Angela Boškin Faculty of Health Care, Spodnji Plavž 3, SI-4270, Jesenice, Slovenia.
Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Aug 12;21(1):1547. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11394-4.
Electronic gaming is a popular free-time activity and its deleterious effects have been considered by the American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization. More recently 'Gaming Disorder' (GD) has been added to the 11 revision of the International Classification of Diseases, while 'Internet Gaming Disorder' (IGD) remains as a tentative disorder in the 5 revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of young gamers at risk for developing IGD.
To achieve this, a quantitative and nationally representative study was conducted in primary schools in Slovenia with eighth grade as the primary sampling unit (N = 1071, Mean = 13.44 years, SD = 0.59). Psychometric testing assessing IGD was conducted to identify participants' IGD risk levels and to compare 'high risk gamers', 'low risk gamers', and 'non-gamers' in relation to free-time activities, self-control, and parent-child relationship. A one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted with Games-Howell post-hoc test to compare the three groups of participants. Statistically significant IGD factors were then included in a multinomial logistic regression analysis to identify the most relevant predictors of IGD.
About 4.7% (n = 48) [95% CI: 3.4-6.0%] of Slovenian adolescents were found to be 'high risk gamers' when considering risk of IGD. These were mostly males (n = 42, 87.5%), and their preferred leisure activities involved more screen time activities (e.g., watching TV, playing video games, using social media). Moreover, 'high risk gamers' showed significantly lower levels of self-control compared to 'low risk gamers', and poorer understanding with their parents. Perceived satisfaction with life and mental health did not differ significantly between the three groups. The multinomial logistic regression identified four key predictors of IGD: male gender, gaming as a frequent free-time activity, attending music school or a choir and self-control.
Public health measures should target adolescents at increased risk of developing IGD in early age because they are particularly drawn to excessive gaming behaviors and present greater IGD vulnerability.
电子游戏是一种流行的业余活动，其有害影响已被美国精神病学协会和世界卫生组织所考虑。最近，“游戏障碍”（GD）已被添加到国际疾病分类第 11 次修订版中，而“互联网游戏障碍”（IGD）仍然是精神障碍诊断与统计手册第 5 次修订版中的一个暂定障碍。本研究旨在探讨有发展 IGD 风险的年轻游戏者的特征。
为此，在斯洛文尼亚的小学进行了一项定量的、具有全国代表性的研究，以八年级为主要抽样单位（N=1071，平均值=13.44 岁，标准差=0.59）。进行了心理测试，以评估参与者的 IGD 风险水平，并将“高风险游戏者”、“低风险游戏者”和“非游戏者”与业余时间活动、自我控制和亲子关系进行比较。采用单因素方差分析和 Games-Howell 事后检验比较三组参与者。然后将具有统计学意义的 IGD 因素纳入多项逻辑回归分析，以确定 IGD 的最相关预测因素。
大约 4.7%（n=48）[95%CI：3.4-6.0%]的斯洛文尼亚青少年被认为是“高风险游戏者”，考虑到 IGD 的风险。这些人大多是男性（n=42，87.5%），他们更喜欢的休闲活动包括更多的屏幕时间活动（如看电视、玩视频游戏、使用社交媒体）。此外，“高风险游戏者”与“低风险游戏者”相比，自我控制能力明显较低，与父母的理解也较差。三组之间的生活满意度和心理健康感知没有显著差异。多项逻辑回归确定了 IGD 的四个关键预测因素：男性性别、游戏作为频繁的业余活动、参加音乐学校或合唱团以及自我控制。
公共卫生措施应针对早期有发展 IGD 风险的青少年，因为他们特别容易沉迷于过度游戏行为，并且更易出现 IGD 脆弱性。
