Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
BMC Psychiatry. 2012 Jul 28;12:92. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-92.
Online gaming technology has developed rapidly within the past decade, and its related problems have received increasing attention. However, there are few studies on the psychiatric symptoms associated with excessive use of online games. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of online gamers, and the association between online gaming hours, social phobia, and depression using an internet survey.
An online questionnaire was designed and posted on a popular online game websites, inviting the online gamers to participate the survey. The content of the questionnaire included demographic data, profiles of internet usage and online gaming, and self-rating scales of Depression and Somatic Symptoms Scale (DSSS), Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), and Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS).
A total of 722 online gamers with a mean age of 21.8 ± 4.9 years completed the online survey within one month. 601 (83.2%) participants were male, and 121 (16.8%) were female. The mean weekly online gaming time was 28.2 ± 19.7 hours, which positively associated with history of online gaming (r = 0.245, p < 0.001), total DSSS (r = 0.210, p < 0.001), SPIN (r = 0.150, p < 0.001), and CIAS (r = 0.290, p < 0.001) scores. The female players had a shorter history of online gaming (6.0 ± 3.1 vs. 7.2 ± 3.6 years, p = 0.001) and shorter weekly online gaming hours (23.2 ± 17.0 vs. 29.2 ± 20.2 hours, p = 0.002), but had higher DSSS (13.0 ± 9.3 vs. 10.9 ± 9.7, p = 0.032) and SPIN (22.8 ± 14.3 vs. 19.6 ± 13.5, p = 0.019) scores than the male players. The linear regression model showed that higher DSSS scores were associated with female gender, higher SPIN scores, higher CIAS scores, and longer weekly online gaming hours, with controlling for age and years of education.
The online gamers with longer weekly gaming hours tended to have a longer history of online gaming, and more severe depressive, social phobic, and internet addiction symptoms. Female online gamers had fewer weekly online gaming hours and a shorter previous online gaming history, but tended to have more severe somatic, pain, and social phobic symptoms. The predictors for depression were higher social phobic symptom, higher internet addiction symptoms, longer online gaming hours, and female gender.
在过去的十年中，在线游戏技术发展迅速，其相关问题也受到越来越多的关注。然而，关于过度使用网络游戏与精神疾病之间的关系，目前相关研究还较少。本研究旨在通过网络调查，探讨网络游戏玩家的特征，以及在线游戏时间、社交恐惧症和抑郁之间的关系。
设计了一个在线问卷，并发布在一个热门的在线游戏网站上，邀请在线游戏玩家参与调查。问卷内容包括人口统计学数据、互联网使用和在线游戏概况，以及抑郁自评量表（DSSS）、社交恐惧症量表（SPIN）、陈网络成瘾量表（CIAS）的自评量表。
在一个月内，共有 722 名平均年龄为 21.8±4.9 岁的在线游戏玩家完成了在线调查。601 名（83.2%）参与者为男性，121 名（16.8%）为女性。每周在线游戏时间的平均值为 28.2±19.7 小时，与在线游戏史（r=0.245，p<0.001）、总 DSSS（r=0.210，p<0.001）、SPIN（r=0.150，p<0.001）和 CIAS（r=0.290，p<0.001）评分呈正相关。女性玩家的在线游戏史较短（6.0±3.1 年 vs. 7.2±3.6 年，p=0.001），每周在线游戏时间较短（23.2±17.0 小时 vs. 29.2±20.2 小时，p=0.002），但 DSSS（13.0±9.3 分 vs. 10.9±9.7 分，p=0.032）和 SPIN（22.8±14.3 分 vs. 19.6±13.5 分，p=0.019）评分较高。线性回归模型显示，较高的 DSSS 评分与女性性别、较高的 SPIN 评分、较高的 CIAS 评分和较长的每周在线游戏时间相关，而与年龄和受教育年限相关。
每周在线游戏时间较长的玩家往往有较长的在线游戏史，且抑郁、社交恐惧和网络成瘾症状更严重。女性在线游戏玩家每周在线游戏时间较短，在线游戏史较短，但躯体化、疼痛和社交恐惧症状更严重。抑郁的预测因素包括较高的社交恐惧症症状、较高的网络成瘾症状、较长的在线游戏时间和女性性别。
