Determination of salivary cortisol and salivary pH level in gaming teenagers – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Internet gaming disorder and cybervictimization has a disproportionate increase during the COVID 19 pandemic. Teenagers and adolescents have high risk for addiction to online gaming. Online gaming increases the stress level of the users affecting the general and the oral health. The study aims to determine the salivary cortisol and salivary pH among the gaming teenagers. Materials and methods: The cross-sectional study recruited 45 gaming teenagers with the mean age of 15.5 years. The participants were stratified according to the type of online gaming played as mind, aggressive and betting gaming. Their salivary pH and salivary cortisol were assessed. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results: The mean salivary pH was found to be less among females playing aggressive games (7.11 ± 0.30) and males playing mind games (7.24 ± 0.16). Salivary cortisol level was found to be statistically high in males (6.66 ± 1.33) and females (7.82 ± 0.66) playing aggressive games. The sub-group analysis of salivary pH and cortisol for gender showed a significant difference in the mean salivary cortisol level (p 0.05). Based on the number of hours spent in online gaming, there was a significant increase in the mean salivary cortisol level among the participants playing >3 h (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Salivary cortisol is high among individuals playing aggressive games compared to mind and betting games. Also, salivary cortisol is high in females compared to males with no change in salivary pH.

Keywords

• Salivary cortisol
• Aggressive games
• Mind games
• Betting games
• Salivary pH
• Teenagers