Dang Le, Zhai Jing, Kam Chester C S, Su Xiaoyu, Wu Anise M S
Faculty of Teacher Education, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, China.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
J Youth Adolesc. 2025 Sep 17. doi: 10.1007/s10964-025-02258-w.
Existing research on the associations among self-concept clarity, player-avatar identification, and Internet gaming disorder has largely relied on cross-sectional designs, and the findings were inconsistent. This three-wave longitudinal study examined whether self-concept clarity and player-avatar identification jointly and reciprocally relate to Internet gaming disorder symptoms among emerging adults using both general and random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. Participants were 877 role-playing gamers (M = 19.81, SD = 1.33; 54.80% female) with a baseline and two follow-up surveys (at six and twelve months). Results of both general and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that, contrary to the hypotheses, self-concept clarity did not predict Internet gaming disorder symptoms nor vice versa, and neither self-concept clarity nor player-avatar identification showed significant indirect effects on Internet gaming disorder symptoms. Although player-avatar identification maintained a positive association with Internet gaming disorder symptoms at the between-person level, it showed no prospective effects at the within-person level. The present study did not provide empirical support for any hypothesized prospective mechanisms among the measured variables. Still, its findings suggest that domain-specific cognitive factors, such as player-avatar identification, may be informative for monitoring Internet gaming disorder risk and highlight the need to support self-concept development during emerging adulthood.
现有的关于自我概念清晰度、玩家与虚拟角色认同以及网络成瘾之间关联的研究，很大程度上依赖于横断面设计，且研究结果并不一致。这项三阶段纵向研究使用一般交叉滞后面板模型和随机截距交叉滞后面板模型，检验了新兴成年人中自我概念清晰度和玩家与虚拟角色认同是否共同且相互影响网络成瘾症状。研究对象为877名角色扮演游戏玩家（M = 19.81，标准差 = 1.33；54.80%为女性），他们接受了一次基线调查以及两次随访调查（分别在六个月和十二个月时）。一般交叉滞后面板模型和随机截距交叉滞后面板模型的结果均表明，与假设相反，自我概念清晰度既不能预测网络成瘾症状，网络成瘾症状也不能预测自我概念清晰度，而且自我概念清晰度和玩家与虚拟角色认同对网络成瘾症状均未显示出显著的间接影响。虽然玩家与虚拟角色认同在个体间水平上与网络成瘾症状保持着正相关，但在个体内水平上并未显示出前瞻性影响。本研究没有为所测变量之间任何假设的前瞻性机制提供实证支持。尽管如此，其研究结果表明，特定领域的认知因素，如玩家与虚拟角色认同，可能有助于监测网络成瘾风险，并凸显了在新兴成年期支持自我概念发展的必要性。
