of internet gaming disorder and correlations between internet gaming disorder, temperament, and psychopathology among Indonesian medical students. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed from August 2019 to September 2019 using total and convenience sampling at a private university and a public university, respectively. The study variables were measured using the Indonesian version of the 10-item Internet Gaming Disorder Test, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the Symptoms Checklist 90. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between demographic factors, temperament, psychopathology, and the presence of internet gaming disorder. Results Among the 639 respondents, the prevalence rate of internet gaming disorder was 2.03% (n=13), with a mean age of 20.23 (SD 0.13) years and an average gaming duration of 19.0 (SD 0.96) hours/week. Up to 71.2% respondents played using their mobile phones, and respondents with internet gaming disorder reported experiencing all psychopathologies assessed, except phobic anxiety. Bivariate analysis demonstrated that internet gaming disorder was associated with gender, gaming duration, gaming community affiliation, and 9 out of 10 domains of psychopathology. In a logistic regression model, internet gaming disorder was correlated with weekly gaming hours ≥20 hours (odds ratio [OR] 4.21, 95% CI 1.08-16.38, P=.04). Conclusions These findings suggest that the prevalence of internet gaming disorder among medical students in Jakarta, Indonesia is similar to that in other populations of Asian countries. The predisposing factor for internet gaming disorder was weekly gaming duration, while other demographic, temperament, and psychopathology variables acted as probable moderators. Strategies should, therefore, be developed and integrated into medical curriculum to screen and aid individuals with these predisposing factors.

Development and Internal Validation of a Model for Predicting Internet Gaming Disorder Risk in Adolescents and Children

“…A longitudinal study conducted by Wartberg et al ( 8 ) found that male sex, severe self-esteem problems, and severe hyperactivity symptoms are predictors of problematic online gaming behavior. In addition to the above, several other studies focusing on risk factors for IGD support that many variables are significantly associated with the development of IGD, including video game cost ( 9 , 10 ), gaming time ( 11 , 12 ), difficulty in emotion regulation ( 13 ), higher impulsivity ( 11 , 14 , 15 ), hyperactivity symptoms ( 16 – 19 ), self-esteem problems ( 19 – 21 ), playing multiplayer games ( 22 , 23 ), emotional symptoms ( 24 , 25 ), peer relationship problems ( 26 – 28 ), family relationship problems ( 29 , 30 ), and male sex ( 2 , 12 , 31 – 33 ), among others. Therefore, we collected information on these variables, with age and lifestyle factors (which we believe may be related to family support) as candidate predictors.…”

Biopsychosocial factors of gaming disorder: A systematic review employing screening tools with well-defined psychometric properties

“…In terms of depression and anxiety, a positive association with IGD was consistently reported (Bonnaire & Baptista, 2019;C. De Pasquale et al, 2020;Männikkö, Billieux, & Kääriäinen, 2015;Mentzoni et al, 2011;Siste et al, 2021;Lutz Wartberg, Kriston, & Thomasius, 2017) with some studies reporting that IGD positively predicted the levels of depression and anxiety (Pontes, 2017;Wong et al, 2020). When focusing on depression or anxiety independently, Severo et al (2020) found a positive association between IGD symptoms and depressive symptoms, Singh, Dahiya, Singh, Kumar, and Balhara (2019) found that depressive symptoms predicted IGD, and Stavropoulos, Vassallo, Burleigh, Gomez, and Colder Carras (2021) found that IGD predicted higher depressive symptoms.…”

Predicting Adolescent Internet Gaming Addiction from Perceived Discrimination, Deviant Peer Affiliation and Maladaptive Cognitions in the Chinese Population: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

“…In June 2021, the China Internet Network Information Center survey showed that the number of young Internet users aged 10–19 reached 158 million, accounting for 12.3% of all Internet users. Survey research has revealed that Chinese adolescents have higher IGA prevalence rates (14.6%) than their peers in most other countries, including Indonesia, Slovenia, and Singapore [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Furthermore, empirical studies have indicated that IGA could lead to adolescent major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts [ 5 ].…”