Pathological Video Game Use Among Youths: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to measure the prevalence and length of the problem of pathological video gaming or Internet use, to identify risk and protective factors, to determine whether pathological gaming is a primary or secondary problem, and to identify outcomes for individuals who become or stop being pathological gamers. METHODS: A 2-year, longitudinal, panel study was performed with a general elementary and secondary school population in Singapore, including 3034 children in grades 3 (N = 743), 4 (N = 711), 7 (N = 916), and 8 (N = 664). Several hypothesized risk and protective factors for developing or overcoming pathological gaming were measured, including weekly amount of game play, impulsivity, social competence, depression, social phobia, anxiety, and school performance. RESULTS: The prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to that in other countries (∼9%). Greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence, and greater impulsivity seemed to act as risk factors for becoming pathological gamers, whereas depression, anxiety, social phobias, and lower school performance seemed to act as outcomes of pathological gaming. CONCLUSION: This study adds important information to the discussion about whether video game “addiction” is similar to other addictive behaviors, demonstrating that it can last for years and is not solely a symptom of comorbid disorders.

[1]  Janet B W Williams,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 2013 .

[2]  K. Mathiak,et al.  Does Playing Violent Video Games Induce Aggression? Empirical Evidence of a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study , 2006 .

[3]  C. Anderson,et al.  The Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behaviors: International Evidence From Correlational, Longitudinal, and Experimental Studies , 2009, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[4]  Kimberly Young,et al.  Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder , 1998, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[5]  B. Krahé,et al.  Playing violent electronic games, hostile attributional style, and aggression-related norms in German adolescents. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[6]  Trish,et al.  Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. , 1997, JAMA.

[7]  R. Kessler,et al.  Childhood adversities and adult psychiatric disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication I: associations with first onset of DSM-IV disorders. , 2010, Archives of general psychiatry.

[8]  John P. Charlton,et al.  A factor-analytic investigation of computer 'addiction' and engagement. , 2002, British journal of psychology.

[9]  C. Anderson,et al.  Longitudinal Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Japan and the United States , 2008, Pediatrics.

[10]  C. Anderson,et al.  Television and Video Game Exposure and the Development of Attention Problems , 2010, Pediatrics.

[11]  Debi A. LaPlante,et al.  Toward a Syndrome Model of Addiction: Multiple Expressions, Common Etiology , 2004, Harvard review of psychiatry.

[12]  L. R. Huesmann,et al.  Children's normative beliefs about aggression and aggressive behavior. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  N. Crick,et al.  Relational aggression: The role of intent attributions, feelings of distress, and provocation type , 1995, Development and Psychopathology.

[14]  P. Chan,et al.  A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents , 2006, Annals of general psychiatry.

[15]  Chih-Hung Ko,et al.  Factors Predictive for Incidence and Remission of Internet Addiction in Young Adolescents: A Prospective Study , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[16]  D. Fung,et al.  Development and validation of a depression scale for Asian adolescents. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[17]  Guo Xinsheng.  Behavior Problem and Family Environment of Children with Video Games Dependence , 2003 .

[18]  Karen E. Dill,et al.  Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[19]  Mark D. Griffiths,et al.  Does Internet and Computer "Addiction" Exist? Some Case Study Evidence , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[20]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York (HarperPerennial) 1990. , 1990 .

[21]  Mark D. Griffiths,et al.  Internet Gambling: Issues, Concerns, and Recommendations , 2003, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[22]  R. A. Davis,et al.  A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use , 2001, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[23]  M. Griffiths,et al.  Dependence on Computer Games by Adolescents , 1998, Psychological reports.

[24]  A. Johansson,et al.  Problems with Computer Games without Monetary Reward: Similarity to Pathological Gambling , 2004, Psychological reports.

[25]  Bruce D. Bartholow,et al.  Correlates and Consequences of Exposure to Video Game Violence: Hostile Personality, Empathy, and Aggressive Behavior , 2005, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[26]  Mark D. Griffiths,et al.  Excessive Computer Game Playing: Evidence for Addiction and Aggression? , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[27]  E. Uhlmann,et al.  Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[28]  D. Gentile,et al.  Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis , 2008 .

[29]  D. Gentile.  Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18 , 2009, Psychological science.

[30]  Ricardo A Tejeiro Salguero,et al.  Measuring problem video game playing in adolescents. , 2002, Addiction.

[31]  V. Starcevic,et al.  Recognizing Problem Video Game Use , 2010, The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry.

[32]  J. Patton,et al.  Factor structure of the Barratt impulsiveness scale. , 1995, Journal of clinical psychology.

[33]  J. Vander Bilt,et al.  "Computer addiction": a critical consideration. , 2000, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[34]  Shifting Perspectives on Gambling and Addiction , 2004, Journal of Gambling Studies.

[35]  Snootfull.  not at all.... , 2009 .

[36]  D. Gentile,et al.  The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[37]  C. Anderson,et al.  Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model , 2002 .

[38]  D. Brooks,et al.  Evidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game , 1998, Nature.

[39]  Katherine E. Buckley,et al.  Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy , 2007 .

[40]  Randall C. Swaim,et al.  Violent Media Content and Aggressiveness in Adolescents , 2003, Commun. Res..

[41]  I. Lyoo,et al.  Attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms and Internet addiction , 2004, Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences.

[42]  C. Anderson.  An update on the effects of playing violent video games. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[43]  Shao-I Chiu,et al.  Video Game Addiction in Children and Teenagers in Taiwan , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[44]  Arja Rimpelä,et al.  Internet addiction? Potentially problematic use of the Internet in a population of 12–18 year-old adolescents , 2004 .

[45]  W. Collins,et al.  Relational Aggression and Victimization in Young Adults' Romantic Relationships: Associations with Perceptions of Parent, Peer, and Romantic Relationship Quality , 2002 .

[46]  H. Nadel,et al.  The cycle of violence and victimization: a study of the school-based intervention of a multidisciplinary youth violence-prevention program. , 1996, American journal of preventive medicine.

[47]  P. Keck,et al.  Psychiatric features of individuals with problematic internet use. , 2000, Journal of affective disorders.

[48]  M. Griffiths.  The Role of Context in Online Gaming Excess and Addiction: Some Case Study Evidence , 2009, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

[49]  Steven J. Kirsh.  Seeing the World Through Mortal Kombat-colored Glasses , 1998 .

[50]  J. Rabe-Jabłońska,et al.  [Affective disorders in the fourth edition of the classification of mental disorders prepared by the American Psychiatric Association -- diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders]. , 1993, Psychiatria polska.

[51]  C. Anderson,et al.  The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence. , 2007 .

[52]  Sandra M. Neer,et al.  The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): scale construction and psychometric characteristics. , 1997, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[53]  Daryl Chow,et al.  Development and Validation of the Personal Strengths Inventory Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses , 2011 .

[54]  Christine M. Fox,et al.  The development of the Children's Empathic Attitudes Questionnaire using classical and Rasch analyses , 2008 .

[55]  S. Fisher,et al.  Identifying video game addiction in children and adolescents. , 1994, Addictive behaviors.

[56]  Mary McMurran,et al.  The Psychometric Properties of the Internet Addiction Test , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[57]  Keith W. Beard,et al.  Modification in the Proposed Diagnostic Criteria for Internet Addiction , 2001, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[58]  Andrew K. Przybylski,et al.  The Motivational Pull of Video Games: A Self-Determination Theory Approach , 2006 .

[59]  B. Bushman,et al.  Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data. , 2006 .

[60]  L. Frank.  The Society for Research in Child Development , 1935 .

[61]  J. Davidson,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) , 2000, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[62]  G. Keepers.  Pathological preoccupation with video games. , 1990, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[63]  Angeline Khoo,et al.  Pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth. , 2010, Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

[64]  Laura A. Nichols,et al.  Development of a psychometrically sound internet addiction scale: a preliminary step. , 2004, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[65]  A. Johansson,et al.  Internet addiction: characteristics of a questionnaire and prevalence in Norwegian youth (12-18 years). , 2004, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[66]  Stephen Francis,et al.  A critical consideration , 2010 .