Heo Yea-Ji, Lee Gi-Eun, Lee Jang-Han
Department of Psychology, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 27;15:1355204. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355204. eCollection 2024.
The aim of this study was to elucidate individual difference factors that modulate the attentional processing of game stimuli to explain the heterogeneity of extant findings. The current study examined whether individual differences in components of attentional control (AC-shifting and AC-focusing) moderated the link between internet gaming addiction symptom and attentional engagement to and disengagement biases from game-relevant cues.
A total of 75 male undergraduate students who have played League of Legend (LOL) for more than 2 years completed well-established self-report questionnaires of internet gaming disorder symptoms and attentional control. The attentional bias toward game stimuli was measured for attentional engagement and disengagement using the attentional response to the distal vs. proximal emotional information (ARDPEI) task.
The results revealed that attentional control was a significant moderator of the relationship between internet game addiction symptoms and attentional disengagement bias. Further analyses revealed a positive relationship between internet game addiction symptoms and attentional disengagement bias only among those with low levels of AC-shifting ability. Contrary to our expectations, AC-shifting also moderated the relationship between internet gaming disorder and attentional engagement bias. The positive relationship between internet game addiction symptoms and attentional engagement bias only appeared among those with low levels of AC-shifting ability. Individual differences in AC-focusing did not moderate the relationship between internet gaming disorder and any attentional bias.
This study confirmed that the greater the symptoms of game addiction, the stronger the attentional bias, especially in individuals with low AC-shifting ability. Therefore, it is necessary to examine sub-factors of AC in understanding the nature of attentional bias mechanisms in the development of internet game addiction and consider it as a psychological intervention to improve attentional bias.
本研究旨在阐明调节游戏刺激注意力加工的个体差异因素，以解释现有研究结果的异质性。本研究考察了注意力控制（AC-转移和AC-聚焦）成分的个体差异是否调节了网络游戏成瘾症状与对游戏相关线索的注意力参与和脱离偏差之间的联系。
共有75名玩《英雄联盟》超过2年的男性本科生完成了成熟的网络游戏障碍症状和注意力控制的自我报告问卷。使用对远端与近端情绪信息的注意力反应（ARDPEI）任务来测量对游戏刺激的注意力偏差，以评估注意力参与和脱离情况。
结果显示，注意力控制是网络游戏成瘾症状与注意力脱离偏差之间关系的显著调节因素。进一步分析表明，仅在AC-转移能力较低的个体中，网络游戏成瘾症状与注意力脱离偏差之间存在正相关。与我们的预期相反，AC-转移也调节了网络游戏障碍与注意力参与偏差之间的关系。网络游戏成瘾症状与注意力参与偏差之间的正相关仅出现在AC-转移能力较低的个体中。AC-聚焦的个体差异并未调节网络游戏障碍与任何注意力偏差之间的关系。
本研究证实，游戏成瘾症状越严重，注意力偏差越强，尤其是在AC-转移能力较低的个体中。因此，在理解网络游戏成瘾发展过程中注意力偏差机制的本质时，有必要考察AC的子因素，并将其作为改善注意力偏差的一种心理干预措施。
