Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523-1787.
Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-0230.
Am J Hum Biol. 2018 Sep;30(5):e23146. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23146. Epub 2018 Jun 20.
To combine social genomics with cultural approaches to expand understandings of the somatic health dynamics of online gaming, including in the controversial nosological construct of internet gaming disorder (IGD).
In blood samples from 56 U.S. gamers, we examined expression of the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), a leukocyte gene expression profile activated by chronic stress. We compared positively engaged and problem gamers, as identified by an ethnographically developed measure, the Positive and Negative Gaming Experiences Scale (PNGE-42), and also by a clinically derived IGD scale (IGDS-SF9).
CTRA profiles showed a clear relationship with PNGE-42, with a substantial linkage to offline social support, but were not meaningfully associated with disordered play as measured by IGDS-SF9.
Our study advances understanding of the psychobiology of play, demonstrating via novel transcriptomic methods the association of negatively experienced internet play with biological measures of chronic threat, uncertainty, and distress. Our findings are consistent with the view that problematic patterns of online gaming are a proxy for broader patterns of biopsychosocial stress and distress such as loneliness, rather than a psychiatric disorder sui generis, which might exist apart from gamers' other life problems. By confirming the biological correlates of certain patterns of internet gaming, culturally-sensitive genomics approaches such as this can inform both evolutionary theorizing regarding the nature of play, as well as current psychiatric debates about the appropriateness of modeling distressful gaming on substance addiction and problem gambling.
将社会基因组学与文化方法相结合，以扩展对在线游戏躯体健康动态的理解，包括在有争议的互联网游戏障碍（IGD）的分类学构建中。
在 56 名美国游戏者的血液样本中，我们检查了保守的逆境转录反应（CTRA）的表达，这是一种由慢性应激激活的白细胞基因表达谱。我们比较了通过民族志开发的量表（PNGE-42）和临床衍生的 IGD 量表（IGDS-SF9）确定的积极参与和有问题的游戏者。
CTRA 图谱与 PNGE-42 有明显的关系，与线下社会支持有很大的联系，但与 IGDS-SF9 测量的紊乱游戏没有意义上的联系。
我们的研究推进了对游戏心理生物学的理解，通过新颖的转录组学方法证明了负面体验的互联网游戏与慢性威胁、不确定性和困扰的生物测量之间的关联。我们的发现与这样一种观点一致，即在线游戏的问题模式是更广泛的生物心理社会压力和困扰模式的代表，如孤独，而不是一种独立于游戏者其他生活问题的独特精神障碍。通过确认某些互联网游戏模式的生物学相关性，这种文化敏感的基因组学方法可以为关于游戏本质的进化理论提供信息，也可以为关于将痛苦的游戏建模为物质成瘾和赌博问题的当前精神病学辩论提供信息。
