Critical Care Innovations (Dec 2023)
Unmasking a potential crisis: An exploration of gaming addiction and depression in adolescents and young adults through a cross-sectional survey.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Gaming disorder is defined as a pattern of gaming behaviour characterised by impaired control over gaming, prioritisation of gaming over other activities to the point where gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and persistence or escalation of gaming despite negative consequences. Given the increasing global interest in videogames, particularly among adolescents and young adults, this study investigated the prevalence of gaming disorder and its associated factors among Sri Lankan adolescents and young adults, with a focus on factors associated with gaming addiction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 401 Sri Lankan adolescents and young adults who played video games, through an anonymous online survey using snowball sampling. The survey comprised four sections: demographic data, influencing factors for game playing, the seven-item Game Addiction Scale and a validated depression scale (nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire). SPSS IBM (version 27) was used for data analysis, which includes means, standard deviations, frequencies, percentages, Pearson’s correlation and chi-square tests. RESULTS: A total of 401 gamers participated, comprising adolescents (10-18 years; 9.5%) and young adults (19-35 years; 90.5%). The majority were non-gaming addicts (71.57%), and among the gaming addicts, 8.48% were classified as monothetic gaming addicts, while 19.5% were classified polythetic gaming addicts. Slightly more males were game addicts (52.63%) than females. There was a low positive correlation between videogame addiction and depression (r=0.321). More than half of the sample believed that visual triggers (58.6%) and frequent reward systems (56.1%) influenced their gameplay. There was a significant association (p <0.05) between gaming addiction and the three observed characteristics: visual triggers, audio triggers, and frequent rewards. CONCLUSIONS: Just under one-tenth of the study population sampled was classified as having a gaming addiction, with males having a slightly higher prevalence than females. The positive correlation between gaming disorder and depression suggests a consequential and potentially life-threatening outcome, wherein depression emerges as a serious consequence of addiction to gaming. When the structural characteristics of videogames, such as auditory, visual and frequent reward systems were considered, game addicts were more influenced by them.
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