Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva University, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Research Centre for Statistics, Faculty of Economy and Management, Geneva University, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 2;19(15):9476. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159476.
Gaming disorder (GD) is a new health condition still requiring a lot of evidence established around its underlying and related psychological mechanisms. In our study we focused on Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), a specific very popular and engaging game genre, to determine that benefit, motivation and control aspects could be predictive of a dysfunctional engagement in gaming. In total, 313 participants were recruited from private forums of gamers between May 2009 and March 2010. They filled out a questionnaire on their socio-demographic data and their weekly gaming time. They also completed different psychometric assessments such as the DSM IV-TR criteria for substance dependence adapted to gaming such as the Dependence Adapted Scale (DAS), the external rewards they expected from gaming (External Motives), the expected internal reward they expected from gaming (Internal Motives), the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale (ZSSS), and the Barratt impulsiveness Scale (BIS-10). Results showed that some psychological factors related to online gaming represented risk factors for GD in participants (i.e., competition and advancement motives, reduced anxiety, solace, greater personal satisfaction, and sense of power), whereas some others were found to be protective factors from GD (i.e., recreation, enjoyment and experience seeking) in participants. Additionally, the study found that disinhibition, boredom susceptibility, thrill and adventure seeking, and high impulsivity were correlated to GD in participants. In conclusion, not only motives for gaming and impulsivity could be predictors for GD, but maladaptive coping strategies based on experienced relief in-game from negative feelings (anxiety and boredom) or experienced improvement in-game of self-perception (personal satisfaction, sense of power) could play as well a role of negative reinforcers for GD. Some benefits from gaming, typically entertainment and enjoyment, are shown to be protective factors from GD, playing the role of positive reinforcing factors. They are worthy of being identified and promoted as functional gaming habits. These findings can feed the clinical and health promotion fields, with a more in-depth understanding of diverse psychological factors in gamers, identifying those at risk for GD and those protective from it. The current work can foster a more balanced approach towards gaming activities, taking their opportunities for mankind and controlling for their adverse effects in some individuals.
游戏障碍（GD）是一种新的健康状况，其潜在和相关的心理机制仍需要大量证据来建立。在我们的研究中，我们专注于大型多人在线角色扮演游戏（MMORPG），这是一种非常流行和引人入胜的特定游戏类型，以确定收益、动机和控制方面可以预测游戏中功能失调的参与。共有 313 名参与者于 2009 年 5 月至 2010 年 3 月从游戏玩家的私人论坛招募。他们填写了一份关于社会人口统计学数据和每周游戏时间的问卷。他们还完成了不同的心理评估，如 DSM-IV-TR 对游戏的物质依赖标准，如依赖适应量表（DAS）、他们期望从游戏中获得的外部奖励（外部动机）、他们期望从游戏中获得的内部奖励（内部动机）、Zuckerman 感觉寻求量表（ZSSS）和 Barratt 冲动量表（BIS-10）。结果表明，与在线游戏相关的一些心理因素代表了参与者游戏障碍的风险因素（即竞争和进步动机、减少焦虑、安慰、更大的个人满足感和权力感），而其他一些因素被发现是参与者游戏障碍的保护因素（即娱乐、享受和体验寻求）。此外，研究发现，抑制不足、无聊易感性、寻求刺激和冒险以及高冲动性与参与者的 GD 相关。总之，不仅游戏动机和冲动性可以预测 GD，而且基于从负面情绪（焦虑和无聊）或自我认知的游戏内改善（个人满足感、权力感）中获得的游戏内缓解而产生的适应不良应对策略也可能对 GD 起到负强化作用。一些游戏的好处，通常是娱乐和享受，被证明是 GD 的保护因素，起到了正强化的作用。它们值得被识别和推广为功能性游戏习惯。这些发现可以为临床和健康促进领域提供信息，更深入地了解游戏者的不同心理因素，识别那些有 GD 风险的人，以及那些对 GD 有保护作用的人。目前的工作可以促进对游戏活动的更平衡的方法，利用它们给人类带来的机会，并控制它们对某些人的不利影响。
