Jung Jin Young, Choi Han Mil, Hong Jin Pyo, Kim Myung Hyun, Kim Dahae, Park So Hee, Hahm Bong-Jin, An Ji Hyun
Department of Psychiatry, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Psychiatry Investig. 2025 Jun;22(6):714-721. doi: 10.30773/pi.2023.0385. Epub 2025 Jun 16.
The aim of this article is to examine the correlation between social isolation, loneliness, and the use of online games. Conflicting conclusions have been drawn in previous studies on this topic due to small sample sizes and the confounding effects of psychiatric disorders. To address these limitations, the authors conducted a nationwide study that gives consideration to sociodemographic variables and psychiatric disorders.
A total of 5,511 Koreans responded to the Loneliness and Social Isolation Scale-6, Game Overuse Screening Questionnaire, and Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview between January 2021 and March 2021. Participants were classified as non-gamer, low-risk gamer, and high-risk gamer according to their game usage. Multivariate linear regression was performed to evaluate the association of game usage with loneliness and social isolation after propensity matching controlling for sociodemographic data and presence of psychiatric disorders.
Low-risk gamers reported significantly lower loneliness scores (0.53±1.02) compared to other gaming groups (non-risk: 0.94±1.44, high-risk: 1.02±1.64). Among male participants, non-risk gamers (2.49±1.51) showed lower social network scores than low-risk gamers (2.10±1.11) and high-risk gamers (2.09±1.31). Loneliness (p=0.001) was more strongly correlated with game usage than social support (p=0.839) or network (p=0.055). The relationship between loneliness and game usage was significantly stronger in non-risk (B=0.41) and high-risk (B=0.44) gamers than in low-risk gamers.
Increased use of game does not show a linear relationship with loneliness and isolation when correcting for confounding factors including psychiatric disease. Rather, low-risk game use was associated with lower scores for loneliness and isolation. Further studies exploring other factors that affect gaming overuse, loneliness and social isolation are needed.
本文旨在研究社会隔离、孤独感与网络游戏使用之间的相关性。由于先前研究样本量较小以及精神疾病的混杂效应，在该主题上得出了相互矛盾的结论。为解决这些局限性，作者开展了一项全国性研究，该研究考虑了社会人口统计学变量和精神疾病。
2021年1月至2021年3月期间，共有5511名韩国人对孤独感与社会隔离量表-6、游戏过度使用筛查问卷以及韩国版综合国际诊断访谈做出了回应。参与者根据其游戏使用情况被分为非游戏玩家、低风险游戏玩家和高风险游戏玩家。在对社会人口统计学数据和精神疾病的存在进行倾向匹配后，进行多变量线性回归以评估游戏使用与孤独感和社会隔离之间的关联。
与其他游戏群体（非风险组：0.94±1.44，高风险组：1.02±1.64）相比，低风险游戏玩家报告的孤独感得分显著更低（0.53±1.02）。在男性参与者中，非风险游戏玩家（2.49±1.51）的社交网络得分低于低风险游戏玩家（2.10±1.11）和高风险游戏玩家（2.09±1.31）。孤独感（p=0.001）与游戏使用的相关性比社会支持（p=0.839）或社交网络（p=0.055）更强。在非风险（B=0.41）和高风险（B=0.44）游戏玩家中孤独感与游戏使用之间的关系比低风险游戏玩家中显著更强。
在校正包括精神疾病在内的混杂因素后，游戏使用增加与孤独感和隔离感并未呈现线性关系。相反，低风险游戏使用与较低的孤独感和隔离感得分相关。需要进一步研究探索影响游戏过度使用、孤独感和社会隔离的其他因素。
