Characteristics of current online gaming overusers in Gangwon state in Korea

Background: Online gaming is one of the most popular leisure activities globally. While it offers entertainment and social interaction, a small number of individuals experience negative consequences due to excessive gaming [1]. Both the DSM-5 and the ICD-11 have recently proposed criteria for diagnosing Internet Gaming Disorder and Gaming Disorder, respectively, which highlights the growing need to better understand this phenomenon [2, 3]. Objectives: We planned the current study in order to explore the characteristics of individuals who currently overuse online games, and to investigate whether excessive gaming was associated with other addictive behaviors. We used data from a representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 19 to 65, living in Gangwon State, in Korea. In the current study, we defined a current online gaming overuser as someone who had an experience of playing online games for 25 hours or more per week over the past 12 months. IGUESS scale was used for evaluating symptoms related to internet gaming disorder .In order to evaluate depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction, Korean version of PHQ-9, GAD-7, SWLS were used. In addition, to estimate adverse childhood experiences in their childhood, 8 item questionnaires were also made. A variety of statistical methods, including Chi-square and t-tests for group comparisons and logistic regression were used in order to identify significant predictors All analyses were conducted using SPSS version 29. Results: Out of 1,000 participants, 166 individuals (16.6%) were classified as current online game overusers according to the definition mentioned above. We found that male participants were significantly more likely to be current online gaming overusers. However, there were no significant differences in age, depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), adverse childhood experiences (ACE-8), or life satisfaction (SWLS) between the overuser and control groups. As expected, the overuser group spent much more time on games – on average, about 9.4 hours per day, compared to 1.5 hours in the control group. They also had significantly higher scores on the IGUESS scale, which screens for symptoms related to Internet gaming disorder. Current online gaming overuser had more current smoking (F=28.407, df=1, p<0.001) anda gambling (F=23.254, df=1, p<0.001) experience for past 12 months. However, we found no significant differences in alcohol use or drug misuse for past 12 months. In logistic regression analysis, 3 factors were significantly associated with online gaming overuse including being male, current smoking, and current gambling experience. Couclusions: We obseved that over 16% of the participants were current overusers of online games, and that male gender, smoking, and gambling were strong predictors. there were no differences in depression, anxiety, or childhood adversity. These results suggest that excessive gaming may be more closely tied to behavioral patterns than to psychological distress. In addition, a behavioral clustering of risky or addictive behaviors, with gaming, smoking, and gambling potentially reinforcing one another may exist in current online gaming overusers.

References

1. Stevens, M.W., Dorstyn, D., Delfabbro, P.H., King, D.L., 2021. Global prevalence of gaming disorder: A systemic review and meta-analysis. Aust. N. J. Psychiatry 55(6), 553-568.
2. World Health Organization, 2019. International Classification of Diseases for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics (11th Revision). available from: https://icd.who.int/browse11.
3. American Psychiatric Association, 2022. Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders: 5th ed., Text Revision. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Washington.