Slack Jake D, Mctigue Ben, Mackenzie Heather, Flack Mal, Caudwell Kim M
Discipline of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Brinkin, NT 0810, Australia.
Researchers in Behavioural Addictions, Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD), Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Brinkin, NT 0810, Australia.
Addict Behav Rep. 2025 Jul 18;22:100625. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2025.100625. eCollection 2025 Dec.
There are higher rates of video game use and potentially gaming disorder among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the association between subthreshold autistic-like traits (ALTs) and gaming behaviour remains relatively unexplored. The present study assessed whether gaming motives may mediate the relationship between ALTs and gaming disorder symptoms. A total of 378 (Mage = 31.41, SD = 8.84) respondents completed an online survey, which included measures of gaming disorder symptoms, gaming motives, and ALTs. Findings indicated that social and escape motives mediated relationship between ALTs and gaming disorder symptoms, after controlling for time gaming. However, ALTs displayed a negative association with social motives and a positive association with escape and both social and escape motives were positively associated with gaming disorder symptoms. These findings indicate that individuals with higher levels of ALTs may game primarily for escape from real-life challenges and less so for social reasons, potentially exacerbating problem gaming symptoms. These results underscore the importance of understanding gaming motives, as they can inform targeted interventions for reducing problematic gaming. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on gaming behaviour, emphasising the need for motives to be considered in educational and problem gaming support initiatives.
在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者中，电子游戏的使用频率更高，且可能存在游戏障碍。然而，亚阈值自闭症样特质（ALTs）与游戏行为之间的关联仍相对未被探索。本研究评估了游戏动机是否可能介导ALTs与游戏障碍症状之间的关系。共有378名（年龄中位数=31.41，标准差=8.84）受访者完成了一项在线调查，该调查包括游戏障碍症状、游戏动机和ALTs的测量。研究结果表明，在控制游戏时间后，社交和逃避动机介导了ALTs与游戏障碍症状之间的关系。然而，ALTs与社交动机呈负相关，与逃避动机呈正相关，且社交和逃避动机均与游戏障碍症状呈正相关。这些发现表明，ALTs水平较高的个体可能主要为逃避现实生活中的挑战而玩游戏，而非出于社交原因，这可能会加剧问题游戏症状。这些结果强调了理解游戏动机的重要性，因为它们可以为减少问题游戏的针对性干预提供信息。本研究为关于游戏行为的不断增长的文献做出了贡献，强调了在教育和问题游戏支持举措中考虑动机的必要性。
