Problematic Video Gaming in a Young Spanish Population: Association with Psychosocial Health

Abstract

Problematic video gaming (PVG) is a concern for psychologists attending children and adolescents. Uniform diagnostic criteria are lacking, and risk factors are poorly understood. Internet gaming disorder (IGD) was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and scales derived from its diagnostic criteria may be helpful to assess PVG. A multicenter study was conducted in secondary schools using an IGD-derived scale (dichotomous Nine-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale [IGD-9]), analyzing PVG-related variables. Seven hundred eight students (55.8 percent male) with mean age 15.6 ± 2.7 years were included. Seventy-three percent were gamers and 22 percent heavy gamers (HGs). Forty-five percent reported online gaming and 6.6 percent massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Fifty-nine students (8.3 percent) scored 5 or more in IGD-9 and were classified as IGD+. HG and IGD+ subjects were more frequently male and online and MMORPG gamers (p < 0.01). However, IGD+ subjects had significantly worse psychosocial scores than IGD- (p < 0.001), while HGs did not significantly differ from casual gamers (p > 0.01). The multivariate analysis showed that IGD+ scores were significantly associated with worse psychosocial health and adjustment (p < 0.001), while the other variables (male sex, online and MMORPG gaming, and HG) were not significantly associated (p > 0.01). The IGD-9 scale scored positive in 8.3 percent of our sample. Unlike gaming time, this scale was associated with psychosocial disturbances, making it potentially useful as a screening method to detect candidates for clinical intervention.

Spanish Validation of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short Form (IGDS9-SF): Prevalence and Relationship with Online Gambling and Quality of Life

“…The prevalence rate of IGD in the present sample was 1.9%, which is similar to the 2.6% found in another Spanish sample by Fuster et al [37] but noticeably lower than that of 8.3% reported by Buiza-Aguado et al [36]. These discrepancies may be due to the use of different psychometric tools in assessing IGD.…”

“…In Spain (where the present study was carried out), a study with a school sample of 708 students reported 72.8% online gamers [36] of whom 8.3% met five or more of the nine criteria for IGD (86.44% were male). Another study conducted with Spanish-speaking online gamers reported a prevalence of 2.6% disordered gamers [37].…”

“…In terms of comorbidity, IGD has been associated with a wide spectrum of psychological problems including depression, anxiety, social phobias, poorer school performance, and sleep disorders [36,[39][40][41][42]. In addition, studies have begun to appear comprising clinical samples demanding psychological treatment, which meet the criteria for the disorder [38,43].…”

“…Several studies indicate that inadequate use of the internet is related to low scores on HRQoL, in addition to a lower self-perceived social support and more friends only known through the internet [54,55]. Similarly, other studies indicate that both HRQoL and social aspects are affected among people presenting problems related to the use of video games in adolescence [31,36].…”

El papel de la personalidad en el juego problemático y en las preferencias de géneros de videojuegos en adolescentes

“…El 72,16% de nuestra muestra había jugado a videojuegos en el último mes, un porcentaje muy similar al reportado por jugadores jóvenes en España (Buiza-Aguado, Alonso-Canovas, Conde-Mateos, Buiza-Navarrete y Gentile, 2018). No obstante, el porcentaje de jugadores diarios era mucho más bajo (22,7%), otro resultado comparable con el de los adolescentes españoles (Gonzálvez, Espada y Tejeiro, 2016).…”