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University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Psychology

Video game addiction often leads to a tremendous burden on those afflicted with the condition, draining their time, resources, and life away until they have nothing left. To further elucidate the problem of video game addiction, the current research examines the level of video game addiction of 111 participants, along with their motivation for their addictive behaviors, the quality of life of addicted individuals, and possible relations between video game addiction and other forms of addiction. Results of the current research indicate a correlation between addictive video game use and depression, alcohol use, a desire for escapism, a need for social interaction, and lack of self-control. The results of a multiple regression indicate that, amongst the various research factors, depression is the factor with the most significant link to addictive video game use, implying a dangerous correlation between mental health and an addictive behavior that some erroneously disqualify as a true addiction.

Among both youth and adults, video gaming is a rapidly growing recreational activity. The American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization have identified problematic video gaming behavior as a clinical concern in need of further research and have conceptualized this condition as a behavioral addiction. Empirically validated assessment tools may aid in case conceptualization, and cognitive-behavioral techniques have accrued some evidence supporting their efficacy when targeting internet gaming disorder. Clinicians should consider employing goal setting, behavior tracking, and functional analyses, and should consider increasing alternative pleasurable activities, incentivizing specific behavior changes, and integrating caregivers into treatment when working with adolescents.

The problem that this study addressed is the rise of internet gaming disorder (IGD) globally, including within the United States and countries such as China—and, the resultant need for more data on the prevalence of adult men and women meeting criteria for a diagnosis of IGD, as well as data on related comorbidities and psychosocial issues. A global sample (N=231) met the study inclusion criteria (i.e., play video games at least once a week at a minimum, consider themselves involved in Internet gaming, and have been gaming for the past six months—while of interest were findings with an English Speaking (ES) sample, and a Chinese Mandarin Speaking (CMS) sample. The study sample of convenience recruited via a social media campaign was 62.4% (n=63) male in the ES sample, and 55.4% (n=72) male in the CMS sample. The ES sample had a mean age of 29.34 (SD=8.396, Min=18, Max=52), and the CMS sample had mean age of 25.65 (SD=7.514, Min=18, Max=57). While the CMS sample indicated they were Asian (99.2%, n=129), the ES sample was diverse: 58% White (n=59), 17.8% (n=59) Asian, and 11.9% (n=12) Black. The main study findings reveal a prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD of 0% (n=101) for the ES sample, and .8% (n=1) for the CMS sample. As another main study finding, for the CMS sample, participants met more DSM-5 criteria for IGD (out of the 9 total criteria), when they were male, experienced anxiety in the past year, and were engaged in more violence due to gaming. For the ES sample, study participants met more DSM-5 criteria for IGD (out of the 9 total criteria), when they did not have a partner, had a higher income, were engaged in more violence due to gaming, engaged in a higher level of help seeking for personal/emotional support, and had a lower level of perceived social support. In essence, this constitutes the provision of risk profiles and descriptions of those most vulnerable to IGD. This study contributes to those efforts to conduct research on the DSM-5 criteria for IGD (APA, 2013).

Previous research demonstrated the phenomenon of moral panics on “dangerous” games mostly from Western perspectives, regarding media violence and deviant behaviour. With the development of media technology, the term “media panic” has evolved from moral panic, representing the debates and fearful emotion from the public when a new media technology has been created. Digital games as a form of media technology have been developed to be widely played on various platforms in recent decades, which have not only brought concerns to the Western but also to Chinese society. The present study will introduce media panic on digital games in China by analyzing news reports from three Chinese mainstream news media: People’s Daily, Xinhua Daily Telegraph and Wen Wei Po (Shanghai). Content analysis will be adopted as the main method to process the news data (N = 445) which are collected from five periods between 2002 and 2020 (2002-2004, 2007-2009, 2012-2014, 2017-2019, 2020). Different phases and features of the panic will be analyzed through the classical moral panic theories of Cohen, Goode and Ben-Yehuda, and the media panic theory of Drotner. Topics of game addiction, Internet cafes, policies on the game industry, cultural innovation, development of esports will be explored when investigating the changing media attitudes toward digital games in the Chinese context.

Kunskapen om TV- och datorspelmissbruk bland ungdomar är idag väldigt begränsad. Stillasittande/fysisk inaktivitet, som TV- och datorspel ofta innebär och som kan innebära negativa konsekvenser, blir allt vanligare. En semistrukturerad intervjustudie har genomförts på sju män i åldersgruppen 17-29 år i syfte att undersöka drivkrafterna bakom mäns spelbeteende i tonåren. Dessutom har information om spelmissbruk bland ungdomar inhämtats av fyra yrkesverksamma inom spelområdet. Detta samt kopplingar mellan TV- och datorspel och spel om pengar har gjorts p g a bristen på forskning om TV- och datorspel. De före detta spelmissbrukarna har kategoriserats som fritidsspelare och spelproblematiker (som lyckats sluta missbruka spel på egen hand), samt spelberoende, som fått avstå helt från spel för att få ett slut på sitt missbruk, medan övriga än idag kan spela i måttlig och ytterst liten mängd. Verklig och upplevd kontroll över sig själva och omgivningen har varit viktiga determinanter för informanternas spelmissbruk. Anledningarna till att de slutade/minskade på spelandet är att de i huvudsak tappade intresset för spel (dock inte helt), fick andra prioriteringar och/eller inte ville få återfall där de återgår till sitt gamla missbruksbeteende. Spelandet har haft en funktion som flykt från en problematisk livssituation, vilken med tiden endast förvärrats för de spelberoende parallellt med missbruket. Även upplevelsen av direkt, tillfällig tillfredsställelse har varit en stor drivkraft samtidigt som det har lett till spelmissbruket. Det tidsödande fritidsintresset fick konsekvenser på den psykiska och fysiska hälsan och beteendet, utvecklingen, relationer till närstående, familjesituationen, skolgången, den sociala etableringen samt den socioekonomiska situationen, vilket sammanfattningsvis ledde till att informanterna utvecklade en ohälsosam och ofta destruktiv livsstil. / The knowledge of computer- and video game abuse and addiction among young people is very limited today. The sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity that computer- and video games often involve can have negative consequences, and are becoming more common. A semi-structured interview was conducted on seven men between the ages of 17-29 in order to examine the driving forces behind men’s gaming behavior in their adolescence. In addition, information about game abuse among young people was gathered from professionals in the area of computer- and video games. This and links between computer- and video games and gambling have been made due to the lack of research on video and computer games. The former video game addicts have been categorized as recreational players, game problematics (who by themselves managed to stop abusing games) and game addicts, who have completely abstained from gaming to put an end to their addiction, while the others still play moderately and very little today. Actual and perceived control over themselves and their environment has been important determinants for the player’s former addiction. The reason why they stopped/decreased the gaming is essentially because they lost interest in games (not completely though), got other priorities and/or did not want to relapse and return to old problematic behavior. Gaming as an escape from a problematic life situation was a common feature among the addicts. The situation for the game addicts only worsened with time along with their game abuse. Although the experience of direct, incidental satisfaction has been a major driving force, it simultaneously led to game abuse. The time-consuming leisure activity had consequences on the mental and physical health, behavior and social development, as well as on the relationships to relatives, family situation, school attendance, social establishment and socioeconomic situation. To sum up, the informants developed an unhealthy and often destructive lifestyle because of the game habits.

Using a quantitative survey distributed to regular players of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) (N = 777), the current study employed a correlation matrix and a parallel mediation model to assess the relationship between play frequency, motivating factors, and video game addiction. The results demonstrated that each of these elements were related to one another to varying degrees (p < .001). The motivating factors identified by Yee (2006) included achievement, immersion, and social interaction, which were tested as mediators and indicated that achievement (a1 = 0.2817, p < 0.001; b1 = 0.4073, p < 0.001) and immersion (a2 = 0.3217, p < 0.001; b2 = 0.2574, p < 0.001) are mediators in the relationship of play frequency and addiction. Social interaction was not significant as a mediator (a3 = 0.3217, p < 0.001; b3 = -0.0235, p = 0.6753). Higher levels of addiction were present for those who were motivated by achievement (rewards) and immersion (storyline/diversion) to play more frequently per week. However, those who were motivated by social interaction to play frequently did not demonstrate a statistically significant relationship with higher levels of addiction. Findings suggest that motivating factors of gameplay may have a mediating effect on the relationship between play frequency and addiction.

Mankind has developed a lot in the field of Information Technology (IT), Computer Science and Media entertainment. Video games are also the most popular form of media entertainment and gaming environment. It has been popular long before the new generation video games idea was ever thought by the video game designers. Through our research we tried to investigate the positive and negative effects of video games on youth and children. This form of entertainment is more designed attracted among the people, due to the high sophisticated music and environment, which catches every eye. We not only analyzed the previous attempts in this area, but also tried to add some contribution to it. The excessive use of video games makes it more damaging effects on a young mind. Parents and teachers should keep a check on youngsters, and also the companies who design such violent games should keep in account that, what they show through these video games must have some logical or educational value. Many children and youngsters we found through our survey like to play video games because they do not have any other entertaining options. Violent video games are the most appreciated one among children and young people because of the detailed high quality graphics, more realistic images, use of artificial intelligence, complex game strategies, intelligent game inference engines and human-machine interaction. Parents should keep check on their children and select such video games for them which teach their children some useful things and beneficial for them in studies and near future. The teachers in school should also talk more about the advantages of educative games or physical games to develop the young minds more professional and realistic, rather than creating fantasy and fake imaginations. Our survey and research showed us that due to the high attraction of the video games, positive and negative effects are going side by side. Many youth and children do not take the video games seriously and just play them as any another game, while some video game players have disturbed their studies and health by playing the video games for many hours. Many children and young generation denied calling it as an addiction or bad habit. If violence and killing a life is entertainment then human beings will consider it, as a fun and modern society cannot be defined as civilized. This is what we found from our research and survey. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

Introduction: The American Psychiatric Association included Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and the World Health Organization included gaming disorder in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases. These recent updates suggest significant concern related to the harms of excessive gaming. Areas covered: This systematic review provides an updated summary of the scientific literature on treatments for IGD. Inclusion criteria were that studies: 1) evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention for IGD or excessive gaming; 2) use an experimental design (i.e. multi-armed [randomized or nonrandomized] or pretest-posttest); 3) include at least 10 participants per group; and 4) include an outcome measure of IGD symptoms or gaming duration. The review identified 22 studies evaluating treatments for IGD: 8 evaluating medication, 7 evaluating cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, and 7 evaluating other interventions and psychosocial treatments. Expert opinion: Even with the recent uptick in publication of such clinical trials, methodological flaws prevent strong conclusions about the efficacy of any treatment for IGD. Additional well-designed clinical trials using common metrics for assessing IGD symptoms are needed to advance the field.