Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Addict Behav. 2022 Sep;132:107342. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107342. Epub 2022 Apr 26.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) proposed 'Internet Gaming Disorder' (IGD) as a tentative disorder (APA framework) in 2013 and in 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) has fully recognized 'Gaming Disorder' (GD) as a mental health disorder (WHO framework). These two frameworks have not yet been jointly investigated in the context of esports. The present study aims to investigate the feasibility of the APA and WHO frameworks for disordered gaming among professional and non-professional gamers and to ascertain the suitability of existing psychometric tools for use in esports.
A sample of 5,734 gamers (M = 21.47 years, SD = 6.69 years; 6.94% female) recruited through an online survey prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that included an age and gender matched group of professional (n = 2,867) and non-professional gamers (n = 2,867) was investigated. Pairwise comparisons, measurement invariance (MI), and latent mean difference tests were conducted to distinguish the two groups of gamers.
Overall, professional gamers showed greater time spent gaming and prevalence of disordered gaming than non-professional gamers. Additionally, MI was supported and both disordered gaming levels and latent means were significantly higher among professional gamers when compared to non-professional gamers across both APA and WHO frameworks.
Esports is cross-sectionally associated with greater disordered gaming vulnerability through increased time spent gaming and disordered gaming prevalence rates. Furthermore, the APA and WHO frameworks are viable in the context of esports gaming with existing assessment tools being effective in the assessment of disordered gaming in esports. The results and implications are further discussed in light of the extant literature.
美国精神病学协会（APA）于 2013 年提出“网络游戏障碍”（IGD）作为一种暂定障碍（APA 框架），而 2019 年世界卫生组织（WHO）则全面承认“游戏障碍”（GD）作为一种心理健康障碍（WHO 框架）。这两个框架尚未在电子竞技的背景下进行联合调查。本研究旨在调查 APA 和 WHO 框架在职业和非职业游戏玩家中对游戏障碍的可行性，并确定现有心理计量工具在电子竞技中的适用性。
在 COVID-19 大流行之前，通过在线调查招募了 5734 名游戏玩家（M=21.47 岁，SD=6.69 岁；6.94%为女性），其中包括一个年龄和性别匹配的职业（n=2867）和非职业游戏玩家（n=2867）组。进行了两两比较、测量不变性（MI）和潜在均值差异检验，以区分两组游戏玩家。
总体而言，职业游戏玩家比非职业游戏玩家花费更多的时间玩游戏，且游戏障碍的患病率更高。此外，MI 得到了支持，与非职业游戏玩家相比，在 APA 和 WHO 框架下，职业游戏玩家的游戏障碍水平和潜在均值都显著更高。
通过增加玩游戏的时间和游戏障碍的流行率，电子竞技与更大的游戏障碍易感性存在横断面关联。此外，APA 和 WHO 框架在电子竞技游戏的背景下是可行的，现有的评估工具在电子竞技中评估游戏障碍是有效的。根据现有文献，进一步讨论了结果和意义。
