JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China.
PLoS One. 2023 Sep 8;18(9):e0290955. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290955. eCollection 2023.
This study tested the mediation effect of maladaptive cognition of internet gaming and moderation effect of internet gaming history in the relationship between internet gaming engagement and internet gaming disorder in adolescents.
A total of 2,902 secondary school students were surveyed in Hong Kong from February 2021 to December 2021. The proposed moderated mediation model was tested by PROCESS.
Internet gaming engagement, internet gaming history and maladaptive cognition were positively associated with internet gaming disorder symptoms. Maladaptive cognition significantly mediated the association between internet gaming engagement and internet gaming disorder symptoms in both males and females. In addition, a significant interaction between internet gaming engagement and internet gaming history was detected among females but not for males, namely, the positive relationships of internet gaming engagement with maladaptive cognition and internet gaming disorder symptoms were weaker with the increased years of internet gaming.
Our study provides a better understanding of the underlying mechanism and boundary condition in the association between internet gaming engagement and internet gaming disorder among adolescents. Preventing interventions should aim to reduce maladaptive cognition and internet gaming engagement. Interventions targeting internet gaming engagement maybe more effective among female gamers who are beginners and all male gamers.
本研究检验了网络成瘾投入与青少年网络成瘾障碍之间关系中的适应不良认知的中介作用和网络游戏史的调节作用。
2021 年 2 月至 2021 年 12 月，对香港的 2902 名中学生进行了调查。采用 PROCESS 检验了所提出的中介调节模型。
网络成瘾投入、网络游戏史和适应不良认知与网络成瘾障碍症状呈正相关。适应不良认知在男性和女性中均显著中介了网络成瘾投入与网络成瘾障碍症状之间的关系。此外，在女性中检测到网络成瘾投入与网络游戏史之间存在显著的交互作用，但在男性中则没有，即网络成瘾投入与适应不良认知和网络成瘾障碍症状之间的正相关关系随着网络游戏年限的增加而减弱。
本研究更好地理解了青少年网络成瘾投入与网络成瘾障碍之间关系的潜在机制和边界条件。预防干预措施应旨在减少适应不良认知和网络成瘾投入。针对网络成瘾投入的干预措施可能对新手女性玩家和所有男性玩家更有效。
