video game addiction presentation

• Mental Health
• Substance Abuse and Addiction
• Substance Abuse & Addiction
• Risk Factors
• Screening & Tests
• Complications & Consequences
• Intervention & Seeking Help
• Detox & Treatment
• Recovery & Relapse
• Intervention
• Detox, Withdrawal & Treatment
• Complications
• Overdose & Harm Reduction
• Support & Resources
• Cannabis Use Disorder
• Prescription Drug Abuse
• Other Abused Substances
• Non-Substance Addictions
• View Full Guide

Is Video Game Addiction Real?

It’s great to do things you enjoy. But can you go too far with a hobby? And at what point does it become an addiction ? That’s the question experts are trying to answer about playing video games.

Even though gaming has been around for almost 50 years, studies about its harms are still in the early stages. Different groups have come to different conclusions about whether problem playing should be called an addiction.

The World Health Organization added “gaming disorder” to the 2018 version of its medical reference book, International Classification of Diseases . But the American Psychiatry Association’s manual, the DSM-5, didn’t. (So far, gambling is the only “activity” listed as a possible addiction.)

Signs to Watch For

The DSM-5 does include a section to help people and doctors know the warning signs of problem video gaming. These problems can happen whether you play online or offline.

Here’s what to look for in yourself or someone close to you -- your partner, a child, or a friend. You need to have five or more of these signs in 1 year to have a problem, according to criteria that were proposed in the DSM-5:

• Thinking about gaming all or a lot of the time
• Feeling bad when you can’t play
• Needing to spend more and more time playing to feel good
• Not being able to quit or even play less
• Not wanting to do other things that you used to like
• Having problems at work, school, or home because of your gaming
• Playing despite these problems
• Lying to people close to you about how much time you spend playing
• Using gaming to ease bad moods and feelings

Of course, not everyone who plays a lot has a problem with gaming. Some experts say that it’s harmful to label people who might just be very enthusiastic about gaming. One thing they do agree on is that the percentage of players who meet the proposed criteria for addiction to video games is small. It’s estimated to be somewhere between 1% and 9% of all gamers, adults and kids alike. (It’s more common in boys and men than girls and women.)

It may help to start by asking yourself a few questions: Does your video gaming get in the way of other important things in your life, like your relationships , your job, or going to school? Do you feel like you’ve crossed the line between loving to playing and having to play? Might you be using gaming to avoid a deeper problem, like depression ?

It can be hard to see a problem in yourself. The amount of time you spend gaming might seem fine to you. But if people close to you say it’s too much, it might be time to think about cutting back.

If you’re a parent who’s concerned about the amount of time your child spends gaming, look at how well they are doing at school and with friends. Having good grades and a good relationship with parents are signs that a child’s video gaming is unlikely to be a problem.

Getting Help

Get help from your doctor or therapist -- or your child’s pediatrician, if the person you’re concerned about is your son or daughter -- as soon as you think that gaming time is getting out of hand .

Studies about treating video game addiction are also in the early stages. One therapy that can help is called CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy . This is mental health counseling that teaches you how to replace thoughts about gaming to help change behavior.

If you’re the parent of a gamer, a therapist can show you how to place limits on your child’s playing time if you have a hard time saying no. One study found that making parents part of a child’s treatment makes it work better.

Preventing a Gaming Problem

To keep the amount of time spent gaming under control, try these tips for adults and kids alike:

• Set time limits for play and stick to them.
• Keep phones and other gadgets out of the bedroom so you won’t play into the night.
• Do other activities every day, including exercise . This will lower the health risks of sitting and playing for long stretches of time.

No one knows whether certain kinds of games are more likely to lead to problem gaming. For the time being, make sure that your child is only playing games rated for their age.

Top doctors in ,

Find more top doctors on, related links.

• Substance Abuse and Addiction Home
• Substance Abuse and Addiction News
• Substance Abuse and Addiction Features
• Substance Abuse and Addiction Reference
• Substance Abuse and Addiction Slideshows
• Substance Abuse and Addiction Blogs
• Substance Abuse and Addiction Videos
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Quit-Smoking Assessment
• Pain Management
• Smoking Cessation
• Stress Management
• Teen Drug Abuse
• More Related Topics

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Sweepstakes
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

What Is Video Game Addiction?

Definition, Symptoms, Effects, Treatment, and Coping

Carol Yepes / Moment / Getty Images

Understanding Video Game Addiction

Video game addiction is the compulsive or uncontrolled use of video games, in a way that causes problems in other areas of the person's life.

Often considered a form of computer addiction or internet addiction , video game addiction has been an increasing concern for parents as video games have become more commonplace and are often targeted at children.

Video games include computer games, console games, arcade machine games, and even cell phone, and advanced calculator games. Games can be embedded in social networking sites, such as Facebook.

Since the 1950s, gaming has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Some people are concerned about the long-term effects of video game playing, particularly in children. Concerns center on the following questions:

• “Are video games harmful?”
• “Do violent video games cause aggression?”
• “Are video games addictive?”

While research is inconclusive, there does appear to be evidence that video games can be harmful, can increase aggression, and can be addictive. However, these effects are highly individual and may involve many more factors than simply the amount of time spent playing games.

Signs of Video Game Addiction

Some symptoms of video game addiction can include:

• Neglecting duties at work, home, or school in order to play video games
• Thinking about video games all the time
• Not being able to decrease playing time even when you try
• Continuing to play despite the problems video games cause in your life
• Playing video games to deal with anxiety, bad moods, or negative feelings
• Feeling upset if you are not able to game
• Not doing other things you used to enjoy in order to play video games
• Hiding how much time you spend playing video games or lying about your gaming habits

Playing video games a lot is not necessarily a sign of a video game addiction, however. Some people are simply very enthusiastic about them and that is how they enjoy spending their free time. If gaming creates distress and interferes with a person's ability to function in their life, then it might be a sign that there is a problem.

How Common Is Video Game Addiction?

Research studies show that 1% to 16% of video gamers meet the criteria for addiction. However, the official definition of video game addiction varies across different organizations. Considering this, it is easy to be confused about whether your or someone else’s gaming falls in the average or heavy ranges.

As with all addictions, it is important when considering the possibility of a video game addiction to not simply consider the amount of time spent gaming, but also the function it is serving the individual. Video game playing, as one of a range of recreational activities, may not be harmful or indicate an addiction.

When game playing is addictive, it takes over as the person’s main way of coping with life, with other important areas of life being neglected or disrupted as a result.

Video game addiction or video game overuse is seen most commonly in players of the persistent multiplayer gaming universe, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game—MMORPG games for short. MMORPGs make up 25% of gaming revenue worldwide.   These games hold many attractions for gamers—they are interactive, social, competitive, and happen in real-time.

Research indicates that MMORPGs are more addictive in nature. As a result, they tend to have greater negative impacts on physical health, sleep habits and academic performance.  

Diagnosis of Video Game Addiction

Like other behavioral addictions , video game addiction is a controversial idea. While video gaming research is showing some disturbing effects, particularly in younger players, there is a lack of long-term research and insufficient evidence to definitively conclude that video game overuse is indeed an addiction.

In addition, cautionary messages from groups, such as the American Medical Association, which believes that video games are potentially harmful, have to compete with the aggressive marketing of the video games industry, whose own research, unsurprisingly, shows no ill effects.

Currently, it is not recognized as a distinct condition in the " Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders " (DSM-5-TR), the "gold standard" reference for mental health conditions. Internet gaming disorder, however, is included as a condition for further study in the DSM.

Although it is not yet recognized fully as a disorder, proposed criteria have been published.

To be diagnosed, gaming behavior must be severe enough that it creates significant problems in different areas of life, including home, work, family, school, and other areas. Symptoms must also be present for a year or longer.

Similarity to Other Addictions

Video game addictions are similar to other addictions in terms of the amount of time spent playing, the strong emotional attachment to the activity, and the patterns of social difficulties experienced by gaming addicts.

As with other addictions, gaming addicts become preoccupied with game-playing, and it disrupts family and other areas of life, such as school.

The younger that children begin playing video games, the more likely they are to develop dependence-like behaviors.

As with other addictive behaviors, there is a range of different responses to the activity. While some gamers feel unable to reduce the time they spend playing, others do not experience cravings if they are unable to play.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Some studies suggest that violent video games may increase aggressive thoughts and behaviors. However, there is conflicting research on this, and some studies have not found this effect or suggest that it is influenced by other factors such as moral disengagement and disinhibition.

Research on people who are addicted to video games shows that they have poorer mental health and cognitive functioning including poorer impulse control and ADHD symptoms , compared to people who do not have video game addiction.

People who are addicted to video games also have increased emotional difficulties, including increased depression and anxiety, report feeling more socially isolated, and are more likely to have problems with internet pornography use.

Treatment for Video Game Addiction

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that can be helpful in the treatment of behavioral addictions such as video game addiction.

Working with a therapist, people learn to identify the thoughts that contribute to excessive, compulsive video game use. Once people learn to recognize these thoughts, they can then work to replace them with ones that are more helpful and productive.

Therapy can also help people develop different coping strategies to deal with feelings of stress and distract themselves from urges to play video games.

Coping With Video Game Addiction

If you suspect that you have a video game addiction or simply want to reduce your video game use, there are strategies you can use that can help. Some things you can try include:

• Setting limits on your video game use : Decide how much you want to play each day. Set aside a specific block of time and set a timer so you'll know when it is time to quit. Consider enlisting the help of a friend to help keep you accountable.
• Find distractions : Look for other things to hold your interest and fill your time when you feel the urge to play video games. Going for a walk, calling a friend, watching a movie, or reading a book are a few ideas, but trying out new hobbies and interests can also serve as welcome distractions.
• Keep electronics out of your bedroom : Keep gaming systems, phones, and other electronic devices out of your bedroom so you aren't tempted to play games in the evening or before bedtime.
• Practice relaxation techniques : If you are playing games in order to cope with feelings of stress or anxiety, try replacing your gaming habit with other effective coping strategies. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing , mindfulness meditation , and yoga can be a great way to unwind and destress without having to rely on video games.

If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database .

Li AY, Chau CL, Cheng C. Development and validation of a parent-based program for preventing gaming disorder: The game over intervention . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2019;16(11). doi:10.3390/ijerph16111984

Jeromin F, Nyenhuis N, Barke A. Attentional bias in excessive internet gamers: Experimental investigations using an addiction Stroop and a visual probe . J Behav Addict . 2016;5(1):32-40. doi:10.1556/2006.5.2016.012

Hong JS, Kim SM, Jung JW, Kim SY, Chung US, Han DH. A comparison of risk and protective factors for excessive internet game play between Koreans in Korea and immigrant Koreans in the United States . J Korean Med Sci. 2019;34(23):e162. doi:10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e162

American Psychiatric Association (APA).  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . 5th ed, text revision. Washington, D.C.; 2022.

Yao M, Zhou Y, Li J, Gao X. Violent video games exposure and aggression: The role of moral disengagement, anger, hostility, and disinhibition . Aggress Behav . 2019;45(6):662-670. doi:10.1002/ab.21860

Ra CK, Cho J, Stone MD, et al. Association of digital media use with subsequent symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among adolescents . JAMA . 2018;320(3):255-263. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.8931

Stockdale L, Coyne SM. Video game addiction in emerging adulthood: Cross-sectional evidence of pathology in video game addicts as compared to matched healthy controls . J Affect Disord . 2018;225:265-272. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.045

By Elizabeth Hartney, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD Elizabeth Hartney, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD is a psychologist, professor, and Director of the Centre for Health Leadership and Research at Royal Roads University, Canada. 

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Psychol

The Association Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning

Juliane m. von der heiden.

1 Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Beate Braun

2 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany

Kai W. Müller

Boris egloff, associated data.

Video gaming is an extremely popular leisure-time activity with more than two billion users worldwide ( Newzoo, 2017 ). However, the media as well as professionals have underscored the potential dangers of excessive video gaming. With the present research, we aimed to shed light on the relation between video gaming and gamers’ psychological functioning. Questionnaires on personality and psychological health as well as video gaming habits were administered to 2,734 individuals (2,377 male, 357 female, M age = 23.06, SD age = 5.91). Results revealed a medium-sized negative correlation between problematic video gaming and psychological functioning with regard to psychological symptoms, affectivity, coping, and self-esteem. Moreover, gamers’ reasons for playing and their preferred game genres were differentially related to psychological functioning with the most notable findings for distraction-motivated players as well as action game players. Future studies are needed to examine whether these psychological health risks reflect the causes or consequences of video gaming.

Introduction

Video gaming is a very popular leisure activity among adults ( Pew Research Center, 2018 ). The amount of time spent playing video games has increased steadily, from 5.1 h/week in 2011 to 6.5 h/week in 2017 ( The Nielsen Company, 2017 ). Video gaming is known to have some benefits such as improving focus, multitasking, and working memory, but it may also come with costs when it is used heavily. By spending a predominant part of the day gaming, excessive video gamers are at risk of showing lower educational and career attainment, problems with peers, and lower social skills ( Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ). On the one hand, video game use is widespread, and it may come with certain precursors as well as consequences. On the other hand, little is known about the relations between various video gaming habits and psychological functioning. This study aims to shed light on these important relations using a large sample.

A video game is defined as “a game which we play thanks to an audiovisual apparatus and which can be based on a story” ( Esposito, 2005 ). In the last few years, the amount of scientific research devoted to video game playing has increased (e.g., Ferguson, 2015 ; Calvert et al., 2017 ; Hamari and Keronen, 2017 ). Most scientific studies in this area of research have focused on the extent of video game play and its diverse correlates. While some researchers have emphasized the benefits of game playing and even suggested a therapeutic use of video games ( Primack et al., 2012 ; Granic et al., 2014 ; Colder Carras et al., 2018 ), others have been intrigued by its potential dangers ( Anderson et al., 2010 ; Müller and Wölfling, 2017 ).

Parents and professionals may be worried about their excessively playing children being “addicted.” However, problematic and potentially addictive video game use goes beyond the extent of playing (in hours per week; Skoric et al., 2009 ). It also includes such issues as craving, loss of control, and negative consequences of excessive gaming. While it is still a matter of debate whether problematic video game play should be considered a behavioral addiction , its status as a mental disorder has been clarified since the release of the DSM-5 in 2013. In the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association (2013) defined Internet Gaming Disorder with diagnostic criteria closely related to Gambling Disorder. Generally, this decision has been supported by many researchers (e.g., Petry et al., 2014 ) but has also caused controversies. Researchers have criticized the selection of diagnostic criteria and the vague definition of the Internet Gaming Disorder construct, which excludes offline games from being related to addictive use (e.g., Griffiths et al., 2016 ; Bean et al., 2017 ).

Several studies, literature reviews, and meta-analyses have focused on the correlates of problematic video gaming, usually assessed as a continuum with addiction marking the upper end of the scale (e.g., Ferguson et al., 2011 ; Kuss and Griffiths, 2012 ). The degree of addictive video game use has been found to be related to personality traits such as low self-esteem ( Ko et al., 2005 ) and low self-efficacy ( Jeong and Kim, 2011 ), anxiety, and aggression ( Mehroof and Griffiths, 2010 ), and even to clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders ( Wang et al., 2018 ). Potential consequences of video game use have been identified as well, such as a lack of real-life friends ( Kowert et al., 2014a ), stress and maladaptive coping ( Milani et al., 2018 ), lower psychosocial well-being and loneliness ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ), psychosomatic problems ( Müller et al., 2015 ; Milani et al., 2018 ), and decreased academic achievement ( Chiu et al., 2004 ; Gentile, 2009 ). Effect sizes have varied widely across studies ( Ferguson et al., 2011 ). There seem to be sex and age differences with regard to video gaming behavior: potentially problematic video gaming was found to be more likely among males than females (e.g., Greenberg et al., 2010 ; Estévez et al., 2017 ), and among younger gamers ( Rehbein et al., 2016 ).

In addition to looking at problematic video game use and its relation to psychological functioning, it is relevant to also focus on why individuals play video games. Players use video games for very different reasons ( Ryan et al., 2006 ; Yee, 2006 ) such as to distract themselves from daily hassles or because they enjoy the social relationships they have developed in the virtual world. Potentially problematic video gaming has been found to be related to various reasons for playing such as coping and escape ( Hussain and Griffiths, 2009 ; Schneider et al., 2018 ), socialization ( Laconi et al., 2017 ), and personal satisfaction ( Ng and Wiemer-Hastings, 2005 ). Coping ( Laconi et al., 2017 ), social interaction, and competition were among the main reasons for gaming among males but not among females ( Lucas and Sherry, 2004 ). Mixed results emerged concerning age differences ( Greenberg et al., 2010 ), but especially younger gamers seemed to be motivated for video gaming by social interactions ( Hilgard et al., 2013 ). However, so far it remains unclear to what extent people’s various reasons for playing video games are differentially related to their psychological functioning.

Besides investigating the links between potentially problematic video game use and psychological functioning as well as between reasons for playing video games and psychological functioning, it is relevant to also look at which game genres individuals prefer. Correlates of preferences for certain game genres (e.g., simulation, strategy, action, role-playing) are cognitive enhancement ( Dobrowolski et al., 2015 ; Bediou et al., 2018 ), but also the amount of time spent playing ( Lemmens and Hendriks, 2016 ; Rehbein et al., 2016 ) and psychopathological symptoms ( Laconi et al., 2017 ). Males were shown to prefer action and strategy games, whereas females showed a preference for games of skill ( Scharkow et al., 2015 ; Rehbein et al., 2016 ). Younger gamers seemed to prefer action games, older players more so games of skill ( Scharkow et al., 2015 ). However, it is not yet understood to what extent preferences for certain video game genres are differentially related to psychological functioning.

Typically, research has focused merely on violent video games (e.g., Anderson and Bushman, 2001 ; Elson and Ferguson, 2014 ) or one specific game within one specific game genre (frequently World of Warcraft; Graham and Gosling, 2013 ; Visser et al., 2013 ; Herodotou et al., 2014 ), thereby neglecting the variety of possible gaming habits across various game genres.

In the present study, our objective was to examine the relation between video gaming and psychological functioning in a fine-grained manner. For this purpose, we examined psychological functioning by employing various variables such as psychological symptoms, coping strategies, and social support. Likewise, we assessed video gaming in a similarly detailed way, ranging from (a) problematic video game use, (b) the reasons for playing, to (c) the preferred game genres. This strategy prevented us from making potentially invalid generalizations about video gaming in general and allowed us to examine the spectrum of gaming habits and the respective relations between such habits and a diverse set of variables representing psychological functioning.

Playing video games excessively should be appealing to individuals with poor psychological functioning because games allow people to avoid their everyday problems and instead immerse themselves in another environment ( Taquet et al., 2017 ). Moreover, video games offer people a chance to connect with other people socially despite any more or less evident psychological problems they may have ( Kowert et al., 2014b ; Mazurek et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, potentially problematic video game use may also lead to psychological problems because it reduces the amount of time and the number of opportunities gamers have to practice real-life behavior ( Gentile, 2009 ). Thus, we expected to find a negative correlation between problematic video gaming and variables representing psychological functioning such that we expected more potentially problematic video game use to be related to dysfunctional coping strategies ( Wood and Griffith, 2007 ), negative affectivity ( Mathiak et al., 2011 ), and poor school performance ( Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ). Moreover, we expected to find differential correlates of people’s reasons for playing video games and their psychological functioning: Playing for escape-oriented reasons such as distraction should go along with diverse indices of poor psychological functioning ( Király et al., 2015 ), whereas playing for gain-oriented reasons such as the storyline or the social connections in the game should be related to adequate psychological functioning ( Longman et al., 2009 ). Also, we expected to find people’s preferred game genres (e.g., strategy, action) to be differentially related to their psychological functioning ( Park et al., 2016 ). Finally, we aimed to shed light on the unique contribution of each measure of psychological functioning to the prediction of problematic video game use.

Materials and Methods

Participants 1.

A total of N = 2,891 individuals (2,421 male, 470 female) with a mean age of 23.17 years ( SD = 5.99, Range: 13–65) participated in our study. Of these participants, N = 2,734 (95%) confirmed their use of video games and were thus included in further analyses (2,377 male, 357 female, with a mean age of 23.06 years; SD = 5.91, Range: 13–65). The distribution of participants with regard to sex and age mirrors the findings of past research with males and younger individuals being more likely to play video games (e.g., Griffiths et al., 2004 ). Participants’ place of residence was Germany.

Procedure and Instruments 2

We posted links to our online questionnaire on various online forums as well as on popular online game sites. To achieve heterogeneity of the sample, no exclusion criteria other than having access to the Internet and understanding German were specified. As an incentive to participate in the study, four vouchers of 50€ were raffled.

Video Gaming

Potentially problematic video game use.

The AICA-S, the Scale for the Assessment of Internet and Computer game Addiction ( Wölfling et al., 2016 ), was used to assess participants’ gaming behavior with regard to potential problematic use. Based on the DSM criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (tolerance, craving, loss of control, emotion regulation, withdrawal, and unsuccessful attempts to cut back), this standardized self-report scale consists of 15 items usually with a five-point scale ranging from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ). The final score (Min = 0, Max = 27 points) is computed using weighted scoring (items with an item-total correlation > 0.55 in the norm sample are weighted double; Wölfling et al., 2011 ). The AICA-S score can be used to differentiate between regular (0–6.5 points) and problematic use of video games (7–13 points: abuse; 13.5–27 points: addiction). In our sample, N = 2,265 (83%) were identified as regular gamers, and N = 469 (17%) as problematic gamers. We used the AICA-S as a continuous variable for all further analyses ( M = 3.98, SD = 3.22, Range: 0–24). The instrument has been validated for different age groups in the general population and in clinical samples ( Müller et al., 2014a , 2019 , but note small sample size; Müller et al., 2014b ). Cronbach’s alpha was α = 0.70. As expected, the AICA-S score was correlated with male sex ( r = 0.17 ∗∗∗ ) and age ( r = –0.15 ∗∗∗ ). On average, participants played video games for M = 4.09 hours per weekday ( SD = 4.44, Range: 0–24), and M = 4.21 h per day at the weekend ( SD = 2.99, Range: 0–24).

Reasons for playing

Gamers indicated how often they played video games for certain reasons. They rated each of 10 reasons separately on Likert scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 4 ( very often ). The most prevalent reasons were relaxation ( M = 2.96, SD = 0.91), amusement ( M = 2.94, SD = 0.85), and because of the storyline ( M = 2.67, SD = 1.10).

Game genres

Gamers were asked how often they usually played various video game subgenres such as first-person shooter, round-based strategy, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), life simulations, and others. Ratings were made on Likert scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 4 ( very often ). Using Apperley’s (2006) classification of game genres, we categorized the subgenres into the main genres action ( M = 2.54, SD = 0.84), strategy ( M = 2.13, SD = 0.80), role-playing ( M = 2.01, SD = 0.73), and simulation ( M = 1.58, SD = 0.44). A cluster for unclassified subgenres ( M = 1.54, SD = 0.39) was added to additionally account for such subgenres as jump’n’runs and games of skill. Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for all measures (including sex and age) are presented in Supplementary Tables S1–S4 .

Psychological Functioning

Participants provided ratings of their psychological functioning on the following constructs:

General psychopathology

The SCL-K-9 ( Klaghofer and Brähler, 2001 ), a short version of the SCL-90-R ( Derogatis, 1975 ), was administered to assess participants’ subjective impairment regarding psychological symptoms (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism). The SCL-K-9 score is strongly correlated with the original score of the SCL-90-R ( r = 0.93). The 9 items were answered on 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 ( do not agree at all ) to 5 ( agree completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory (α = 0.77).

We assessed 10 coping strategies with the Brief COPE ( Carver, 1997 ; German version by Knoll et al., 2005 ), which is the shorter version of the COPE ( Carver et al., 1989 ): self-distraction, denial, substance use, venting, self-blame, behavioral disengagement, acceptance, active coping, planning, and positive reframing. The two items per subscale were administered on 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ). Intercorrelations of the two items per subscale ranged from r = 0.32, p < 0.001 for positive reframing to r = 0.78, p < 0.001 for substance use (with one exception: r = -0.05, p = 0.01 for self-distraction).

We measured general affect as a trait and affect during video gaming as a state using the German version ( Krohne et al., 1996 ) of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988 ). On a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ), participants rated the intensity of 20 adjectives. Cronbach’s alpha was α = 0.78 for general positive affect, α = 0.83 for general negative affect, α = 0.85 for positive affect while playing, and α = 0.83 for negative affect while playing.

The measure for the assessment of shyness in adults ( Asendorpf, 1997 ) consists of 5 items that were answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

We administered the German version ( Elbing, 1991 ) of the NYU Loneliness Scale ( Rubenstein and Shaver, 1982 ). The 4 items were answered on 5- to 6-point Likert-type scales. Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory (α = 0.79).

Preference for solitude

A 10-item measure of preference for solitude ( Nestler et al., 2011 ) was answered on a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 6 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

Life satisfaction

Participants answered a one-item life satisfaction measure on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ).

Self-esteem

We administered the German version ( von Collani and Herzberg, 2003 ) of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1979 ). The 10 items were answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.88).

Self-efficacy

We administered a 10-item generalized self-efficacy scale ( Schwarzer and Jerusalem, 1995 ), which was answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

Social support and friends

We administered the perceived available social support subscale from the Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS; Schwarzer and Schulz, 2003 ). The 8 items were answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.94). Participants indicated how many offline friends and offline acquaintances they had ( r = 0.44, p < 0.001) as well as how many online friends and online acquaintances they had ( r = 0.33, p < 0.001). Due to left-skewed distributions, we logarithmized the data before aggregation.

Participants reported their grade point average. German grades are assessed on a scale that ranges from 1 ( excellent ) to 6 ( insufficient ). Thus, higher scores indicate worse grades.

Participants further reported their sex and age. Both were used as control variables in further analyses.

In a first step, we computed zero-order correlations between the video gaming variables and the measures of psychological functioning. In a second step, we computed partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age because past research has repeatedly shown that sex and age are correlated with both video gaming ( Homer et al., 2012 ; Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ) and psychological functioning ( Kessler et al., 2007 ; Nolen-Hoeksema, 2012 ). Finally, we explored the unique contribution of each measure of psychological functioning to the prediction of potentially problematic video gaming. Therefore, we computed regressions with potentially problematic video gaming as the dependent variable and sex, age, and the measures of psychological functioning as predictors (entered simultaneously into the regression equation). By employing this procedure, we were able to determine the effect that each variable had over and above the other ones. For instance, we could identify whether general psychopathology was predictive of potentially problematic video game use when the influence of all other variables (e.g., shyness, loneliness, and others) was held constant.

Additionally, we included analyses regarding sex and age differences in the link between video gaming and psychological functioning. Since we collected a self-selected sample where different sexes and age groups were not represented equally, our findings are only preliminary, but may stimulate future research.

Potentially Problematic Video Game Use and Psychological Functioning

First, we examined whether potentially problematic video game use was related to various psychological functioning variables. As can be seen in Table 1 , the results for the zero-order correlations were similar to those for the partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age. A medium-sized positive relation to the potentially problematic use of video games emerged for the presence of psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, and hostility. Furthermore, several coping strategies were differentially associated with the potentially problematic use of video games: Self-blame and behavioral disengagement showed the strongest positive relations to potentially problematic video game use, followed by denial, acceptance, substance use, self-distraction, and venting. Planning, active coping, and, to a lesser extent, positive reframing were negatively associated with the potentially problematic use of video games. Moreover, the association with potentially problematic video game use was negative for general positive affect and positive and larger in size for general negative affect. However, potentially problematic video game use was clearly positively associated with the experience of both positive and negative affect while playing. Further, a preference for solitude, shyness, and loneliness were positively correlated with the potentially problematic use of video games. Lower self-esteem, lower life satisfaction, and, to a lesser extent, poorer perceived social support and lower self-efficacy went along with potentially problematic video game use. There was an association between fewer offline friends and acquaintances but more online connections with potentially problematic video gaming. Finally, poorer performance in school (i.e., higher grades) was related to the potentially problematic use of video games. These results suggest that potentially problematic video gaming goes along with poor psychological functioning and vice versa.

Associations between potentially problematic video gaming and psychological functioning.

Reasons for Playing Video Games and Psychological Functioning

Second, we investigated whether players’ reasons for playing video games were differentially related to the psychological functioning variables. Table 2 presents the partial correlations, controlling for sex and age. Using video games to distract oneself from stress was clearly connected to a high level of psychological symptoms. Distraction-motivated gamers preferred coping strategies such as self-blame, behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, denial, substance use, venting, and acceptance, but they neglected active coping and planning. They showed less general positive affect and more negative affect both in general and while playing as well as more positive affect while playing. These gamers further reported low self-esteem and low life satisfaction, loneliness, a preference for solitude, shyness, a lack of self-efficacy and social support, and poor achievement in school. A similar but somewhat less extreme picture was revealed for gamers who played video games in order to have something to talk about . However, these gamers reported more online connections. Gamers who played video games to improve their real-life abilities also reported more online connections. In addition, these gamers showed higher levels of general positive affect. The strongest association with online friends and acquaintances emerged, as expected, for gamers who played because of the social relations in the virtual world. Although all reasons for playing video games were related to positive affect while playing, the strongest associations emerged for gamers who played because of the social relations , to stimulate their imagination , and for curiosity . It is interesting that, for gamers who played video games because of the storyline and for relaxation , there was a relation only to positive but not to negative affect while playing. Reasons for playing were only weakly related to sex and age (see Supplementary Table S2 ). In sum, several reasons for playing video games were differentially associated with psychological functioning.

Associations between reasons for playing video games and psychological functioning.

Video Game Genre and Psychological Functioning

Third, we examined whether players’ preferences for different video game genres were differentially associated with the measures of psychological functioning. Table 3 shows the partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age. There was a weak connection between general psychological symptoms and all of the video game genres we investigated except strategy. A preference for action games had the strongest association with affect while playing. Thus, action games seem to be both rewarding and a source of frustration. A preference for action games went along with poorer school performance. Gamers who preferred role-playing games scored higher on shyness and a preference for solitude and lower on self-esteem; they also reported fewer offline connections. By contrast, preferences for games of the unclassified category on average went along with a larger number of offline friends and more positive affect, both while playing and in general. Two game genres (i.e., role-playing and unclassified games) were related to the coping strategy of self-distraction. Because preferred game genre was related to participants’ sex (see Supplementary Table S3 ), we had a more detailed look at the correlations between preferred game genre and psychological functioning separately for both sexes: For males ( n = 2,377), the strongest correlation between general psychopathology and game genre emerged for action ( r = 0.08, p < 0.001), followed by role playing ( r = 0.07, p < 0.01), and unclassified ( r = 0.07, p < 0.01). For females ( n = 357), the strongest relation between general psychopathology and game genre emerged for simulation ( r = 0.17, p < 0.01). Differences were also found regarding the strength of the relation between number of friends online and the genre action: r = 0.06, p < 0.01 for males, and r = 0.27, p < 0.001 for females. Similarly, preferred game genre was related to participants’ age (see Supplementary Table S3 ). However, there were merely differences with regard to the relation of psychological functioning and game genre, when analyzed separately for different age groups (<19 years, n = 557; 19–30 years, n = 1916; >31 years, n = 261). In sum, our results speak to the idea that individuals with different levels of psychological functioning differ in their choices of game genres and vice versa.

Associations between preferred video game genre and psychological functioning.

Predicting Potentially Problematic Video Game Use by Psychological Functioning Variables

In a final step, we entered all of the investigated psychological functioning variables as well as sex and age as predictors of the potentially problematic use of video games. By employing this procedure, we were able to determine the unique contribution of each psychological functioning variable when the influence of all other variables was held constant. As Table 4 shows, the number of online friends and acquaintances as well as positive affect while playing were most predictive of potentially problematic video game use over and above all other variables. General psychopathology, a lack of offline connections, and poor school performance were weaker but still relevant predictors of potentially problematic video game use.

Prediction of potentially problematic video game use by psychological functioning variables.

With this study, we aimed to shed light on the association of diverse video gaming habits with gamers’ psychological functioning. Drawing on a large sample, our results revealed a medium-sized relation between potentially problematic video game use and poor psychological functioning with regard to general psychological symptoms, maladaptive coping strategies, negative affectivity, low self-esteem, and a preference for solitude as well as poor school performance. These findings are in line with those of prior work (e.g., Kuss and Griffiths, 2012 ; Milani et al., 2018 ). Also, reasons for playing video games were differentially related to psychological functioning with the most pronounced findings for escape-oriented in contrast to gain-oriented motives. Specifically, distraction-motivated gaming went along with higher symptom ratings, lower self-esteem, and more negative affectivity, whereas playing to establish social relationships in the virtual world was related to a larger number of online connections and more positive affect while playing. Furthermore, there were only weak relations between the preferred game genres and psychological functioning. The action games genre was associated with the strongest ratings of affect while playing. These results on reasons and genres may help to explain conflicting findings of former studies, because in our work we examined various reasons for playing, several game genres, and various aspects of psychological functioning simultaneously. Finally, positive affect while playing and a larger number of online friends were the strongest unique predictors of potentially problematic video game use, followed by psychological symptoms, a lack of offline connections, and poor school performance. These findings suggest that, on the one hand, independent of one’s psychological conditions, enjoying oneself during gaming (i.e., experiencing positive affect, connecting with online friends) may go along with potentially problematic use of video games. On the other hand, poor psychological functioning seems to be a unique risk factor for potentially problematic video gaming.

The presented results are generally in line with previous work that has identified a connection between video gaming and psychological health, academic problems, and social problems ( Ferguson et al., 2011 ; Müller et al., 2015 ). However, our study moved beyond prior research by providing in-depth analyses of both video gaming habits (including potentially problematic use, reasons for playing, and preferred game genre) and psychological functioning (including psychological symptoms, coping styles, affectivity, as well as variables that are related to individuals and their social environments). In addition, we identified unique predictors of potentially problematic video game use.

How can the findings on differential relations between video gaming and various indices of psychological functioning – ranging from beneficial results ( Latham et al., 2013 ) to unfavorable results ( Barlett et al., 2009 ; Möller and Krahé, 2009 ; Anderson et al., 2010 ) – be integrated? According to Kanfer and Phillips (1970) , problematic behavior (e.g., excessive video gaming) can be understood as a function of the situation (e.g., being rejected by a peer); the organism (e.g., low self-esteem); the person’s thoughts, physical reactions, and feelings (e.g., sadness, anger); and finally, the short- as well as long-term consequences of the behavior (termed SORKC model). In the short run, according to our results, playing video games may be a way to distract oneself from everyday hassles and may lead to positive affect while playing and a feeling of being connected to like-minded people, all of which are factors that have an immediate reinforcing value. In the long run, however, spending many hours per day in front of a computer screen may prevent a person from (a) developing and practicing functional coping strategies, (b) finding friends and support in the social environment, and (c) showing proper school achievement, factors that are potentially harmful to the person. Thus, differentiating between short- and long-term perspectives may help us understanding the differential correlates of intensive video gaming.

When is it appropriate to speak of video game addiction? More and more researchers have suggested a continuum between engagement ( Charlton and Danforth, 2007 ; Skoric et al., 2009 ) and pathological gaming/addiction, instead of a categorical perspective. In part, this recommendation has also been followed in the DSM-5 ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ) where Internet Gaming Disorder is classified with different degrees of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe, according to the functional impairment associated with it. The AICA-S also allows for a differential perspective on gaming behavior by providing ways to assess both the time spent playing video games and the main DSM criteria that indicate Internet Gaming Disorder. However, in our study we did not aim at making a diagnosis, but at having a closer look at potentially problematic gaming behavior and its correlates in a non-clinical sample.

In sum, it seems relevant to assess not only the extent of video game use but also the reasons behind this behavior (e.g., distraction) and the concrete rewards that come from playing (e.g., the experience of strong affect while playing action games) to fully understand the relation between video gaming and psychological functioning.

Limitations and Future Directions

With the present study, we aimed to uncover the association between video gaming and psychological functioning. Our approach was cross-sectional and warrants interpretative caution because correlations cannot determine the direction of causation. It remains unclear whether potentially problematic gaming is a factor that contributes to the development of psychological dysfunction or whether psychological dysfunction contributes to potentially problematic gaming. Also, a third factor (e.g., preexisting mental difficulties) may produce both psychological dysfunction and potentially problematic gaming. Thus, longitudinal studies that are designed to identify the causal pathway may provide a promising avenue for future research. Future studies may also answer the question whether the link between video gaming and psychological functioning is moderated by sex, age, the reasons for playing, or the preferred game genre. In addition, it is important not to forget that the present results are based on a self-selected sample in which potentially problematic video gamers were overrepresented (e.g., Festl et al., 2013 , for a representative sample). Thus, future research should replicate our findings in a representative sample. Further, we relied on self-reported data, which is a plausible method for assessing inner affairs such as people’s reasons for their behaviors, but it would be helpful to back up our findings with evidence derived from sources such as peers, caregivers, and health specialists. Our work reflects only a first approach to the topic, and future work may additionally collect in-game behavioral data from the players ( McCreery et al., 2012 ; Billieux et al., 2013 ) to objectively and more specifically investigate diverse patterns of use. Furthermore, one must not forget that the used taxonomy to classify video game genres is only one of various possible options and one should “think of each individual game as belonging to several genres at once” ( Apperley, 2006 , p. 19). Finally, some of the effects reported in our paper were rather modest in size. This is not surprising considering the complexity and multiple determinants of human behavior. In our analyses, we thoroughly controlled for the influence of sex and age and still found evidence that video gaming was differentially related to measures of psychological functioning.

The current study adds to the knowledge on gaming by uncovering the specific relations between video gaming and distinct measures of psychological functioning. Potentially problematic video gaming was found to be associated with positive affect and social relationships while playing but also with psychological symptoms, maladaptive coping strategies, negative affectivity, low self-esteem, a preference for solitude, and poor school performance. Including gamers’ reasons for playing video games and their preferred game genres helped deepen the understanding of the specific and differential associations between video gaming and psychological health. This knowledge might help developing adequate interventions that are applied prior to the occurrence of psychological impairments that may go along with potentially problematic video gaming.

Ethics Statement

In our online survey, participants were given information on voluntary participation, risks, confidentiality/anonymity, and right to withdraw. Whilst participants were not signing a separate consent form, consent was obtained by virtue of completion. We implemented agreed procedures to maintain the confidentiality of participant data.

Author Contributions

BB, BE, JH, and KM conceived and designed the study. BB, JH, and KM collected and prepared the data. JH analyzed the data. BE and JH wrote the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

1 The data were gathered as part of a larger project ( Stopfer et al., 2015 ; Braun et al., 2016 ). However, the analyses in the present article do not overlap with analyses from previous work.

2 Other measures were administered, but they were not relevant to the present research questions and are thus not mentioned in this paper. The data set and analysis script supporting the conclusions of this manuscript can be retrieved from https://osf.io/emrpw/?view_only=856491775efe4f99b407e258c2f2fa8d .

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731/full#supplementary-material

• American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 , 5th Edn Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association. [ Google Scholar ]
• Anderson C. A., Bushman B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychol. Sci. 12 353–359. 10.1111/1467-9280.00366 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Anderson C. A., Shibuya A., Ihori N., Swing E. L., Bushman B. J., Sakamoto A., et al. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychol. Bull. 136 151–173. 10.1037/a0018251 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Apperley T. H. (2006). Genre and game studies: toward a critical approach to video game genres. Simul. Gaming 37 6–23. 10.1177/1046878105282278 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Asendorpf J. B. (1997). SGSE-Schüchternheits- und Geselligkeitsskalen für Erwachsene [Scales on shyness and sociality for adults ] . Berlin: Humboldt-Universität. [ Google Scholar ]
• Barlett C. P., Anderson C. A., Swing E. L. (2009). Video game effects—Confirmed, suspected, and speculative: a review of the evidence. Simul. Gaming 40 377–403. 10.1177/1046878108327539 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bean A. M., Nielsen R. K. L., van Rooij A. J., Ferguson C. J. (2017). Video game addiction: the push to pathologize video games. Prof. Psychol. Res. Pr. 48 378–389. 10.1037/pro0000150 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bediou B., Adams D. M., Mayer R. E., Tipton E., Green C. S., Bavelier D. (2018). Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills. Psychol. Bull. 144 77–110. 10.1037/bul0000130 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Billieux J., Van der Linden M., Achab S., Khazaal Y., Paraskevopoulos L., Zullino D., et al. (2013). Why do you play World of Warcraft? An in-depth exploration of self-reported motivations to play online and in-game behaviours in the virtual world of Azeroth. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 103–109. 10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.021 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Braun B., Stopfer J. M., Müller K. W., Beutel M. E., Egloff B. (2016). Personality and video gaming: comparing regular gamers, non-gamers, and gaming addicts and differentiating between game genres. Comput. Hum. Behav. 55 406–412. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.041 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Calvert S. L., Appelbaum M., Dodge K. A., Graham S., Nagayama Hall G. C., Hamby S., et al. (2017). The american psychological association task force assessment of violent video games: science in the service of public interest. Am. Psychol. 72 126–143. 10.1037/a0040413 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carver C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’s too long: consider the brief cope. Int. J. Behav. Med. 4 92–100. 10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carver C. S., Scheier M. F., Weintraub J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 56 267–283. 10.1037/0022-3514.56.2.267 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Charlton J. P., Danforth I. D. (2007). Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing. Comput. Hum. Behav. 23 1531–1548. 10.1016/j.chb.2005.07.002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chiu S. I., Lee J. Z., Huang D. H. (2004). Video game addiction in children and teenagers in Taiwan. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 7 571–581. 10.1089/cpb.2004.7.571 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Colder Carras M., Van Rooij A. J., Spruijit-Metz D., Kvedar J., Griffiths M. D., Carabas Y., et al. (2018). Commercial video games as therapy: a new research agenda to unlock the potential of a global pastime. Front. Psychiatry 8 : 300 . 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00300 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Derogatis L. R. (1975). SCL-90-R: Symptom Checklist-90-R: Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. London: NCS Pearson. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dobrowolski P., Hanusz K., Sobczyk B., Skorko M., Wiatrow A. (2015). Cognitive enhancement in video game players: the role of video game genre. Comput. Hum. Behav. 44 59–63. 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.051 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Elbing E. (1991). Einsamkeit: Psychologische Konzepte, Forschungsbefunde und Treatmentansätze [Loneliness: Psychological Concepts, Research Findings, and Treatments]. Göttingen: Hogrefe. [ Google Scholar ]
• Elson M., Ferguson C. J. (2014). Twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression: empirical evidence, perspectives, and a debate gone astray. Eur. Psychol. 19 33–46. 10.1027/1016-9040/a000147 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Esposito N. (2005). “ A short and simple definition of what a videogame is ,” in Proceedings of the DiGRA (Digital Games Research Association) Conference: Changing Views-Worlds in Play , (British Columbia: University of Vancouver; ). [ Google Scholar ]
• Estévez A., Jáuregui P., Sánchez-Marcos I., López-González H., Griffiths M. D. (2017). Attachment and emotion regulation in substance addictions and behavioral addictions. J. Behav. Addict. 6 534–544. 10.1556/2006.6.2017.086 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ferguson C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 10 646–666. 10.1177/1745691615592234 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ferguson C. J., Coulson M., Barnett J. (2011). A meta-analysis of pathological gaming prevalence and comorbidity with mental health, academic and social problems. J. Psychiatr. Res. 45 1573–1578. 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.09.005 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Festl R., Scharkow M., Quandt T. (2013). Problematic computer game use among adolescents, younger and older adults. Addiction 108 592–599. 10.1111/add.12016 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gentile D. (2009). Pathological video-game use among youth ages 8 to 18: a national study. Psychol. Sci. 20 594–602. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02340.x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Graham L. T., Gosling S. D. (2013). Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 16 189–193. 10.1089/cyber.2012.0090 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Granic I., Lobel A., Engels R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. Am. Psychol. 69 66–78. 10.1037/a0034857 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Greenberg B. S., Sherry J., Lachlan K., Lucas K., Holmstrom A. (2010). Orientations to video games among gender and age groups. Simul. Gaming 41 238–259. 10.1177/1046878108319930 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Griffiths M., Van Rooij A. J., Kardefeldt-Winther D., Starcevic V., Király O., Pallesen S., et al. (2016). Working towards an international consensus on criteria for assessing internet gaming disorder: a critical commentary on Petry et al. (2014). Addiction 111 167–175. 10.1111/add.13057 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Griffiths M. D., Davies M. N., Chappell D. (2004). Demographic factors and playing variables in online computer gaming. CyberPsychol. Behav. 7 479–487. 10.1089/cpb.2004.7.479 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hamari J., Keronen L. (2017). Why do people play games? A meta-analysis. Int. J. Inform. Manag. 37 125–141. 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.01.006 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Herodotou C., Kambouri M., Winters N. (2014). Dispelling the myth of the socio-emotionally dissatisfied gamer. Comput. Hum. Behav. 32 23–31. 10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.054 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hilgard J., Engelhardt C. R., Bartholow B. D. (2013). Individual differences in motives, preferences, and pathology in video games: the gaming attitudes, motives, and experiences scales (GAMES). Front. Psychol. 4 : 608 . 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00608 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Homer B. D., Hayward E. O., Frye J., Plass J. L. (2012). Gender and player characteristics in video game play of preadolescents. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28 1782–1789. 10.1016/j.chb.2012.04.018 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hussain Z., Griffiths M. D. (2009). Excessive use of massively multi-player online role-playing games: a pilot study. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 7 : 563 10.1007/s11469-009-9202-8 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jeong E. J., Kim D. H. (2011). Social activities, self-efficacy, game attitudes, and game addiction. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 14 213–221. 10.1089/cyber.2009.0289 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kanfer F. H., Phillips J. (1970). Learning Foundations of Behavior Therapy. New York, NY: Wiley. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kessler R. C., Amminger G. P., Aguilar-Gaxiola S., Alonso J., Lee S., Ustun T. B. (2007). Age of onset of mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Curr. Opin. Psychiatry 20 359–364. 10.1097/YCO.0b013e32816ebc8c [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Király O., Urbán R., Griffith M. D., Ágoston C., Nagygyörgy K., Kökönyei G., et al. (2015). The mediating effect of gaming motivation between psychiatric symptoms and problematic online gaming: an online survey. J. Med. Int. Res. 17 : e88 . 10.2196/jmir.3515 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Klaghofer R., Brähler E. (2001). Konstruktion und teststatistische Prüfung einer Kurzform der SCL-90-R [Construction and statistical evaluation of a short version of the SCL-90-R]. Z. Klin. Psychol. Psychiatr. Psychother. 49 115–124. [ Google Scholar ]
• Knoll N., Rieckmann N., Schwarzer R. (2005). Coping as a mediator between personality and stress outcomes: a longitudinal study with cataract surgery patients. Eur. J. Personal. 19 229–247. 10.1002/per.546 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ko C. H., Yen J. Y., Chen C. C., Chen S. H., Yen C. F. (2005). Gender differences and related factors affecting online gaming addiction among Taiwanese adolescents. J. Nervous Mental Dis. 193 273–277. 10.1097/01.nmd.0000158373.85150.57 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kowert R., Domahidi E., Festl R., Quandt T. (2014a). Social gaming, lonely life? The impact of digital game play on adolescents’ social circles. Comput. Hum. Behav. 36 385–390. 10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kowert R., Domahidi E., Quandt T. (2014b). The relationship between online video game involvement and gaming-related friendships among emotionally sensitive individuals. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 17 447–453. 10.1089/cyber.2013.0656 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Krohne H. W., Egloff B., Kohlmann C. W., Tausch A. (1996). Untersuchungen mit einer deutschen version der positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) [Investigations with a German version of the PANAS]. Diagnostica 42 139–156. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kuss D. J., Griffiths M. D. (2012). Internet gaming addiction: a systematic review of empirical research. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 10 278–296. 10.1007/s11469-011-9318-5 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Laconi S., Pirès S., Chabrol H. (2017). Internet gaming disorder, motives, game genres, and psychopathology. Comput. Hum. Behav. 75 652–659. 10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.012 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Latham A. J., Patston L. L., Tippett L. J. (2013). The virtual brain: 30 years of video-game play and cognitive abilities. Front. Psychol. 4 : 629 . 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00629 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lemmens J. S., Hendriks S. J. F. (2016). Addictive online games: examining the relationship between game genres and internet gaming disorder. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 19 270–276. 10.1089/cyber.2015.0415 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lemmens J. S., Valkenburg P. M., Peter J. (2011). Psychosocial causes and consequences of pathological gaming. Comput. Hum. Behav. 27 144–152. 10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.015 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Longman H., O’Connor E., Obst P. (2009). The effect of social support derived from World of Warcraft on negative psychological symptoms. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 12 563–566. 10.1089/cpb.2009.0001 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lucas K., Sherry J. L. (2004). Sex differences in video game play: a communication-based explanation. Commun. Res. 31 499–523. 10.1177/0093650204267930 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mathiak K. A., Klasen M., Weber R., Ackermann H., Shergill S. S., Mathiak K. (2011). Reward system and temporal pole contributions to affective evaluation during a first person shooter video game. BMC Neurosci. 12 : 66 . 10.1186/1471-2202-12-66 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mazurek M. O., Engelhardt C. R., Clark K. E. (2015). Video games from the perspective of adults with autism spectrum disorder. Comput. Hum. Behav. 51 122–130. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.062 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McCreery M. P., Krach S. K., Schrader P. G., Boone R. (2012). Defining the virtual self: personality, behavior, and the psychology of embodiment. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28 976–983. 10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.019 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mehroof M., Griffiths M. D. (2010). Online gaming addiction: the role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 13 313–316. 10.1089/cyber.2009.0229 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mihara S., Higuchi S. (2017). Cross-sectional and longitudinal epidemiological studies of Internet gaming disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 71 425–444. 10.1111/pcn.12532 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Milani L., La Torre G., Fiore M., Grumi S., Gentile D. A., Ferrante M., et al. (2018). Internet gaming addiction in adolescence: risk factors and maladjustment correlates. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 16 888–904. 10.1007/s11469-017-9750-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Möller I., Krahé B. (2009). Exposure to violent video games and aggression in German adolescents: a longitudinal analysis. Aggress. Behav. 35 75–89. 10.1002/ab.20290 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Müller K. W., Beutel M. E., Dreier M., Wölfling K. (2019). A clinical evaluation of the DSM-5 criteria for internet gaming disorder and a pilot study on their applicability to further Internet-related disorders. J. Behav. Addict. 8 16–24. 10.1556/2006.7.2018.140 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Müller K. W., Beutel M. E., Wölfling K. (2014a). A contribution to the clinical characterization of internet addiction in a sample of treatment seekers: validity of assessment, severity of psychopathology and type of co-morbidity. Compr. Psychiatry 55 770–777. 10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.01.010 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Müller K. W., Glaesmer H., Brähler E., Wölfling K., Beutel M. E. (2014b). Prevalence of internet addiction in the general population: results from a German population-based survey. Behav. Inform. Technol. 33 757–766. 10.1080/0144929X.2013.810778 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Müller K. W., Janikian M., Dreier M., Wölfling K., Beutel M. E., Tzavara C., et al. (2015). Regular gaming behavior and internet gaming disorder in European adolescents: results from a cross-national representative survey of prevalence, predictors and psychopathological correlates. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 24 565–574. 10.1007/s00787-014-0611-2 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Müller K. W., Wölfling K. (2017). Both sides of the story: addiction is not a pastime activity: commentary on: scholars’ open debate paper on the World Health Organization ICD-11 Gaming Disorder proposal (Aarseth et al.). J. Behav. Addict. 6 118–120. 10.1556/2006.6.2017.038 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nestler S., Back M. D., Egloff B. (2011). Psychometrische Eigenschaften zweier Skalen zur Erfassung interindividueller Unterschiede in der Präferenz zum Alleinsein [Psychometric properties of two scales for the assessment of interindividual differences in preference for solitude]. Diagnostica 57 57–67. 10.1026/0012-1924/a000032 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Newzoo (2017). 2017 Global Games Market Report: Trends, Insights, and Projections Toward 2020. Available at: http://progamedev.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Newzoo_Global_Games_Market_Report_2017_Light.pdf (accessed February 16, 2018). [ Google Scholar ]
• Ng B. D., Wiemer-Hastings P. (2005). Addiction to the internet and online gaming. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 8 110–113. 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.110 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nolen-Hoeksema S. (2012). Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 8 161–187. 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143109 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Park J. H., Han D. H., Kim B. N., Cheong J. H., Lee Y. S. (2016). Correlations among social anxiety, self-esteem, impulsivity, and game genre in patients with problematic online game playing. Psychiatry Investig. 13 297–304. 10.4306/pi.2016.13.3.297 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Petry N. M., Rehbein F., Gentile D. A., Lemmens J. S., Rumpf H. J., Mossle T., et al. (2014). An international consensus for assessing internet gaming disorder using the new DSM-5 approach. Addiction 109 1399–1406. 10.1111/add.12457 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pew Research Center (2018). 5 Facts About Americans and Video Games. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. [ Google Scholar ]
• Primack B. A., Carroll M. V., McNamara M., Klem M. L., King B., Rich M. O., et al. (2012). Role of video games in improving health-related outcomes: a systematic review. Am. J. Prevent. Med. 42 630–638. 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.023 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rehbein F., Staudt A., Hanslmaier M., Kliem S. (2016). Video game playing in the general adult population of Germany: can higher gaming time of males be explained by gender specific genre preferences? Comput. Hum. Behav. 55 729–735. 10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.016 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rosenberg M. (1979). Conceiving the Self. New York, NY: Basic Books. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rubenstein C., Shaver P. R. (1982). “ The experience of loneliness ,” in Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research, and Therapy , eds Peplau L. A., Perlman D. (New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience; ), 206–223. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ryan R. M., Rigby C. S., Przybylski A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: a self-determination theory approach. Motiv. Emot. 30 344–360. 10.1007/s11031-006-9051-8 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Scharkow M., Festl R., Vogelgesang J., Quandt T. (2015). Beyond the “core-gamer”: genre preferences and gratifications in computer games. Comput. Hum. Behav. 44 293–298. 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.020 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schneider L. A., King D. L., Delfabbro P. H. (2018). Maladaptive coping styles in adolescents with Internet gaming disorder symptoms. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 16 905–916. 10.1007/s11469-017-9756-9 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schwarzer R., Jerusalem M. (1995). “ Generalized self-efficacy scale ,” in Measures in Health Psychology: A User’s Portfolio. Causal and Control Beliefs , eds Weinman J., Wright S., Johnston M. (Windsor: NFER-NELSON; ), 35–37. [ Google Scholar ]
• Schwarzer R., Schulz U. (2003). Soziale Unterstützung bei der Krankheitsbewältigung: die Berliner Social Support Skalen (BSSS) [Social support in coping with illness: the Berlin social support scales]. Diagnostica 49 73–82. 10.1026//0012-1924.49.2.73 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Skoric M. M., Teo L. L. C., Neo R. L. (2009). Children and video games: addiction, engagement, and scholastic achievement. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 12 567–572. 10.1089/cpb.2009.0079 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stopfer J. M., Braun B., Müller K. W., Egloff B. (2015). Narcissus plays video games. Personal. Individ. Differ. 87 212–218. 10.1016/j.paid.2015.08.011 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Taquet P., Romo L., Cottencin O., Ortiz D., Hautekeete M. (2017). Video game addiction: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral determinants for CBT treatment. J. Thér. Comportementale Cogn. 27 118–128. 10.1016/j.jtcc.2017.06.005 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• The Nielsen Company (2017). Games 360 U.S. Report. New York, NY: The Nielsen Company. [ Google Scholar ]
• Visser M., Antheunis M. L., Schouten A. P. (2013). Online communication and social well-being: how playing World of Warcraft affects players’ social competence and loneliness. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 43 1508–1517. 10.1111/jasp.12144 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• von Collani G., Herzberg P. Y. (2003). Eine revidierte Fassung der deutschsprachigen Skala zum Selbstwertgefühl von Rosenberg [A revised German version of Rosenberg‘s self-esteem scale]. Z. Differ. Diagn. Psychol. 24 3–7. 10.1026/0012-1924/a000032 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang H. R., Cho H., Kim D.-J. (2018). Prevalence and correlates of comorbid depression in a nonclinical online sample with DSM-5 internet gaming disorder. J. Affect. Disord. 226 1–5. 10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.005 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Watson D., Clark L. A., Tellegen A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 54 1063–1070. 10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wölfling K., Beutel M. E., Müller K. W. (2016). “ OSV-S – skala zum onlinesuchtverhalten [AICA-S – Scale for the assessment of internet and computer game addiction] ,” in Diagnostische Verfahren in der Psychotherapie [Diagnostic Measures in Psychotherapy] , eds Geue K., Strauß B., Brähler E. (Göttingen: Hogrefe; ), 362–366. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wölfling K., Müller K. W., Beutel M. (2011). Reliabilität und Validität der Skala zum Computerspielverhalten [Reliability and validity of the scale for the assessment of pathological computer-gaming]. Psychother. Psychosom. Med. Psychol. 61 216–224. 10.1055/s-0030-1263145 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wood R. T., Griffith M. D. (2007). A qualitative investigation of problem gambling as an escape-based coping strategy. Psychol. Psychother. 80 107–125. 10.1348/147608306X107881 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Yee N. (2006). Motivations for play in online games. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 9 772–775. 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.772 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

The Argument for Video Game Addiction

Some research suggests video games can be addictive..

Updated August 10, 2023 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods

• What Is Addiction?
• Find a therapist to overcome addiction
• Video games use psychological tricks to be habit-forming.
• Self-professed "gaming addicts" report similar experiences to people addicted to other substances.
• Video game playing is associated with less brain activity in certain regions.
• Video games appear to be addictive, so "gaming disorder" may meet the criteria for an official diagnosis.

This is half of a pair of articles that highlight the evidence for and against the existence of video game addiction . Read the counter-argument here .

In 1982, three psychiatrists warned of a new concern, which they named Space Invaders Obsession . They had observed three men in their 20’s and 30’s whose time spent playing the popular arcade game was undermining their personal relationships. Mental health professionals worldwide noted similar patterns in their clients for the next several decades.

As a result of these reports and accompanying research, the World Health Organization added “Gaming Disorder” to the list of recognized health conditions in 2019. Although this inclusion was controversial, it reflected a growing understanding of the harm which video games can cause.

Consumer psychology

Many popular video games are intentionally designed to be habit-forming. Psychologists at major game studios frequently replicate strategies from the gambling and retail industries to ensure that players keep coming back.

For example, people are easily fooled into believing that they were very close to winning a game of chance. When McDonald’s releases Monopoly pieces, customers must complete a set of three tokens to win a prize. Random tokens accompany many of the food items. Anyone who acquires all three could win a car, one million dollars, or other sizable prizes. For the biggest prizes, McDonald’s prints a flood of the first two tokens and only a few of the third.

This means that, in practice, the prize would go to whomever found the third, rare token. However, consumers who had gathered the first two tokens in the set assumed that they were close to winning and therefore were motivated to continue buying McDonald’s food. They were not close to winning, but they felt they were.

Slot machines also use this strategy; the first two of the spinning wheels usually contain many iterations of the winning icons, but the third has very few. This results in many “near misses,” which excite us and make us more likely to keep playing . If all three wheels were distributed evenly, the game would not be as thrilling.

Video games use similar mechanics. For example, on-screen roulette wheels often do not actually represent the game’s programming. When players spin a virtual wheel, the animation is likely to show the needle almost lining up with a winning segment. In reality, the game simply selects a random number, decides that the player has lost, then plays an exciting animation to convince them that they were very close to winning. This keeps players coming back.

The “near miss” is just one of many strategies developers use to keep players engaged. Others include:

• Chasing: “You just lost some money; you should keep playing to get it back.”
• Entrapment: “You might be about to win. If you leave, you could miss a huge reward.”
• Fear of missing out: “This special helmet is only available for the next three days,” or, “This deal only lasts for two more hours.”
• Exclusivity: “We only produced 10,000 of this cool, golden sword; you will miss it if you don’t buy it now.”

Although most consumers are aware of these tricks, they influence our decisions without our conscious knowledge or consent. This is especially true for children and adolescents.

Neurological Differences

Our brains do not finish developing until around age 25. Because of this, young people’s more pliable brains are particularly susceptible to the gaming industry’s tricks. In fact, studies suggest that playing fast-paced video games can actually change our brains’ structure. Several studies have found that people who play internet games have less gray matter in regions of the brain responsible for impulse control, attention , emotional regulation , among others.

Critics of these studies note that they are correlative, not causal. They argue that the studies have not demonstrated that the video games caused these changes, only that these changes are observed in people who play games. People with less self-control , ability to focus attention, regulate emotions, etc. might simply be more drawn to video games than those with more of each.

However, recent studies have found more compelling evidence for a causal link. Half of the participants in one study were instructed to spend ten hours playing violent video games over a period of one week, then refrain from playing for a second week. After the first week, those who had played violent video games showed less activity in areas of the brain responsible for controlling emotion and aggression . After a week of abstaining from gaming, these observed changes reduced significantly. Although the study included only 22 subjects, the research provides some evidence that video games do contribute to changes in brain functioning.

Financial Difficulty

These strategies sometimes cost players more money than they can afford. More than 95 percent of players never spend money on optional purchases. However, the players who do spend money on otherwise free games spend so much that they subsidize the game for everyone else. Developers compete for these “whales”—an industry term for gamers who spend the most money on free-to-play games.

Some whales are wealthy enough that they can easily afford to spend a few thousand dollars on a hobby. However, the allure of in-game purchases is so strong that some choose to buy items in a video game instead of paying rent or buying food.

Whales often use similar language to those with a gambling addiction to explain their purchases: "I had this unbeatable rush of adulation and excitement. For someone who didn't get out much, I was on cloud nine. And at that point things changed—I started chasing that high.” “There were nights where I'd be up until 3am, drinking beer and playing Team Fortress and chasing those silly hats with purple text, ignoring the gambler's fallacy and swearing that if I dropped another $50 I'd be sure to win this time.” “I'm in a position where I'm living paycheck to paycheck for the moment as the result of that spending—beyond incurring overdraft for my rent.”

In my therapy practice, I frequently counsel people who were failing classes or have dropped out of school as a result of their gaming. They report that they were unable to balance video games, homework, and class attendance. They felt so compelled to continue playing that they also regularly skipped meals and in-person social events. When describing why they are seeking treatment, some have told me that they had done nothing in the preceding weeks except sit in front of a computer and play their favorite game.

Some report that they have tried and failed to quit numerous times. One man told the New York Times that he disassembled his computer and hid the pieces in different boxes in a desperate attempt to get work done. He reassembled it a month later when he found it too difficult to stay away from the game. Others worry about “missing out” so much that they play mobile games while driving .

Many researchers note that some also experience difficulty sleeping , dehydration, malnutrition, irritability, depression , and even seizures as a result of playing for long periods of time.

International Response

As a result of these reports, video game overuse or addiction has become a major concern for many organizations and countries. In 2006, South Korea declared internet addiction to be the most significant health problem for young people . The country enacted a controversial “shutdown” law in 2011, which prohibited children from playing between midnight and 6am. The law was repealed in 2021 and replaced by a "choice permit" system, which empowers parents to decide when to limit their children's game time.

Some governments have proposed or made sweeping changes to protect children from games. China’s government banned all minors from playing video games on weekdays and restricted play to one hour per day Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 8 to 9pm. American Senators Josh Hawley and Chris Lee have both proposed legislation banning children from accessing randomized rewards for purchases within games. Although this legislation was not enacted, it reflects growing concern within the United States government. Several countries have already enacted laws regulating randomized rewards, to varying degrees.

Video Games Can Be Addictive

The vast majority of gamers do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of “gaming disorder.” For most, video games are a source of social connection , relaxation , and fun.

However, a very small percent of gamers do experience significant harm due to the games they love. Even though they face significant social, financial, and health-related problems, they report that they cannot stop playing without help.

People are considered “addicted” to a substance or behavior like gambling when it causes significant harm to them and they cannot quit without help. This is what self-professed gaming addicts report: they are unable to stop despite harm to their relationships, financial and job security, and other aspects of their life.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) is the book mental health professionals use to diagnose clients. The DSM-5 categorizes gaming disorder only as a “condition for further study.” It may be formalized as an official diagnosis in the future.

This has led a number of clinics and rehabilitation facilities to specialize in treating video game addiction. Each reports great success helping people regain control over their lives and break free from technology’s grip. Although many of these reports have not been independently validated, they align with anecdotal reports of mental health professionals helping patients reduce their use of video games.

In short, video games have a unique allure. Psychologists and game developers use proven strategies from consumer psychology research to augment their intrinsic appeal, which makes them difficult to turn off. Some gamers report that they cannot put the controller down, even when the games cause them significant harm. Should it not, therefore, be considered an addiction?

CNN staff, CNN Business. (2021, August 31). China bans kids from playing online video games during the week. CNN Business. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/31/tech/china-ban-video-games-minor-intl-hn…

Fishman, A. (2019, January 22). Video games are social spaces. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/video-game-health/201901/video-…

Fishman, A. (2019, May 14). The Protecting Children from Abusive Games act. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/video-game-health/201905/the-pr…

Fishman, A. (2019, December 12). "Gotta catch 'em all": How random-number generators make video games addictive. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/video-game-health/201912/gotta-…

Fishman, A. (2020, February 6). 5 ways video games can help with stress and mindfulness. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/video-game-health/202002/5-ways…

Flunger, R., Mladenow, A., & Strauss, C.. The free-to-play business model. In: Indrawan-Santiago, M., Salvadori, I.L., Steinbauer, M., Khalil, I., Anderst-Kotsis, G. (eds.) The 19th International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications & Services (iiWAS). ACM Conference Proceedings Series, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322234515_The_Free-to-play_Bus…

Hardawar, D. (2021, August 25). South Korea to end its controversial gaming curfew. Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/south-korea-gaming-shutdown-law-end-163212494…

Jabr, F. (2019). Can you really be addicted to video games? (2019, October 22). The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/magazine/can-you-really-be-addicted-…

Karlsen, F. (2010). Addiction and randomness: A comparative analysis of psycho-structural elements in gambling games and massively multiplayer online role-paying games. In U. Carlsson (Ed.) Children and Youth in the Digital Media Culture. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272677969_Addiction_and_Random…

Reid, R.L. (1986). The psychology of the near miss. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 1986 (2). Retrieved from https://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~aldous/157/Papers/near_miss.pdf

Rose, M. (2013, July 9). Chasing the whale: Examining the ethics of free-to-play games. Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/chasing-the-whale-examining-the-…

Ross, D.R., Finestone, D.H., & Lavin, G.K. (1982). Space Invaders Obsession. JAMA. 1982;248 (10). Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/377399

Saunders, J.B., Hao, W., Long, J., King, D.L., Mann, K., Fauth-Buhler, M., Rumpf, Hans-Jurgen, Bowden-Jones, H., Rahimi-Movaghar, A., Chung, T., Chan, E., Bahar, N., Achab, S., Lee, H.K., Potenza, M., Petry, N., Spritzer, D., Ambekar, A., Derevensky, J...& Poznyak, V. (2017). Gaming disorder: Its delineation as an important condition for diagnosis, management, and prevention. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6 (3). Retrieved from https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/6/3/article-p271.xml?body=pdf…

Straub, N. (2020, October 5). Every country with laws against loot boxes (& what the rules are). Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/lootbox-gambling-microtransactions-illegal-japan…

Tassi, P. (2018, February 13). EA, Activision and others should be afraid of Hawaii's new loot box bills. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/02/13/ea-activision-and-ot…

Wang, Y., Hummer, T., Kronenberger, W., Mosier, K., & Mathews, V. (2011) One week of violent video game play alters prefrontal activity. Radiological Society of North America 2011 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 26 - December 2, 2011 ,Chicago IL. Retrieved from https://archive.rsna.org/2011/11004116.html

Weinstein, A., Livny, A., & Weizman, A. (2017). New developments in brain research of internet and gaming disorder. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 75. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763416302925

World Health Organization (2020, Oct. 22). Addictive behaviours: Gaming disorder . https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/addictive-beha…

Andrew Fishman is a licensed social worker in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a lifelong gamer who works with clients to understand the impact video games have had on their mental health.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Video game addiction is real, rare, and poorly understood

The World Health Organization now recognizes “gaming disorder.” It’s a controversial, but some argue necessary, classification.

by German Lopez

Scott knew he needed to focus on his work. His bosses were increasingly unhappy with his performance, and he was struggling to earn enough to support his wife and son. As he put it to me, “I was falling down on my job.”

Something else had consumed his attention: Scott just couldn’t stop playing video games.

As a computer programmer working from home, it was easy for Scott, now 45, to turn on a game at any time. And increasingly, he found himself playing instead of working — a problem for someone who was paid by the hour and was honest in reporting his hours.

Scott played online card games like Absolute Poker and Bridge Base Online , and massively multiplayer online roleplaying games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI . He was, he said, “obsessed” with the escape that they offered him. “Even when I wasn’t gaming, I was thinking about gaming,” Scott, who asked I not use his last name, told me.

Scott had previously battled alcohol addiction. And he said gaming addiction began the same way: with a sense of despair — that “life just seemed pointless in a lot of ways.” Then came an escalation of use that over time crowded out the other things in his life.

His life deteriorated. He neglected his now-ex-wife and son. He abandoned his other hobbies. He lost sleep. His social life evaporated.

After years of this, Scott found help groups online in 2010 and tried to moderate his gaming. “I’m going to try it again, but I’m not going back to that old craziness,” he told himself. “It’ll just be a little bit here and there. I know now what it does to me. I know better than to get back into it.”

But Scott would eventually relapse — letting games dominate all his priorities once again. It wasn’t until 2012, when he totally quit games (with the help of support groups like CGAA ), that he turned his life around, improving his relationships and work, and getting back to his other hobbies.

Public health experts now are starting to take stories like Scott’s more seriously. This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) for the first time recognized “gaming disorder” in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). In doing so, the WHO joined the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which had previously added “internet gaming disorder” as a phenomenon worthy of more research in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

The WHO’s designation in particular drew quick skepticism from gamers , experts , and gaming and tech websites. To many gamers, the issue was personal: They felt that their hobby was being scapegoated as a societal problem. Having not experienced anything close to addiction themselves, they felt that the WHO’s designation was made without any good evidence.

Those who support the designation, though, note that the majority of gamers wouldn’t experience anything close to addiction. As is true for most other addictive activities and substances, the great majority of people who play games are not going to be addicted.

But some people truly do struggle with gaming addiction — a legitimate medical condition, the WHO argues. The idea behind the designation is to acknowledge that this group needs health care and other resources for help.

What’s more, there are aspects of games that may make them particularly susceptible to addiction, including their unique abilities to immerse, the easy access to them, and the gambling-like mechanics that have increasingly popped up in games in recent years.

Unpacking all of that, though, requires not just understanding video games, but also addiction — which continues to be greatly misunderstood in America.

Video games are now mainstream — and that comes with some risks

It was only a few decades ago when video games were seen as a niche activity. When I was in high school, gamers were nerds.

That’s now changed. With the rise of phenomenon like Pokémon , World of Warcraft , Call of Duty , and Fortnite , games are now mainstream. According to Statista , the number of active gamers worldwide will rise to more than 2.7 billion people in 2021, up from 1.8 billion in 2014 and 2.3 billion in 2018.

The great majority of these people will not become addicted to video games. Based on some of the best research , 1 to 3 percent of gamers are at risk.

This is true for other kinds of addiction, even for drugs that are considered highly addictive. For example, some research estimates that about 8 percent of opioid painkiller patients get addicted — still a significant amount, but definitely not a majority.

But when billions of people around the world are playing games, even a small percent can lead to a large population — literally tens of millions — with problems.

The WHO’s designation is meant to get ahead of this problem. It creates a basis that the health care system can build a response around. Doctors will have a condition to diagnose patients with. It enables more research into the disorder. And health insurers will be pushed to pay for treatment as it’s recognized as a real medical condition.

Joël Billieux, a University of Luxembourg professor involved in clinical and research work on gaming disorder, argued that’s why the WHO designation is necessary.

“It will allow the systemization of education and prevention,” Billieux, who served on the WHO’s gaming disorder committee, told me. “There will also be more means for doing research and better understanding the condition.”

“Yet, on the opposite side,” Billieux added, “it’s legitimate to be concerned about the risks of pathologization of normal behavior or unnecessary treatment.”

That latter concern is what’s driven a lot of the opposition to the WHO’s designation. Coming from researching video games and violence, Stetson University psychologist Christopher Ferguson is especially concerned about a moral panic — a kind of negative overreaction that often follows new trends and technologies.

“Often times, there are these kinds of visceral, negative reactions to new technologies that in some cases lead to pretty extreme claims,” Ferguson said. “It’s not hard to see that in the video game addiction realm, where you see headlines that video games are ‘digital heroin.’ ”

Just consider: Most recently, President Donald Trump suggested that video games may be to blame for mass shootings. There is simply no conclusive evidence to support this claim. But it’s the kind of thing we have seen consistently, from parents calling rock and roll “the devil’s music” to comic book censorship to fears over violent movies .

What is addiction, anyway?

There is still a major divide between the public understanding of addiction and the expert view. It’s common to hear people casually call an activity “addictive” just because it’s fun. Some people continue to see addiction not as a medical condition but as a moral failure, contrary to what major public health and medical organizations have said for decades now . There are still misconceptions that addiction requires some sort of physical component — for example, physical dependence that causes withdrawal — or that physical dependence is conclusive proof of addiction.

Experts, however, have long moved away from these old views of addiction, if they ever held such beliefs at all. Under the expert view, addiction doesn’t even require a physical dependence component.

“We long ago moved away from thinking about addiction as a physical or physiological need for a drug,” Robert West, editor in chief for the scientific journal Addiction , told me. “In most cases, it’s not the physiological [dependence] that’s causing the problem, because you can quite easily get people over that” — through, say, supervised detoxification. “It’s a behavioral problem. Where the problem lies is that certain drugs and behaviors in certain people lead to such powerful motivation to engage in the behavior that it’s damaging or could be damaging.”

It’s that last part of West’s comment that’s key to understanding addiction: It’s when a person compulsively does something even as it leads to negative outcomes, physical dependence or not.

How gaming disorder is defined

The WHO’s designation of gaming disorder, in so many words , essentially fits games into the modern understanding of addiction:

Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’), which may be online (i.e., over the internet) or offline, manifested by: 1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences. The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning. The pattern of gaming behavior may be continuous or episodic and recurrent. The gaming behavior and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe.

The key consideration here is not any sort of physical symptom. No physical symptoms are mentioned. It’s, again, about compulsive use despite negative consequences. This fits with how other addictions are viewed by experts.

This is not a simple diagnosis. You can’t say that someone is addicted just because he plays games for more than a certain number of hours a week. Experts like Billieux, in fact, strongly cautioned against that kind of interpretation.

“We should not mix high involvement with problematic involvement,” Billieux said. “You can have a high involvement in gaming, if gaming is your main hobby, but you can do it in a totally controlled way that will not have any negative consequences on your daily life.”

“The main thing for me is loss of control — meaning you don’t play when you planned to play, you play more than expected, and you lose voluntary control of the time you spend gaming,” Billieux added. “The other thing is evidenced negative consequences at, for example, the social level, the academic level, professional level, or personal level.”

One commonly cited example is serious sleep deprivation. If someone is consistently losing a lot of sleep over video games, chances are something bad is going on there.

Scott can attest to that. Over time, he got less and less sleep as he stayed up playing games — and it started hurting him throughout his everyday life. “With that small of sleep, my head was a total wreck,” he said. “My memory went to hell.”

That doesn’t mean everyone who loses a bit of sleep to play games or do any other hobby is addicted. But it’s one sign that can be used to try to diagnose if someone has a problem.

A good doctor puts these kinds of data points and anecdotes together to gauge whether someone is addicted to games. Are they losing sleep? Are they failing to attend to major responsibilities like school and work? Are they neglecting family and friends? If you put all of this together, and it looks like someone is consistently putting games above everything else despite negative consequences, then that’s an indication of an addiction.

This applies to other drugs, too. It’s not enough to just use alcohol, marijuana, opioids, or other drugs to be addicted. Even using them a lot isn’t a sign of addiction (although it may be unhealthy for other reasons). Addiction is when someone uses these drugs compulsively despite the damage that follows.

We don’t fully understand why, but some people are more susceptible to addiction than others

So what makes the minority of people with addiction problems different than the majority? Researchers don’t have a conclusive answer to the question, but they say it’s likely a whole host of factors.

Some of it may be other mental health issues. Scott pointed out that his addiction flared up when he felt despair. When he was at his worst with his gaming, he said, “I was feeling really down about life, not sure what to do with myself.” Video games gave him an out, letting him set aside his despair for a little while. Other mental health problems, like anxiety, could play a role too.

It also could be genetic. Some people just experience fewer temptations, or have more willpower, than others. Scientists don’t totally know why. ( Read Vox’s Brian Resnick for more on the science of willpower. )

A person’s environment could play a role too. Maybe video games, particularly free-to-play online games, are the only affordable release at the end of a long workday that a low-income person can find, making it easier for him to get trapped in it. Perhaps someone will be forced to move to a place where she doesn’t have friends, family, or previous hobbies, so games will quickly become the only thing that gives her joy, and soon enough it’s all she does. It could be that, for some people, games are uniquely accessible, making them easy to play too much — as was true in Scott’s case, working from home.

And it could be all of these things combined or something else entirely. No one knows for sure, whether for gaming addiction or other forms of addiction.

Video games involve unique risks for addiction

There are also factors that might make games uniquely risky compared to other activities, making it more likely that someone will become addicted to them and play far too much.

One is easy access.

Billieux cited a patient who compared the rush he gets playing Fortnite , a very popular online multiplayer game, to his experiences skydiving. That may sound hard to believe (especially if you, like me, find Fortnite extremely boring), but it’s this person’s genuine impression of the game.

Consider what that means for this person. In the past, he would have had to take several steps, from booking a plane to physical travel, to get the rush he got from skydiving. Now, he just needs to turn on whatever device he plays Fortnite on and immediately get that same rush.

And Fortnite is on every single gaming device, including phones. So someone can play Fortnite literally all the time, certainly far more than they can go skydiving.

Scott pointed out that this was a big problem from him: Working from home, he was always a few clicks away from games, and that made it easy to misuse them.

In contrast, Scott still plays poker and card games — but now he does it face-to-face, not over the computer. Even if he wanted to, it would be difficult for him to overdo these real-life activities, because they require physical travel and, since he plays with friends, setting up a time and place with other people. As Scott told me, “I can’t just play poker face-to-face whenever I want.”

Another issue is the possibility of immersion. In games, you don’t just follow the stories and actions of certain characters; you are the characters. In roleplaying games like World of Warcraft , you can spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours building a character — going through a story you feel like you’re a part of, taking on challenges, and building a reputation for yourself among other gamers. This can be further compounded if a game, like World of Warcraft , has an online multiplayer element, compounding the immersion with socialization with other players.

Other forms of entertainment, like books and movies, can be immersive, but they simply don’t put the audience in the middle of a fantasy world like a game can.

Increasingly, some other games are also adopting gambling mechanics, which introduces a whole new layer of addiction. One example is loot boxes, which players buy within games with in-game currency or real money for a chance at exclusive or powerful items.

But there are other gambling-like mechanics in games, from a random chance at a powerful reward for completing certain repeatable challenges to literal in-game casinos with virtual slot machines, that can entice a person to keep playing for far longer than she would otherwise.

Still, even with these mechanics, only a small fraction of gamers get addicted, based on the evidence.

Video games can do a lot of good, too

Part of the concern here is that stifling video games could substantively harm people. Games are now used in education all the time. Some places, like Radboud University’s Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab in the Netherlands, are now studying the use of video games for therapy. There’s even some early research into “prescription video games,” trying to see how games — especially with the advent of virtual reality — could be used to help treat mental health conditions.

But beyond a medical setting, video games entertain people. They can let people relax after a hard day. They can provide an escape. All of these are real benefits that help people on a daily basis.

With the news of the WHO’s designation earlier this year, I began to think about my own gaming, particularly back when I was in high school. I spent a lot of time playing World of Warcraft — 40 hours a week, if not more.

I did not have the problems that Scott did. I got mostly A’s in high school, went to college and studied journalism, went to parties, hung out with friends on weekends, and spent time with my family.

In fact, looking back, I still think World of Warcraft was good for me. As a closeted gay teen, it was the one space where I found a group of friends I could be totally open with. I came out to them long before I came out to anyone I knew in my real life. (Often hearing remarks at my school like, “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” certainly did not help me come out there.) Having a safe space online made my early gay life a lot more bearable.

And video games, from World of Warcraft to Super Smash Bros ., were one of the things that helped bring my husband and me together. It’s still something we do together on a daily basis. So games have helped my later gay life, too.

For the vast majority of the billions of people playing games, this is true as well: Games are a form of entertainment, not a problem to be solved.

From the causes to the solutions, both sides say we need a lot more research into gaming addiction

As gaming addiction continues to capture more attention from the media and public health organizations, one of the big obstacles to identifying and detecting — much less preventing and treating — the problem is that the research in this area remains scarce, from even basic issues like how to define gaming addiction to more complex problems like how to treat it.

A thorough review of the research , published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences in 2017, found evidence that “pathological gaming symptoms” and game addiction, but not gaming in general, were associated with negative health and social consequences, such as depression and worse academic achievement, in one- or two-year follow-ups.

But the review also described the research into the detection and prevention of gaming addiction as “obviously insufficient,” and studies on the natural course of gaming addiction as “limited” — confirming major gaps in the field.

Michelle Colder Carras, a public health researcher now at Radboud University’s Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab in the Netherlands, joined dozens of other experts to write a letter and follow-up to the WHO arguing against the addition of gaming disorder to the ICD-11. The authors wrote, “The quality of the research base is low. The field is fraught with multiple controversies and confusions and there is, in fact, no consensus position among scholars.”

It’s not that excessive gaming can’t ever be a serious problem, Colder Carras told me. But “excessive gaming, even when we feel it’s causing problems, we don’t feel like we have enough evidence to determine that it’s worthy of making it into a disorder.”

One example, according to Colder Carras: A lot of the evidence uses criteria typical for drug and gambling addiction to measure the prevalence and harms of gaming addiction. But there are obvious differences between these types of addiction. For example, a potential sign that someone is addicted to drugs or gambling is consistent use to improve mood. If someone does that with games, though, it’s not necessarily bad — just about every hobby is, to some extent, about improving a person’s mood.

The research on treatment of gaming addiction is even weaker. There are no large-scale randomized controlled trials (the gold standard of research) looking at different kinds of care for gaming addiction.

“The evidence is strong in relation to the negative consequences,” Billieux, of the University of Luxembourg, said, noting that more people are actively seeking treatment for gaming addiction. “It’s less strong regarding evidence-based treatment.”

For now, researchers are largely applying approaches proven to work in other areas of mental health and addiction, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing, to patients that come in with gaming addiction.

“The most evidence we have is for the substance use disorders,” Petros Levounis, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told me. “Then comes gambling disorder. Then it’s internet gaming disorder. Then I would put pretty much all the rest of the behavioral addictions.”

So there’s still some conflict in the research world to be ironed out over time.

For people like Scott, though, gaming addiction is very real now — and quitting games was life-changing for the better. “I’m very grateful to be mentally present when I’m with my son,” he said, “and to not struggle with the feeling that he and video gaming are competing for my time.”

Most Popular

• Republicans ask the Supreme Court to disenfranchise thousands of swing state voters
• Did the Supreme Court just overrule one of its most important LGBTQ rights decisions?
• The Chicago DNC everyone wants to forget
• How the DNC solved its Joe Biden problem
• Why Indian doctors are protesting after the rape and death of a colleague

Today, Explained

Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day.

This is the title for the native ad

More in Science

But there might be global consequences.

Covid’s summer surge, explained

Japan’s early-warning system shows a few extra seconds can save scores of lives.

Being an only child doesn’t mess you up for life. We promise.

Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.

The neglected environmental and health benefits of fighting Big Meat — for humans.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Video game addiction and emotional states: possible confusion between pleasure and happiness.

• 1 Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
• 2 Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

Internet gaming disorder is characterized by a severely reduced control over gaming, resulting in an increasing gaming time and leading to negative consequences in many aspects of the individual life: personal, family, social, occupational and other relevant areas of functioning (World Health Organization). In the last years, the significant boom in using video games has been raising health issues that remain insufficiently understood. The extent of this phenomenon (the estimated prevalence is between 1.7 and 10% of the general population) has led the mentioned Organization to include gaming disorders in the list of mental health conditions (2018). Several studies show converging findings that highlight the common brain activities between substance use disorders and behavioral addictions (i.e., gaming disorders). Addiction specialists observed that addict subjects tend to confuse pleasure with happiness when linking emotional states to their addictive activities. As far as we know, beyond the mentioned observations, distinguishing the perception of these two emotional states in the frame of an addiction has not been yet the object of formal research. This study aims at examining the possible confusion between pleasure and happiness within the addiction sphere. Video game addiction has been chosen to explore the possible occurrence of this perceptional distortion. A mixed design lab-based study was carried out to compare between video games addicts and non-addicts (between-subjects), and video games-related activities and neutral activities (within-subject). Emotional reactions were gauged by self-reported scales and physiological data acquired through a range of biosensors: Relaxation and Hearth Rate. From a therapeutic standpoint, this research intends to explore alternatives to deal with this sort of disorders. More specifically, at the cognitive level, the idea is elaborating guidelines to develop patients’ insights into these emotional states and thus increasing their ability to handle them. Overall, several indices resulting from this study constitute a bundle of arguments that argue in favor of the confusion between pleasure and happiness made by addict users when associating their affective states to video gaming. Furthermore, this approach illustrates how reappraising emotions may contribute to reducing the perceptional distortion of these emotional states.

Introduction

In the last years, the significant boom in using video games (VG) has been raising health issues that remain insufficiently understood ( Khazaal et al., 2016 ). The World Health Organization [WHO] (2018) has recently included “gaming disorders” in the list of mental health conditions. According to WHO this affliction is a “persistent or recurrent behavior pattern of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) considers the ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ as a potential new diagnosis that requires further research ( Petry et al., 2015 ). The prevalence of problematic gaming is estimated to range from 1.7% to over 10% among general population ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Compared to the core topics of research in neuroscience such as stress, depression, etc., the chronic use of VG is a rather recent field of investigation. Yet, a growing number of studies have been produced in this field in the last two decades ( Andreassen et al., 2016 ). Indeed, several research projects have been exploring VG addiction from a behavioral, emotional, brain circuits and genetic perspectives ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ; Dong et al., 2017 ).

There seems to be converging findings that highlight the common brain activities between VG disorders (belonging to the cluster of behavioral addictions) and substance use disorders (SUD). It has been shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbital frontal cortex, para-hippocampal gyrus and thalamus were activated in both disorders ( Han et al., 2011 ). The limbic structures appear to be the key circuits linked with reward and addiction ( Cooper et al., 2017 ). In subjects suffering from these disorders, cues associated with SUD and with behavioral addiction can trigger craving, which is connected with the dopamine reward system ( Ko et al., 2009 ; Han et al., 2011 ). In addition, it has been observed that the level of dopamine released in the ventral striatum when playing a competition like video game is comparable to that provoked by psycho-stimulant drugs ( Koepp et al., 1998 ; Yau et al., 2012 ). Few studies have been carried out on the genetic aspects of this topic. Some of them indicate that there would be genetic background similarities between these two disorders. For example, the homozygous short allelic variant of the 5HTTLPR gene (encoding the serotonin transporter) is more prevalent among the excessive Internet user, which is also linked with increased drug consumption ( Serretti et al., 2006 , as cited in Yau et al., 2012 ; Lee et al., 2008 , as cited in Yau et al., 2012 ).

As described later, studying the confusion between pleasure and happiness in the frame of addiction requires as clear a demarcation as possible between these two emotional states. Although a consensus among scientists on how to define and distinguish pleasure and happiness remains to be reached (see next section Pleasure and Happiness ), in this research we have adopted the following distinctive traits to describe and to work with these two emotional states: pleasure relates to a transient emotional state resulting from the satisfaction of a desire, a craving, and happiness refers to a lasting emotional state of contentment, euthymia ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

According to Lustig (2017) , addictions together with depression are two rampant afflictions in the last decades and constitute the harmful extremes of pleasure (associated with the dopaminergic system) and happiness (associated with the serotoninergic system) respectively ( Üstün et al., 2004 ; Lepine and Briley, 2011 ; Szalavitz, 2011 ; Whiteford et al., 2013 ; Gowing et al., 2015 ; Keyes et al., 2015 ). Based on his long practice on addiction issues, this author argues that confusing pleasure (in the sense of longing, craving, strongly driven by a short term reward) with happiness is linked with SUD and with behavioral addictions (i.e., gambling, eating disorders, excessive use of technology like for example social media and VG, etc.), which could lead to depression ( Lawrence et al., 2014 ). According to the author, confusing pleasure with happiness is related to the growth rate of this disorder insofar as it would encourage seeking immediate gratifications perceived as sources of happiness, which in turn triggers the reward system with the risk to sink into the vicious circle of addiction ( Pollard, 2003 ). Besides, the significant industrial development, through its commercial campaigns, probably tended to lead individuals to equate consumption with happiness ( Schmidt, 2016 ; Lustig, 2017 ). From a physiological standpoint, the author highlights that an over excited reward system engenders an excess of dopamine (DA) release from the ventral tegmental area, which in return decreases serotonin (5HT) level (associated with depression) ( Pollard, 2003 ; MacNicol, 2016 ).

Moreover, Lustig underlines that DA and 5HT amino acids (needed for the production of DA and 5HT) share the amino acid transporters, which poses a problem in case of DA amino acid over presence: that is to say, the more amino acids for DA, the less amino acids transporters are available for 5HT amino acids. In short, this DA-5HT unbalance illustrates one of the facets of the DA-5HT interaction in which the low 5HT level, associated with depression, prevents the serotoninergic system to exert its inhibitory role to imped the over drive of the dopaminergic system ( Esposito et al., 2008 ).

Chronic stress and anxiety may further aggravate this problem by increasing the cortisol level and thus creating a loop with dopamine activating the sympathetic nerve system and reinforcing the reward seeking behavior while down-regulating 5HT -1a receptor, which decreases the serotonin signaling and increases the depression likelihood ( Lustig, 2017 ). These findings are in line with studies that associate stress, anxiety and depression with Internet gaming disorders ( Wenzel et al., 2009 ; Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Fundamentally, from a phylogenetic standpoint, it is likely that pleasure has contributed more than happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ), which could explain the stronger drive of the short term gratifications over the quest for medium and long term euthymia. In sum, this suggests that identifying the possible confusion between the mentioned emotional states associated with the addictive activities may contribute to deepen the understanding of this sort of disorders and consequently to explore new therapeutic options.

The emotional states (and their consequences) associated with VG as felt and perceived by chronic users led to thorough interrogations of health professionals. Several studies intended to explore this issue by focusing on the individual characteristics of addict players. For instance, the general level of happiness appears to be a firm candidate to predict addiction to VG playing ( Hull et al., 2013 ). In effect, it has been shown that gaming disorders are positively correlated with depression and loneliness and negatively correlated with well-being ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ). These two studies relied on a eudaimonic notion of well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, a life well lived). Thus, based on the mentioned definitions of pleasure and happiness, on the semantic net (see Annex ) and on the analysis made in the next section (Pleasure and Happiness), in this research well-being is assimilated to happiness due to the considerable common ground shared between these two concepts. In line with these findings, another study highlights the association between high frequency of online gaming with depression and social phobia ( Wei et al., 2012 ). Similar results were found in a study in which, compared with no addict Internet user, Internet addict subjects used to play online games reported significantly more depressive symptoms ( Geisel et al., 2015 ).

From a psychological symptoms standpoint, it has also been observed that when playing VG, addict gamers have a sense of well being or euphoria while playing VG, inability to stop the activity, craving more time at playing VG, feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not playing VG, with all the pernicious consequences these symptoms have on the private, social and professional life ( Griffiths, 2008 ). At glance, the coexistence of well being and craving might come across as paradoxical, although the mentioned work ( Lustig, 2017 ) on this issue provides some elements of answer to this finding.

Using a video game clip as a stimulation trial, it has been studied ( Kim et al., 2018 ) the craving state of chronic users when playing VG through measures resulting from addiction questionnaires and several bio signals such as eye blinking, eye saccadic movements, skin conductance and respiratory rate. The results of this work showed that during the stimulation trial video game there was a decrease of eye blinking rate, eye saccadic movement rate and mean amplitude of the skin conductance response whereas there was a significant increase of the mean respiratory rate.

Another study ( Lu et al., 2010 ; as cited in Kim et al., 2018 ) focused on a group of individuals with high risks of developing Internet gaming disorders (IGD) and their sympathetic nervous system responses. When using Internet in this experiment, increases were observed in blood volume, body temperature and respiratory rate. Heart rate (HR) has also been used as a reliable indicator of craving in subjects with SUD ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ).

Pleasure and Happiness

The psychophysiological and brain mechanisms of pleasure and happiness are quite complex and probably more research is required to better discerning these processes. Some studies have underlined that the hedonic system includes wanting and liking and each of these two emotional states may operate in a conscious and unconscious mode ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Studies indicate that unconscious wanting would function as a conditioned desire involving the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, hypothalamus and dopamine; on the other hand the unconscious liking would relate to a sensory hedonic dimension associated with the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, periaqueductal gray, amygdala, opioids and cannabinoids ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ). The same studies show that conscious wanting would relate to cognitive incentives, subjective desires and dopamine whereas conscious liking would be linked with subjective pleasures, opioids and cannabinoids; both would involve the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and insular.

It has been shown that the level of activation of some of the mentioned areas would be altered in subjects with Internet gaming disorders: sensing craving for gaming is associated with an increased activation of the left orbitofrontal cortex (correlated with desire for VG play) and with a decreased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (probably linked with the reduced capacity to inhibit craving for gaming) ( Wang et al., 2017 ).

There might be a relation between the complexity of these brain circuits linked to these emotional states and the polysemy of these two terms, happiness and pleasure , which may contribute to the possible confusion between them. Indeed, the intense interrelation between them finds expression in subtle distinctive features and in some connotations with vague borders, to the extent that these words might be regarded as almost synonyms. The semantic analysis of these two terms produced in this research intends to show their core meanings, their nuances and the possible intersections between them ( Procter, 1985 ). Trying to unravel and to understand these two emotional states is not a recent endeavor. For instance, Greek thinkers approached the notion of happiness as a state constituted by two components: Hedonia (pleasure) and Eudaimonia (a life well lived) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ).

Due to its nature, defining and studying happiness is a quite uneasy task. Although progress has been made on this rather recent area of study, there is still a lack of consensus when it comes to defining this concept. Some authors distinguish fluctuating happiness (self centered) from durable, authentic happiness (self-transcendent) ( Dambrun et al., 2012 ). Another study uses the value-arousal model on emotions to define it, according to which happiness results from a positive valence, high arousal and engaged and satisfied in life ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ). Lustig (2017) emphasizes the time perspective as one of the distinguishing traits between these two emotional states by opposing the short-term logic of pleasure to the longer-term characteristics of happiness .

These last two studies are quite illustrative of the differences with regard to defining happiness , in particular when it comes to including or not pleasure in it. Whilst there seems to be a consensus on “life satisfaction,” “connecting with others” and “contentment” as the main traits of happiness , it is less clear whether pleasure is part of it. Usually, in the literature there are two understandings to articulate these emotional states: either both ( happiness and pleasure) are seen as inseparable concepts or happiness is regarded as a state free from distress (‘liking’ without ‘wanting’) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2010 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ; Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ; Lustig, 2017 ). Whether or not pleasure is included in the definition of happiness , to the best of our knowledge there is no study that includes craving (intense desire, longing) as a trait of happiness .

Thus, based on the mentioned definitions and on the association between craving and arousal ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ), craving for playing VG may subscribe itself within the realm of pleasure , but stands outside of the happiness’ sphere.

Within the frame of this research, Pleasure refers to the hedonic reward processes driven by a desire to obtain a gratification that can lead to craving in certain circumstances ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Pleasure has been associated with the dopaminergic circuit which can, in certain circumstances, function in an addictive mode and can affect also habits, conditioning, motivation and executives functions such as decision making, inhibitory control, etc. ( Volkow et al., 2011 ).

Happiness is understood as contentment and euthymic state, in line with a happy emotional state defined by a positive valence and low arousal ( Jatupaiboon et al., 2013 ). Physiologically, this state implies a reposed mind; akin to the relaxation state measured through the brain electrical activity ( Teplan and Krakovskà, 2009 ). In the literature this mood is related to the serotoninergic circuit ( Lustig, 2017 ).

To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing questionnaire focusing on the association between VG and pleasure/happiness. Thus, our study required a preliminary phase to design such self-report tool whose aim is to explore the perceived emotional states (pleasure/happiness) associated with VG play.

As far as we know, distinguishing the perception of these two emotional states in the frame of an addiction has not been yet the object of formal research, hence the reduced literature on this specific issue, in particular the experimental one.

Consequently this research may be seen as a preliminary study, which aims at examining the possible confusion between pleasure and happiness within the addiction sphere. VG addiction has been chosen to explore the possible occurrence of this perceptional distortion. Emotional reactions of VG addicts and VG non-addicts were gauged via self-report scales and physiological data (Heart rate and Relaxation state) acquired by a range of biosensors.

Resulting from the mentioned background, it is hypothesized that addict VG users:

Are likely to confuse the notions of pleasure with that of happiness when associating their emotional states to VG play.

The results of this study are expected to show that addict VG users associate happiness with VG activities while feeling craving for playing accompanied by an increased HR and a low relaxation level. Given the shortage of previous researches on the specific issue related to the confusion between pleasure and happiness in VG addiction, the outcome of this study is approached in an exploratory manner.

From a therapy standpoint, this project intends to explore alternatives to deal with this kind of scenarios. More specifically, at the cognitive level, the idea is finding means to develop patients’ insights into these emotional states and thus increasing their ability to handle them.

Materials and Methods

Preliminary phase: design of the “pleasure and/or happiness and vg” questionnaire, participants.

In total 105 VG players participated in this survey, out of which 61 filled all the questionnaires required for the design of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The mean age of these 61 participants was 24.28 and the standard deviation 5.48. There were 33 males (54.1%) and 28 females (45.9%). The mean of playtime during working days was 4.49 h and the standard deviation 6.82, and during holidays and weekends 4.68 h and the standard deviation 3.13.

An online survey was run via video game forum and Reddit site (network of communities with common interests). The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the internal coherence of our self-report tool (Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG) relative to two validated questionnaires (on Hedonic tone and Happiness). Thus the survey consisted in filling the three questionnaires. Participants completed anonymously and voluntarily the questionnaires through their online gamers groups.

Two validated and known questionnaires were used to construct the ‘ Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG’ questionnaire through which the emotional states associated with VG activities were evaluated: the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) ( Snaith et al., 1995 ), an assessment tool of hedonic tone, and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) ( Hills and Argyle, 2002 ). The French version of these two questionnaires was used ( Loas et al., 1997 ; Bruchon-Schweitzer and Boujut, 2014 ).

The abbreviated SHAPS is composed of 14 items to assess the hedonic tone and the absence of it. The answer scale for each item offers four possible options ranging from ‘Definitely agree’ to ‘Strongly disagree.’ The OHQ is extensively used to evaluate the individual level of happiness. For each of its 29 items, the answer scale has 6 options going from ‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree.’

Several items of the SHAPS and the OHQ are quite adapted to the VG paradigm and lend themselves to be contextualized. For example, the first item of the SHAPS questionnaire is formulated as: “I would enjoy my favorite television or radio program.” In this case “television or radio program” is replaced by “video game.” An example of OHQ concerns the item “I am very happy,” which became “I am very happy when playing VG.” So, these kinds of items constitute the questionnaire whose aim is identifying the emotional states that users associate with VG. Initially, eight items were adapted to VG from these two questionnaires: four items from SHAPS and four items from OHQ. The answer scale provides with six possible options ranging from ‘fully disagree’ to ‘fully agree.’

Statistical Analysis

In order to ensure the usefulness of the designed self-report tool, an Alpha Cronbach test was run on the results of this survey to measure the internal coherence between the ‘VG and Pleasure/Happiness’ and the two other questionnaires (SHAPS and OHQ). Moreover, it has been examined whether there is a correlation between VG play frequency and the two areas explored in this survey: the general happiness level (OHQ) and the emotional states associated with VG (‘Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG’).

The Experiment

The study was announced through the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) scientific social media as well as via leaflets available in public cyber games centers in Brussels. Gamers interested to participate in this study had to answer an on-line survey ( N = 163), in which the following data was gathered: age, play frequency, name of VG played and a validated test to assess the gaming addiction level (Gaming Addiction Scale, Lemmens et al., 2009 ). The French version of this scale was used ( Gaetan et al., 2014 ). Being used to play to at least one of these five popular VG (Fornite, Overwatch, League of Legends, Counter-Strike or Rocket League) and an age ranging from 18 to 70 years old were the inclusion criteria. Competing against another team and playing in groups are the common characteristics of these VG. The exclusion criteria were having vision impairments and neurological problems.

Two groups of gamers were invited to participate in this study: addict users (AU) and non-addict users (NAU). None of the invitees met the exclusion criteria. The selection and recruitment were based on the score obtained in the test on gaming addiction, resulting in: AU ( N = 12) and NAU ( N = 17) (7 females and 22 males, ranging from 19 to 29 years old). They were all French speakers Belgian residents. The mean age was 23 and the standard deviation of 3. The difference between sexes in terms of VG addiction is not statistically significant (3/7 AU females and 9/22 AU males, U 45.5, p = 0.130).

This experiment took place within the frame in the usability laboratory of the Research Centre of Work and Consumer Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Before the experiment all the procedures were explained to participants and their consent was asked on formal basis. They were informed that:

– This experiment aims at better understanding the video game phenomenon (without mentioning the issue relative to the emotional states and VG).

– They have to fill several questionnaires (in French).

– Some non-invasive artifacts are set to gather measurements on physiological signals while they watch video clips.

– The Ethical Committee of ULB approved this study in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

The participants were welcome into the testing room of the laboratory by the examiner. They were seated and given an informed consent form. Once the form was read and signed, the study procedure was explained. Then, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset was placed onto the participant’s head and an impedance check was run.

Before the beginning of the experiment, each participant chose his/her favorite VG he/she uses to play among the five initially proposed. During the experiment, the examiner observed the participant through a one-way-glass, avoiding interference.

Finally, participants were thanked for their participation, compensated and given information on obtaining the results of the study. The whole experimental run took around 1 h.

Prior to starting the operational phases of the experiment, all devices are set to initiate the baseline recording of all the physiological signals.

Six phases compose this experiment ( Figure 1 ). In each phase of the experiment the emotional states associated with VG were examined either through self-report questionnaires or via physiological measures. The physiological measures were recorded during the visioning of two sorts of video clips: VG clips whose aim was to induce craving and neutral video clips (documentaries on nature) intending to reduce craving.

Figure 1. Synthetic view of the experimental phases.

The six experimental phases:

(1) “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (six items): Participants were invited to fill the self-report questionnaire designed in the preliminary phase.

(2) Watching a neutral clip during 2 min while recording physiological signals related the mentioned two emotional states. This phase intends to decrease craving in participants.

(3) Craving score: Participants were asked to express their craving state to play their favorite VG via a one item self-report questionnaire.

(4) Watching a VG clip during 2 min while recording the same physiological signals as in phase two related to the mentioned emotional states. The objective of this phase is to increase craving in participants.

(5) Craving score: the same procedure and self-report tool as in phase 3 were applied.

(6) Submission of three self-report questionnaires:

(6.1) “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (Three bipolar items).

(6.2) “Key words and VG”: participants were invited to associate a list of words to VG activities.

(6.3) “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” (one bipolar item): participants were asked to associate one of the two emotional states to VG play.

The cycle from the 2nd phase to the 5th phase was repeated five times for each participant. In each of these five cycles, different episodes of video clips (the chosen VG and the neutral clip) were shown randomly so as to avoid the habituation phenomenon and minimize the influence that the order of the sequence of episodes could have on participants’ responses.

– Experimental groups: AU and NAU

The Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS) ( Lemmens et al., 2009 ; Gaetan et al., 2014 ) was used to constitute these groups. As a tool to measure game addiction, GAS possesses significant assets. Lemmens et al. (2009) showed the validity of this scale from a cross population point of view and its one-dimensional characteristic resulting from the factorial analysis. In addition, in the same study it has been shown the concurrent validity of GAS insofar as this scale is associated with play frequency as well as with psychological features related with game addiction, namely decreased level of social competence and of well being, and high level of aggression and of loneliness. Moreover, high scores in GAS are also linked with attentional deficiencies in response inhibition when perceiving game cues ( van Holst et al., 2012 ; in Khazaal et al., 2016 ), which converges with results produced by other researches associating impulsivity and cue reactivity with other addictive behaviors ( Billieux et al., 2011 ; Khazaal et al., 2012 ; Torres et al., 2013 ). Relative to other game addiction measurements, GAS has the most complete covering of the Internet gaming disorder criteria of the DSM-5 ( Petry et al., 2014 ). Although it was initially designed for adolescents, there are substantial evidences to state that GAS is applicable for young adults too ( Khazaal et al., 2016 ).

Each of the seven items of this scale starts with the question “How often in the last 6 months…?” to explore the impact of video gaming on different aspects of the subject’s life. The possible answers are: never, rarely, sometimes, often and very often. The first two answers score 0, the last three answers score 1. If the total sum of these scores is 4 or higher, the subject is considered an AU according to this scale.

– The experiment

In the first phase, participants were asked to fill the “ Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire composed by six items: three items that tie Pleasure (P) and VG, three items that tie Happiness (H) and VG (six-items in total).

The answer scale for each item was composed of six options ranging from ‘Fully disagree’ to ‘fully agree.’ Each of these six items is answered separately, thus the overall possible results of this questionnaire can be: (1) P and VG > H and VG or (2) H and VG < P and VG or, (3) P and VG = H and VG.

In the second phase (Neutral video clip), two physiological signals related to Pleasure and Happiness were recorded. Based on the correlates found between HR and craving, this physiological signal is used as an indicator of arousal ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ).

Despite the difficulty in defining and in measuring happiness , the brain electrical activity is recorded (Electroencephalogram, EEG) mainly to detect the relaxation state. This state appears close to the notion of happiness; in the literature it is accepted that the increase of alpha waves is correlated with mental and physical rest ( Teplan and Krakovskà, 2009 ).

In the third phase, participants were asked to express their craving state to play his/her favorite VG. The statement employed in this self-report tool was: “State your present craving for gaming.” Participants have to choose the answer that best fitted their self-assessment among six possible answers offered by the scale ranging from “I do not feel any craving for gaming” to “I feel a very strong craving for gaming.”

In the fourth phase (VG clip), the same physiological signals as in the second phase were measured.

In the fifth phase, the same procedure to assess craving for gaming as in the third phase was employed.

In the sixth phase, three other self-report questionnaires were submitted to participants and used to evaluate the association between the mentioned emotional states and VG:

– “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (three bipolar items). The same six items of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire used in phase 1 were presented in a bipolar structure: three items opposing “Pleasure and VG” vs. “Happiness and VG.” For example, if in the six items questionnaire the items “I would enjoy my favorite VG” (Pleasure/VG) and “I am happy when playing VG” (Happiness/VG) are presented separately, in this questionnaire they are part of the same item: “I would enjoy my favorite VG” vs. “I am happy when playing VG.” By doing so, participants are encouraged to choose which of their emotional states (Pleasure, Happiness) is associated with VG playing. That said, the scale has an uneven number of options (five) between the two extremes, the central option representing the equal association of Pleasure and Happiness with VG play. Thus, the overall possible results are identical as in phase 1.

– “Key words and VG”. Participants were asked to choose three words (out of ten) that they associate most with their VG activities. These 10 key words come from the semantic mapping elaborated in this research of the terms used in the formal statements defining pleasure and happiness in this study. For example, some words from the happiness sphere are contentment and well being , whereas desire and joy relate to pleasure . Besides, they are in line with both definitions Lustig’s (2017) . Only the ten words (French version) were shown to participants. Although the possible results are similar to those of six-item “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire and three-bipolar item “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire, this time the same association (emotional states and VG) is tackled via key words directly linked to the two studied emotional states ( Pleasure, Happiness ) but without mentioning them. This self-report format intends to gain accuracy in the identification of gamers’ emotional states associated with VG.

– “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG”. The written definitions of both pleasure and happiness , based on work Lustig’s (2017) , were shown to participants. Then they were asked to read carefully these definitions and to take them into account when answering one bi-polar item that opposes “Pleasure and VG” vs. “Happiness and VG.” Unlike in the three-bipolar items questionnaire, the answer scale between these this bipolar item has an even number of options (six). This time is an “either/or” choice they are faced with, therefore the possible results are: P and VG < H and VG or P and VG > H and VG. Basically this questionnaire intends to strengthen consistency in participants’ insights into this issue by inviting them to confront their perception of their emotional states associated with VG play with the mentioned formal definitions, comparable to an emotions reappraisal process ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ).

In short, four self-report questionnaires (see Annex ) aim at exploring this dependent variable (association between these two emotional states and VG play) by looking at the consistency of participants’ answers to the different formats of questions. The questions’ formats are:

– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated with VG (six independent items);

– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated to VG (three bipolar items);

– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated to VG through key words defining the two emotional states (without mentioning the words pleasure and happiness );

– Pleasure or happiness can be associated to VG (written explicit definitions of pleasure and happiness are given to participants).

This approach aims at exploring the coherence between the self-reported answers and the physiological signals, as a means to objectivize the perceived emotional states associated with VG play by the two mentioned groups of participants (addict gamers and non-addict gamers).

The previously mentioned theoretical framework indicates that the notion of craving relates to an arousal state that could lead to an addictive pattern and consequently stands out of the realm of happiness.

Expected Results

Based on the analysis made on this issue previously as well as on the hypothesis of this study, the expected results could be synthesized as shown in Table 1 .

Table 1. Summary of the expected results.

– Self-Report Questionnaires

For the self-report questionnaires, it is expected that, compared to NAU, the AU group:

– In “Pleasure and/or happiness associated with VG” (six independent items) associates more happiness than pleasure with VG play.

– Reports more craving for playing after watching VG clip.

– In “ Pleasure and/or happiness associated to VG” (three bipolar items) associates more happiness than pleasure with VG play.

– Associates VG play with key words more related to happiness category than to those of pleasure .

– In “ Pleasure or happiness associated to VG” associates VG play with pleasure (like NAU).

– Physiological Signals

It is expected to observe an interaction between the groups (AU, NAU) and the conditions (VG clip, Neutral clip). Namely, it is assumed that visioning the VG clips has an effect on AU increasing HR while decreasing Relaxation.

After verifying the normality of distributions (Kolmogorov–Smirnov), the means comparison between the two groups (NAU, AU) was calculated for self-report questionnaires measuring the association between VG and Pleasure/Happiness (Mann–Whitney U ) for the six-items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG,” the three-bipolar items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” and the one-bipolar item “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG.” The Chi square was used for “Key words and VG.” In order to determine whether there are differences between independent groups over time and to identify possible interactions between the two independent variables on the dependent variables, a two-way mixed ANOVA (within and between subjects) was used for the craving scores and the physiological signals recorded ( Table 2 ).

Table 2. Synthetic view of independent and dependent variables.

The experiment was run on a desktop computer with an Intel Core i7 quad processor and 8 GB RAM, running Windows 10. Stimuli were displayed on a 22-inch monitor and resolution was set to 1680 × 1050. Participants used standard mouse and keyboard as input devices. EEG measurement includes detecting the fluctuation of voltage potential generated by large group of neurons in the brain. The EEG signal was obtained through the use of EPOC headset. This device allows to remotely getting data of brain activity using a wireless set of fourteen electrodes (AF3, AF4, F3, F4, F7, F8, FC5, FC6, T7, T8, P7, P8, O1, O2) sampled at 128 hertz.

The relaxation state was measured by one of the composite metrics of the Emotiv software. HR was measured by using Schimer 3 (Photoplethysmography). The I. Motions software version 7.1 (Imotions Inc. 2018) was used to recording the mentioned data and presenting stimuli to participants. The statistical analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS statistics v.25.

Design of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Questionnaire

The Cronbach’s alpha (0.859) showed a high internal coherence between the SHAPS and three items (out of four) of the “Pleasure and VG” within the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The fourth item has been disregarded; its presence would have dropped the Cronbach’s alpha to 0.685. The internal coherence obtained between the OHQ and the “Happiness and VG” items within the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire was quite high for the four items concerned (alpha 0.901). However, the internal coherence between these four items was too weak due to one item (alpha 0.407). The exclusion of this item raised the alpha significantly (0.836). Consequently, only the consistent items have been kept (six out of the initial eight items: three on “Pleasure and VG,” and three on “Happiness and VG,” see Annex ).

Moreover, it has been examined whether there is an association between VG play frequency and the two areas explored in this survey: the general happiness level (OHQ) and the emotional states associated with VG via the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The constitution of the group of frequent gamers and that of non-frequent gamers was determined by calculated median (18 h per week). In line with several studies linking problematic gaming and well-being and life satisfaction, a moderate negative correlation ( R = −0.249; p = 0.056) was found between VG high play frequency and the OHQ scores ( Griffiths, 2008 ; Lemmens et al., 2011 ). In addition, there is a marginal significant difference [ T (58) = 1.923; p = 0.059] between frequent VG users and non-frequent VG users relative to the OHQ scores.

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Six-Items Questionnaire

The Kolmogorov–Smirnov outcome indicates the need for using a non-parametric test to compare the two groups. The Mann–Whitney test shows that there was no significant difference observed between the AU and NAU relative to association between VG play and pleasure (item 1. U = 78, p = 0.30; item 3. U = 75, p = 0.24 and item 5 U = 86, p = 0.49) ( Table 3 ).

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of “Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG” (6-items): [Pleasure (P), Happiness (H) associated with VG].

In contrast, there is a significant statistical difference in the three items where AU associate VG play with happiness (item 2. U = 40, p = 0.005; item 4. U = 54, p = 0.034 and item 6. U = 34, p = 0.002) more than NAU.

Craving Scores

Results in craving ( Table 4 and Figure 2 ) show a statistically significant interaction F (1,25) = 4.78 ( p = 0.038). Indeed, relative to the neutral clip, the VG clip condition has significantly amplified the reported craving difference between the two groups (AU craving score > NAU craving scores).

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for self-report Craving.

Figure 2. Self-report craving (groups: AU, NAU; conditions: Neutral clips, VG clips).

Physiological Signals Measurements

The AU’s relaxation is significantly lower [ F (1,24) = 8.616; p = 0.007] than NAU’s in both conditions (Between-Subjects Effects). The relaxation level decreases in both groups during the VG clip. On the other hand, conditions do not influence the relaxation difference between the two groups [ F (1,24) = 0.001; p = 0.98] ( Table 5 and Figure 3 ). Furthermore, there is a significant statistical gender difference in both conditions (Neutral clip: Male 17.36, Female 7.57. U = 25, p = 0.008 – VG clip: Male 17.09, Female 8.43. U = 31, p = 0.019).

Table 5. Descriptive statistics: Relaxation index (EEG EPOC, Emotiv software).

Figure 3. Relaxation [groups: AU, NAU; Conditions: (1) Neutral clips, (2) VG clips].

Concerning the other physiological variable (HR) ( Table 6 and Figure 4 ), there is an effect of VG clips on both groups [ F (1,15) = 20.802; p < 0.001]. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant interaction [ F (1,15) = 0.028; p = 0.86], nor an effect of addiction on VG clip condition [ F (1,15) = 0.083; p = 0.777]. It is important noting that due to corrupted data the number of valid subjects taken into account was 17 (8 AU and 9 NAU).

Table 6. Descriptive statistics: Heart Rate (HR).

Figure 4. Heart Rate [groups: AU, NAU; Conditions: Neutral clips (1), VG clips (2)].

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Three-Bipolar Items Questionnaire

The descriptive statistics of this three-bipolar items questionnaire ( Table 7 ), indicate that the AU group linked VG activities more with happiness than the NAU group. The Mann–Whitney test shows a significant difference between these two associations ( U = 47; p = 0.013).

Table 7. Descriptive Statistics: Pleasure/VG vs. Happiness/VG (3 bipolar items).

Key Words and VG

Results state the absence of significant difference between AU and NAU in associating the key words from the Pleasure cluster with VG play, and words from the Happiness cluster with VG (Chi square, p = 0.942) ( Table 8 ). When taking words separately, the biggest gap between the two groups relates to the word well-being (belonging to the happiness cluster) associated to VG play (AU: 25%, NAU: 0%).

Table 8. Descriptive statistics: number of words per category (Pleasure, Happiness) associated to VG play chosen by NAU and AU.

“Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” (One Bipolar Item Questionnaire With Written Definitions)

The outcome of this questionnaire indicates that there is no significant difference between AU and NAU ( U = 102, p = 1). Both groups have clearly associated VG play with pleasure ( Table 9 ).

Table 9. Descriptive statistics: Happiness/VG or Pleasure/VG (1 bipolar item, with Definitions of Pleasure and Happiness shown to subjects).

The following scheme summarizes the outcomes of the self-report tools used to evaluate the association between the emotional states (Pleasure and Happiness) with VG play ( Table 10 ).

Table 10. Synthetic view of self-report results (Emotional states associated with VG play).

The following table indicates the mean, standard deviation and Skewness and Kurtosis values of the self-report craving, the HR and the relaxation level for both groups in the two conditions ( Table 11 ).

Table 11. Descriptive statistics for self-report Craving, Relaxation, Heart Rate.

Overall, the results of this study show that AU associate happiness to VG while reporting craving for VG play and having a low relaxation level. These outcomes observed in this experiment constitute a bundle of arguments that argue in favor of the hypothesis of this study ( Lustig, 2017 ). Indeed, in AU, the high self-report craving score and low Relaxation level during VG clips visioning do contrast with their association of VG more with happiness than with pleasure in the mentioned “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaires (six-items and three-bipolar-items) relative to NAU. Consistent with previous findings in this area, these four measurements highlight the coexistence of the perception of happiness linked with VG play combined with elements related to pleasure such as craving ( strong desire, wanting ) ( Pollard, 2003 ; Griffiths, 2008 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ). Since craving and low Relaxation are rather incompatible with the mentioned notion of happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ), these indices may raise the question as to how accurate are AU’s insights into their emotional states associated to VG play and may support the idea that AU’s perception of their emotional states is somewhat distorted. In the literature, VG addiction would be linked with impairment in the self-regulation process, this finding may be linked with the difficulties AU have to observe and evaluate their own behavior ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ). Besides, the mentioned results suggest that VG clip effect on self-report craving would depend on the addiction level.

Considering that sensing happiness and craving are probably experienced as positive emotions by AU, and that usually negative and positive emotional events are reported to last longer and shorter respectively ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ; Tian et al., 2018 ), the arousal triggered by motivating stimuli, may modify the time perception and could mediate the effect of emotions on behavior ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ). In other words, the level of excitement produced by VG play could make AU underestimate the time spent at this activity, which may be perceived as an alleviating evasion free from stressors and possibly assimilated with the notion of happiness . This hypothetic mechanism would match one of the possible motives for online gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). In this sort of precognitive process, several studies mentioned the involvement of the amygdala in interaction with the thalamus together with the dopaminergic system and a poor inhibitory control ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ; Petry et al., 2015 ).

It is noteworthy underlining that the bipolar structure of the three-items questionnaire increases the relevance of this outcome. In effect, although participants were incited to choose between the two emotional states opposing each other (VG and pleasure vs. VG and happiness), like in the six-items questionnaire, AU again did choose happiness as the main emotional state linked with VG play. This outcome would further state the difference between these two groups when it comes to associating the two emotional states to VG play. Besides, this would reveal to an important extent that the possibility whereby pleasure and happiness were regarded as synonyms could be overcome. In other words, this outcome shows that the similarity of meanings of these two concepts did not prevent these groups to make a clear choice. Finally, the similar scores obtained in the two questionnaires (six-items and three-bipolar items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG”), in spite of the different disposition of the same items in these two instances, strengthen the value of the designed scale (“Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG play”).

The absence of interaction between the two independent variables on HR may be explained by the fact that a higher arousal would take place in AU when playing VG rather than when watching at VG clips. Moreover, the reduced number of valid subjects when measuring this physiological parameter (due to technical recording problems) could have contributed to this outcome too. The fact that the independent variables did not produce the expected different HR effects on AU and NAU could also be linked with one of the limitations of this study: the difficulty in integrating in this research the interaction between HR and depression (as mentioned, VG addiction is positively correlated with depression) ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ) that may lead to HR index modifications ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ). In sum, this issue illustrates that the difficulty to circumscribe the notion of happiness is also reflected in the complexity to establish physiological correlates so as to objectify this emotional state ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ).

Associating the clusters of key words with VG did not produce the expected results. Since AU linked VG with both pleasure and happiness , may be these words played a clarification role and facilitated Au’s insights into their emotional states when playing VG. It could also suggest the inadequacy of this self-report tool. However, it is probably worthwhile mentioning an index related our hypothesis: when taking words separately, the word “well-being” associated with VG play was chosen by 25% of AU and by 0% of NAU.

The outcome of the binary question in the “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” one-item questionnaire with the definitions of pleasure and happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Deci and Ryan, 2008 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ; Kashdan et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ) shows that AU ceased associating happiness to VG play and instead, like NAU, clearly linked pleasure to their cyber activity. Caution is required in the analysis of these results because the validity of this questionnaire remains to be demonstrated. Having instructed participants to answer the bipolar question by taking into account the written definitions of the two measured emotional states, did modify the result of AU group relative to both questionnaires (“Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” six-items and three bipolar items). Within the framework of this careful approach, it could be hypothesized that explicit definitions of the two emotional states induced AU to adopting an introspection mode through a more pronounced involvement of cortical brain structures, akin to a therapeutic process in which the appropriate verbalization of pleasure and happiness facilitates the clarification of one own feeling as a prerequisite to elaborate more adaptive behavior in spite of the constraining psychological characteristics usually associated with VG addicts ( Kim et al., 2007 ; Kashdan et al., 2008 ; Wenzel et al., 2009 ).

This may be regarded as an example of emotions reappraisal which would increase accuracy of insights into one-self, reduce distorted perception of emotions and assess the adequacy of the behavioral response to a given stimulus ( Compare et al., 2014 ). In other words, it could be posited that the mentioned explicit definitions have somewhat constrained AU to use a cognitive approach to examine their emotional states related to VG play rather than merely relying on the sensory information as it tends to occur when sensing craving for video gaming ( Wang et al., 2017 ).

Moreover, the result of this one-item binary questionnaire would further support the hypothesis. In effect, the studied interrelation between hedonia and eudaimonia suggests that a highly rated hedonic activity (VG play in this case) is usually related with low rating in eudaimonia ( Waterman et al., 2008 ). This interpretation would fit with the resounding association between depression and gaming disorders ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ; Hull et al., 2013 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ) together with the confusion between pleasure and happiness occurring in addictive activities (AU associated VG with happiness in the first two self-report questionnaires and ended linking pleasure with VG in the last one-item questionnaire) ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

Overall, the more explicit the definition of pleasure and happiness and the narrower the choice offered by the self-report questionnaires, the less confusion of emotional states associated with VG occurred in AU group members whereas NAU invariably associated pleasure to VG as illustrated in Figure 5 .

Figure 5. Shift of AU perception of their emotional states associated with VG according to the self-report tools.

Based on these results, it could be postulated that the tendency of AU to perceive happiness when feeling craving and pleasure linked to VG play, might be moderated by a clarifying cognitive process on the meaning of these studied emotional sates, which would interfere with the behavioral habits linked to the urge of gaming ( Ko et al., 2009 ).

The findings resulting from “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” six-items questionnaire could be regarded as an illustration of the confusion that AU might have when linking the studied emotional states with VG play. Unlike NAU, the significantly higher association between VG play and happiness expressed by AU matches the perceived level of well being reported by individuals with Internet gaming disorders ( Griffiths, 2008 ). On the other hand, apart from well-being , the same author cites euphoria as the other main emotional state that addict gamers may report when playing VG. Whilst happiness and well-being rely on each other to define themselves, euphoria would convey the notion of intense excitement, which would rather stand in the pleasure sphere. Moreover, in medical terms, euphoria refers to a feeling of great elation, not necessarily founded (especially when resulting from substances consumption). Since AU also associated VG with pleasure although they did it to a lesser extent than with happiness, it could hypothesized that the feeling of intense excitement derives, at least partially, from satisfying the craving for VG play, which in turn could engender relieve experienced as a sense of well-being ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ).

The impact of VG clips on AU craving and relaxation scores underlines relevant aspects of this study, which support the hypothesis of this research. First of all, it highlights the incongruent perception of AU’s emotional states whereby both craving and happiness coexist as emotional states associated with VG play. Thus, this finding constitutes a relevant component of the confusion that consists in placing a short-term pleasure (VG play) within the sphere of happiness. Besides, the low relaxation state of AU would correspond with their self-reported craving and, therefore, further highlights the contrast between the perceived happiness associated with VG play and the indicators measured during the VG clip visioning (high craving level and low relaxation state level). Finally, it is noteworthy mentioning that relaxation was the only measure in this study where gender differences were observed. The lower relaxation level in female gamers in both conditions might be related to the gender expectation about playing VG in society at large and in the gamers’ community in particular ( Shen et al., 2016 ). Indeed, since female gamers are a minority in these sorts of VG ( Shen et al., 2016 ) (in line with our sample: 7 females, 22 males), it could be posited that they feel under scrutiny in an activity regarded as male oriented.

Putative Reasons of Distorted Perceptions of Emotional States Associated With VG Addiction

The social dimension of popular VG has been identified as one of the factors that may explain the addiction pattern ( Hull et al., 2013 ). In this kind of competitive games, improving the required abilities and obtaining better results would be part of the key motives for VG play ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ), that usually generates the appreciation and the acceptance of the other group players. Getting this sort of feedback from others can be motivating indeed, especially when taking into account the correlation between IGD and social isolation, low self-esteem, traumatic experiences, depression and low life satisfaction ( Petry et al., 2015 ; Schimmenti et al., 2017 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In turn, these psychosocial characteristics are probably related also with the high impulsivity level in VG addicts ( Billieux et al., 2011 ), which has been found to be associated with difficulties in interpersonal relationships ( Ryu et al., 2018 ). Thus, it would seem that VG activities are, at least partially, sating the mentioned social and psychological deficiencies. This suggests that AU’s emotional states related to VG play may be quite contrasting, in which components of happiness (i.e., interacting with others, fellowship and belonging to a group) are intertwined with those of short-term pleasure (i.e., craving for getting quick results, praise from others, etc.) ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ). Now, craving for undertaking these cyber activities to respond to the mentioned social isolation issues places this emotional state much closer to the ‘pleasure governed by desire’ than to ‘atmosphere of good fellowship’ (Happiness) ( Lawrence et al., 2014 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

The flow, defined as the emotional state embracing perception distortion and enjoyment produced by VG activities, is another element that can create confusion in gamers’ insights into their emotional states ( Chou and Ting, 2003 ; Hull et al., 2013 ). As described in the mentioned study, experiencing flow implies not only losing the notion of time but also merging oneself with the VG actions. In these conditions, the gamer’s senses and attention are in the here and now , with little or no awareness about sources of stress relative to past, present or future events. In this line, the motivation to experience immersion has been associated with problematic gaming ( Billieux et al., 2011 ). Considering the fact that loneliness and depression have been identified as predictors of VG addiction and of Internet Gaming Disorders ( Hull et al., 2013 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ), it is understandable why in gamers’ mind experiencing flow could equate this feeling with a relieving emotional state ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ). This sense of alleviation could match the notion of happiness as free from distress ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2010 ; Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ) if it resulted from the quality of real life being lived. Instead, in AU, this relieving and enjoyable emotional state would be engendered by a virtual activity (VG), possibly used as a means to escape from stress and to forget tensions ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In the literature, the escaping strategy is a way to find relieve from stressors through the engagement in a pleasant activity, which may end up representing a space of happiness ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ).

In sum, the incongruence lies in the coexistence of regarding VG as a space of happiness while using VG to get quick pleasures and relief. Individuals suffering from this disorder tend to pursuit short-term pleasures rather than long-term gains ( Dong and Potenza, 2015 ). Being driven by short-term gratifications rather belongs to the reward-seeking realm ( Waterman et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ). Thus, this pleasant emotional state could be associated with the arousal linked to a reward seeking behavior through which quick and positive results are obtained, which in turn reinforce the mentioned behavior. Probably, this intense arousal situates itself within the sphere of pleasure as a dysfunction in the rewarding system ( Pollard, 2003 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ; Lustig, 2017 ) and not in that of happiness in spite of the relieving benefits it provides.

Another possible reading on why the emotional states generated by these cyber activities are linked with happiness may be related to the way in interpreting the experienced sensations. This representation is probably shaped by the individual background, experiences, culture, etc. From a brain mechanism stand point, conscious liking does not limit it self to a sensory outcome, it is also translated into a subjective liking through the recruitment of cognitive processes ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ). Indeed, these authors state that conscious pleasure rating is sometimes detached from affective reactions as people can elaborate reasons to themselves for how they should feel. Therefore, associating VG with happiness may be the result of a rationalization process to reduce the cognitive dissonance. In other words, the unwished consequences of the VG addiction pattern (increased stress, problems at working, studying, socializing, etc.) ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ) probably produce an increasing amount of pressure (due to the difficulty to reduce gaming time, guilt, etc.) that can become overwhelming if it lasts too long. Consequently, if the affected individuals are unable to master the yearning for VG, perceiving VG activities as a source of well being may reduce the mentioned pressures insofar as the notion of happiness usually suggests a socially acceptable mood, a legitimate aim and a safe emotional state. In this perspective, equating happiness with satisfying craving and with short-term pleasure might contribute to feed the addictive pattern ( Lustig, 2017 ).

In a broader perspective, the rationalization process described in the previous paragraph may be also related with coping strategies to deal with adversity. For instance, it has been observed that problematic gamers may use VG play as a means to cope with stressors and to enhance mood ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). An association has been found between stressful life events and addiction to Internet activities ( Schimmenti et al., 2017 ), with the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction and the moderating role of coping styles ( Dongping et al., 2016 ). Several theories and studies support this approach that strives for a more holistic understanding of this issue. The self-determination theory postulates that humans share three universal psychological needs ( Deci and Ryan, 2000 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ): autonomy (i.e., feeling of being self-determining in one’s behavior), relatedness (i.e., the feeling of connectedness to others) and competence (i.e., the feeling of dealing with issues in a competent manner). Besides, individuals can adopt different strategies to cope with adversity ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ). According to Zheng et al. (2012 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ), the positive coping approach is the set of strategies aiming at problem solving, support seeking and cognitive restructuring to address the stressors. On the other hand, according to the same authors, the negative coping consists in strategies such as blaming, social withdrawing, denial and disengagement so as to avoid the stressful situations. Now, a parallel can be established between these two coping styles and the brain activities involved in the goal-directed learning and the habit learning.

The goal-directed learning would correspond to the positive coping style insofar as it focuses on the relationship between an action and the motivational value of the outcome, and is associated with the activation of the prefrontal cortex, the dorsomedial striatum and the dorsomedial thalamus ( Ballaine and Dickinson, 1998 ; in Schwabe et al., 2012 ). On the other hand, habit learning, would be linked with the avoidant coping style. This learning process encodes the relationship between a response and preceding stimuli without taking into account the outcome caused by the response and is related to the activation of the dorsolateral striatum ( Yin et al., 2004 ; Tricomi et al., 2009 ; in Schwabe et al., 2012 ). According to Schwabe et al. (2012) , stressful situations may modulate the processes involved in instrumental learning in a way that may produce the shift from goal-directed learning to habitual learning.

In line with these findings, it has been observed that, like cocaine cues, psychological stress induction can generate the same craving response in a cocaine abusers population ( Bradley et al., 1989 ; Wallace, 1989 ; in Sinha et al., 2000 ). The relevance of these observations lies in the fact that both SUD and behavioral addictions (including gaming disorders, Han et al., 2011 ) recruit to an important extent common brain regions and produce similar physiological patterns, as quoted in the introduction of this document.

Considering the association between unhappiness and VG disorders mentioned earlier, it could be posited that the gamers concerned could not overcome the causes of their unhappiness. Indeed, studies suggest that subjects with Internet gaming disorders embark in VG play more to deal with negative affect than to achieve a good performance in the game ( Schimmenti and Caretti, 2010 ; Billieux et al., 2013 ; both in Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In this scenario, based on the mentioned studies, a low level of happiness would imply that psychological needs are somewhat unmet and associated with the avoidant coping style together with the habit learning. Furthermore, this pattern is supported by compensatory Internet use theory, which postulates that adversity can operate as a stimulus to seek psychological comfort (i.e., satisfying the psychological needs via the cyberspace) ( Kardefelt-Winther, 2014 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ).

In other words, the psychological comfort engendered by the VG activities in this population of gamers, combined with the characteristics of the avoidant coping style (denial, social withdrawal, avoiding stressful situation, etc.) and with the traits of the habitual learning (actions’ outcomes are disregarded, with little or no awareness of actions’ consequences), might explain, at least partially, the biased perception of the emotional states in AU ( happiness associated to VG) and of their causes of craving for VG. This assumption suggests that online gaming might not be the cause of VG addiction, but rather that VG excessive use could be a compensatory strategy to deal with pre-existing psychological characteristics and deleterious social context ( Kowert et al., 2015 ). For instance, some studies suggest that traumatic experiences, poor emotions regulation, elements of impulsivity and the motivation to experience immersion in a virtual world would increase the likelihood of IGD and Internet addiction ( Billieux et al., 2011 ; Schimmenti et al., 2017 ).

In sum, it would seem as if for AU the mentioned behavioral pattern is a manner to mitigate the difficulties to deal with stressors. This interpretation would be in line with the motives for play in problematic gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). Through a massive survey these authors observed seven dimensions that would cover the entire spectrum of motives for VG play in all sort of on line games: escape (from reality), cope (with stressors, playing as a way to improve mood), fantasy (trying new identities/things in a virtual world), skills development (improving concentration, coordination, new skills) recreation (relaxing aspects of gaming), competing (sense of achievement), and social (knowing/being/playing with others). This study suggests that there would be positive and beneficial motives for playing (entertaining gaming) as well as harmful ones (problematic gaming). The correlations between these factors appear to shed light on the positive and negative aspects of gaming. Whilst the weakest correlation is between escape and recreation (also low correlation was found between escape and both, skills development and competition), the strongest correlations were observed between escape and cope and fantasy. These results would indicate that escape and coping are motives associated with problematic gaming, however, the authors argue that escapism would facilitate the coping efforts to deal with stressors and negative moods. Moreover, it is noteworthy underlining that escapism had the lowest mean score in this study among the seven dimensions, which would match with the prevalence level of problematic gaming mentioned previously ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Probably, regarding AU, the accuracy in perceiving emotional states, the ability to deal with stressors and the quality of insights into oneself are dimensions that deserve much attention in the therapeutic processes.

Therapeutic Implications

A cognitive-behavioral approach may contribute to the recovery process by enabling problematic gamers to explore the motives that lead them to abuse of VG play ( Orzack et al., 2006 ; in Griffiths, 2008 ). Developing strategies to tackle stressors appears to be a therapeutic priority for treating this disorder. Consequently, this axis of work includes the understanding of the environmental demands that are perceived as exceeding the individual abilities to handle them. In this line, ensuring the accuracy of the individual’s insights into the emotional states linked to the sources of stress as well as to the game habit could increase the awareness of the underlying issues to be addressed. In particular, deciphering the conditioned desires (unconscious wanting) and the hedonic dimension (unconscious liking) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ) linked to VG play may produce added value information for understanding and overcoming the problematic gaming pattern. Within this frame, it could be hypothesized that distinguishing between happiness and feeling alleviated could be beneficial to the therapeutic process, although it remains to be demonstrated.

Overall, this sort of therapeutic approach may contribute to reduce the alexithymia, usually associated with this kind of disorders ( Kandri et al., 2014 ).

In problematic internet/gaming several studies have explored and highlighted to role of alexithymia and its links with other therapeutic issues. For instance, it has been shown that alexithymic individuals are more associated with Internet addiction than non-alexthymic ones ( Baysan-Arslan et al., 2016 ). In this research, the authors consider that the difficulty in identifying and differentiating emotions that characterizes alexithymia may lead individuals with this affliction to regulate their emotional states via their addictive activities.

Another study showed that IGD would be related with alexithymia, anxiety and depression ( Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ).

Schimmenti et al. (2017) observed that traumatic experiences (mainly in males) and traits of alexithymia (mainly in females) were associated with Internet addiction symptoms, which may enable a tailored prevention and treatment approach. Besides, Internet addiction (including online role-playing) would be correlated with alexithymia, dissociation (protecting one-self in a more pleasant created reality as a means to deal with traumatic experiences) and insecure attachment ( Craparo, 2011 ).

However, the causal link in the association between alexithymia and Internet addiction would still need to be verified, as indicated by Mahapatra and Sharma (2018) . Moreover, discerning the nature of alexithymia remains an uneasy task: this emotional identification and differentiation disorder might be regarded as a stable personality trait that could increase risks of mental disorder development, and also may be seen as a defense mechanism to cope with psychological stressors ( Mikolajczak and Luminet, 2006 ; in Mahapatra and Sharma, 2018 ).

Apart from alexithymia and traumatic memories, high urgency (a dimension of impulsivity defined by the proneness to have strong reactions usually tied with negative affect) and being motivated to experience immersion in a virtual world would be psychological predictors of problematic multiplayer online games ( Billieux et al., 2011 ). These findings led the authors to posit that individuals with the two mentioned traits are more likely to use the immersion in the virtual world as a means to avoiding facing real life adverse issues. According to the authors, this behavior will lead to a deleterious outcome (culpability and embarrassment as a result of feeling unable to deal with problems), which in turn is experienced as a pernicious condition likely to activate behaviors related to high urgency and immersion.

Like the previously mentioned clinical issues, this vicious loop reinforcing escapism also appears to be a therapeutic target.

Considering the possible association between alexithymia and problematic gaming as a manner to regulate emotions ( Baysan-Arslan et al., 2016 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ), the Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) might strengthen the therapeutic process. The aim being that the observed difficulties in Internet (including VG) addicts to identifying emotions and regulating affects ( Caretti et al., 2010 ; in Craparo, 2011 ) could be, at least partially, overcome through the ERT process. In effect, Compare et al. (2014) , show that ERT operates as a means to reappraise emotions that trigger actions leading to negative consequences. Reappraising emotions is associated with the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex, which attenuates the amygdala activation and, thus, reduces the intensity of negative affect; these two areas being coordinated by the orbitofrontal cortex ( Compare et al., 2014 ). Since AU would be prone to associate happiness with VG play, ERT might facilitate the perceptional change enabling to link VG play with pleasure [ Caretti and Craparo, 2009 ; in Craparo (2011) consider Internet addiction (including VG) “as a syndromic condition characterized by a recurrent and reiterated search for pleasure derived from dependence behavior, associated with abuse, craving , clinically significant stress, and compulsive dependence actions despite the possible negative consequences”]. Within this approach, it may be postulated that enabling problematic gamers to familiarize with and to see the self-transcendent notion of happiness could favor the distinction between pleasure and happiness and would render them less vulnerable from impulses and from environmental circumstances ( Dambrun et al., 2012 ). The idea is to facilitate the shift from wanting more than liking (or even without liking) toward liking with little or without wanting ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Furthermore, regarding motives for playing, it could be posited that helping problematic gamers to identify and distinguish the emotions tied to escaping/coping from those related to recreational gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ), would be a necessary condition to orient effectively the ERT toward the escaping issues and targeted emotional states requiring therapeutic input. In this line, based on the previously mentioned studies in this section, it might be useful exploring the possible link that the excessive time spent in cyber activity could have with past traumatic experiences, insecure attachment, impulsivity, anxiety and depression.

In conclusion, this study suggests that the mentioned confusion of emotional states (pleasure and happiness) associated with addiction ( Lustig, 2017 ), could take place in subjects with VG addiction, and potentially in the entire spectrum of addictions. Moreover, from a cognitive therapeutic perspective, it shows the potential benefits of reappraising emotions as a means to contribute to the emotional distortion reduction.

Limitations

The small sample of this study demands cautiousness when making generalizations from its results. Besides, watching VG clips rather than actually playing VG might be less stimulating for chronic gamers and could have influenced the physiological values recorded during the clip visioning phases. That said, many gamers do attend to public competitions to watch other gamers playing VG. Although, to the best of our knowledge, there is no information available to affirm that there are VG addicts in these audiences.

We also faced the usual paradox when assessing craving via self-report tools. Indeed, participants were asked to judge their craving intensity for VG play whereas sensing craving often may imply a compromised self-awareness level and thus a self-assessment whose value needs to be interpreted carefully.

Although the GAS is a validated tool, which has shown its usefulness in screening addict gamers, having complemented this measurement with thorough diagnostic-driven interviews run by specialists when choosing participants to form the AU and the NAU groups would have strengthened the selection process.

The participants’ selection was centered on the gamer status (gaming addiction/non-addiction and names of games usually played) rather than on the cultural and/or educational background of the persons. Future researches could complete this approach by assessing the possible cultural and educational bias in perceiving the studied emotional states.

Moreover, including more physiological parameters related to pleasure and happiness could further complete the self-reported information and may enable reaching more robust results.

Prospective Research

Further research is required to better understand the relationship between the studied emotional states and this addiction. For instance, since VG addiction decreases with age ( Wittek et al., 2016 ) a longitudinal study could reveal the factors (psychophysiological, environmental, etc.) that operate that change. Moreover, VG addiction is only one area of the spectrum of addictions. Undertaking similar researches on other addictions and with larger samples could also contribute to deepening the comprehension of this issue. Finally, keep enhancing the scales that measure pleasure and happiness may provide with more accurate information about the range of nuances intrinsic to these two emotional states.

Data Availability Statement

All datasets generated for this study are included in the article/supplementary material.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Université Libre de Bruxelles Ethical Committee. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

LG developed the proposal and the conception of the original project research, searched and articulated the theoretical background, participated in the study and protocol design, elaborated the results interpretation, assembled all the chapters of the study, and in charge of the manuscript writing. ND was involved in the scientific and publication management, participated – as the Research Center Manager – in the study and protocol design, and in charge of the configuration and writing of the physiological measures. JL, as a member of the Research Center, was involved in the study and protocol design, also involved in the configuration of physiological measures, managed the experimental phases in the laboratory, and elaborated the data analysis. CL, as a full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Director of the Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology, assured the scientific and publication management, participated in the study and protocol design, in charge of making the critical reviews of the manuscript along the process, and involved in the manuscript writing.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Maastricht University (Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology) as well as Université Libre de Bruxelles (Faculty of Psychological Sciences and of Education – Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology). This work was performed as a partial fulfillment toward the International Master in Affective Neuroscience of Maastricht University and the University of Florence.

Abbreviations

AU, addict users; EEG, Electroencephalogram; ETR, Emotions Regulation Therapy; GAS, Gaming Addiction Scale; H, happiness; HR, heart rate; I.G.D., Internet Gaming Disorders; NAU, non-addict users; OHQ, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire; P, pleasure; SHAPS, Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale; VG, video games.

Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., et al. (2016). The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: a large-scale cross-sectional study. Psychol. Behav. 30, 252–262. doi: 10.1037/adb0000160

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Ballaine, B. W., and Dickinson, A. (1998). Goal-directed instrumental action: contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates. Neuropharmacology 37, 407–419. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3908(98)00033-1

Baysan-Arslan, S., Cebeci, S., Kaya, M., and Canbal, M. (2016). Relationship between Internet addiction and alexithymia among university students. Clin. Invest. Med. 39, S111–S115.

Google Scholar

Berridge, K., and Kringelbach, M. (2011). Building a neuroscience of pleasure and well being. Psychol. Well Being 1, 1–3.

PubMed Abstract | Google Scholar

Berridge, K. C., and Kringelbach, M. L. (2013). Neuroscience of affect: brain mechanisms of pleasure and displeasure. Current Opin. Neurobiol. 23, 294–303. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.01.017

Billieux, J., Chanal, J., Khazaal, Y., Rochat, L., Gay, P., Zullino, D., et al. (2011). Psychological predictors of problematic involvement in massively multiplayer online role-playing games: illustration in a sample of male cybercafé players. Psychopathology 44, 165–171. doi: 10.1159/000322525

Billieux, J., Van der Linden, M., Achab, S., Khazaal, Y., Paraskevopoulos, L., Zullino, D., et al. (2013). Why do you play Warcraft? An in-depth exploration of self-reported motivation to play online and in the game behaviors in the virtual world of Azeroth. Compt. Hum. Behav. 29, 103–109. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.021

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Bonnaire, C., and Baptista, D. (2019). Internet gaming disorder in male and female young adults: the role of alexithymia, depression, anxiety and gaming type. Psychiatry Res. 272, 521–530. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.158

Bradley, B. P., Phillips, G., Green, L., and Gossop, M. (1989). Circumstances surrounding the initial lapse to opiate use following detoxification. Br. J. Psychiatry 154, 354–359. doi: 10.1192/bjp.154.3.354

Bruchon-Schweitzer, M., and Boujut, E. (2014). Psychologie de la Santé: Concepts, Methods et Modèles. Paris: Dunod, doi: 10.3917/dunod.bruch.2014.01

Caretti, V., and Craparo, G. (2009). “Psychological issues of technological addiction. New diagnostic criteria for addiction,” in Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2009. Advanced Technologies in the Behavioural, Social and Neurosciences , eds B. K. Wiederhold and G. Riva, (Amsterdam: IOS Press), 227–280.

Caretti, V., Craparo, G., and Schimmenti, A. (2010). “Alcune evidenze empireche sul construtto di trance dissi-ociativa da videoterminale,” in Addiction , eds V. Caretti and D. La Barbera, (Milano: Rafaelo Cortina), 167–182.

Chou, T., and Ting, C. H. (2003). The role of flow experience in cyber-game addiction. Cyber Psychol. Behav. 6, 663–675. doi: 10.1089/109493103322725469

Cipresso, P., Serino, S., and Riva, G. (2014). The pursuit of happiness measurement: a psychometric model based on psychological correlates. Sci. World J. 2014:139128.

Compare, A., Zarbo, C., Shonin, E., van Gordon, W., and Marconi, C. (2014). Emotional regulation and depression: a potential mediator between heart and mind. Cardiovasc. Psychiatry Neurol. 2014:324374. doi: 10.1155/2014/324374

Cooper, S., Robinson, A. J., and Mazei-Robinson, M. (2017). Reward circuitry in addiction. Neurotherapeutics 14, 687–697. doi: 10.1007/s13311-017-0525-z

Craparo, G. (2011). Internet addiction, dissociation and alexithymia. Proc. Soc. Behav. Sci. 30, 1051–1056. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.205

Dambrun, M., Ricard, M., Després, G., Drelon, E., Gibelin, E., Gibelin, M., et al. (2012). Measuring happiness: from fluctuating happiness to authentic, durable happiness. Front. Psychol. 3:16. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00016

Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: human needs and the self-determination of behaviour. Psychol. Inq. 11, 227–668.

Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2008). Hedonia, eudamonia, and well-being: an introduction. J. Happiness Stud. 9, 1–11. doi: 10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1

Demetrovics, Z., Urbán, R., Nagygyörgy, K., Farkas, J., Zilahy, D., Mervó, B., et al. (2011). Why do you play? The development of the motives for online gaming questionnaire (MOGQ). Behav. Res. Methods 43, 814–825. doi: 10.3758/s13428-011-0091-y

Dong, G., Li, H., and Potenza, M. (2017). Cognitive control and reward/loss processing in Internet gaming disorders: results from a comparison with recreational Internet game users. Eur. Psychiatry 44:3038.

Dong, G., and Potenza, M. (2015). A cognitive-behavioural model of Internet gaming disorders: theoretical underpinnings and clinical implications. J. Psychiatry Res. 58, 7–11. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.005

Dongping, L., Wenhau, Z., Xian, L., Yueyue, Z., Liyan, Z., and Yanhui, W. (2016). Stressful life events and adolescent Internet addiction: the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction and the moderating role of coping style. Comp. Hum. Behav. 63, 408–415. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.070

Esposito, E., Di Matteo, V., and Di Giovanni, G. (2008). Serotonin-dopamine interaction: an overview. Prog. Brain Res. 172, 3–6. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(08)00901-1

Gaetan, S., Bonnet, A., Brejard, V., and Cury, F. (2014). French validation of the 7-item Game Addiction Scale for adolescents. Rev. Eur. Psychol. Appl. 64, 161–168. doi: 10.1016/j.erap.2014.04.004

Geisel, O., Panneck, P., Stickel, A., Schneider, M., and Müller, C. A. (2015). Characteristics of social network gamers: results of an online survey. Front. Psychiatry 6:69. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00069

Gil, S., and Droit-Volet, S. (2012). Emotion time distortions: the fundamental role of arousal. Cogn. Emot. 26, 847–862. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2011.625401

Gowing, L., Ali, R. L., Allsop, S., Marsden, J., Turf, E. E., West, R., et al. (2015). Global statistics on addictive behaviours: 2014 status report. Society for the study of addiction. Addiction 110, 904–919. doi: 10.1111/add.12899

Griffiths, M. (2008). Diagnosis and management of video game addiction. New Direct. Addict. Treat. Prevent. 12, 27–41.

Griffiths, M., Kuss, D., and King, D. (2012). Video game addiction: past. Present and future. Curr. Psychiatry Rev. 8, 308–318. doi: 10.2174/157340012803520414

Han, D. H., Bolo, N., Daniels, M. A., Arenella, L., Lyoo, I. K., and Renshaw, P. F. (2011). Brain activity and desire for Internet video game play. Comprehen. Psychiatry 52, 88–95. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.04.004

Hills, P., and Argyle, M. (2002). The oxford happiness questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Pers. Individ. Differ. 33, 1073–1082. doi: 10.1016/s0191-8869(01)00213-6

Hull, D., William, G. A., and Griffiths, M. D. (2013). Video game characteristics, happiness and flow as predictors of addiction among video game players: a pilot study. J. Behav. Addict. 2, 145–152. doi: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.005

Jatupaiboon, N., Pan-ngum, S., and Israsena, P. (2013). Real-time EEG-based happiness detection system. Sci. World J. 2013:618649. doi: 10.1155/2013/618649

Kandri, T. A., Bonotis, K. S., Floros, G. D., and Zafiropoulou, M. M. (2014). Alexithymia components in excessive internet users: a multi-factorial analysis. Psychiatry Res. 220, 348–355. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.07.066

Kardefelt-Winther, D. (2014). A conceptual and methodological critique of Internet addiction research: towards a model of compensatory Internet use. Comput. Hum. Behav. 31, 351–354. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.059

Kashdan, T., Bsiwas-Diener, R., and King, L. (2008). “Reconsidering Happiness: the cost of distinguishing between hedonics and eudemonia”. .J. Posit. Psychol. 3, 219–233. doi: 10.1080/17439760802303044

Kennedy, A., Epstein, D. H., Jobes, M. L., Agage, D., Tyburski, M., Phillips, K. A., et al. (2015). Continuous in-the-field measurement of heart rate: correlates of drug use, craving, stress and mood in polydrug users. Drug Alcohol Depend. 151, 159–166. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.03.024

Keyes, K. M., Jager, J., Hamilton, A., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R., and Schulenberg, J. (2015). National multi-cohort time trends in adolescent risk preference and relation with substance use and problem behavior from 1976 to 2011. Drug Alcohol Depend. 155, 267–274. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.031

Khazaal, Y., Chatton, A., Rothen, S., Achab, S., Thorens, G., Zullino, D., et al. (2016). Psychometric properties of the 7-item game addiction scale among French and German adults. BMC Psychiatry 16:132.

Khazaal, Y., Zullino, D., and Billieux, J. (2012). The Geneva smoking pictures: development and preliminary validation. Eur. Addict. Res. 18, 103–109. doi: 10.1159/000335083

Kim, E. J., Namkoong, K., Ku, T., and Kim, S. J. (2007). The relationship between online game addiction and aggression, self, control and narcissistic personality traits. Eur. Psychiatry 23, 212–218. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.10.010

Kim, H., Ha, J., Chang, W. D., Park, W., Kim, L., and Im, C. H. (2018). Detection of craving for gaming in adolescents with internet gaming disorders using multimodal bio signals. Sensors 18:102. doi: 10.3390/s18010102

Ko, C.-H., Gin-Chung, L., Sigmund, H., Ju-Yu, Y., Ming-Jen, Y., Wei-Chen, L., et al. (2009). Brain activities associated with gaming urge of online gaming addiction. J. Psychiatry Res. 43, 739–747. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.09.012

Koepp, M. J., Gunn, R. N., Lawrence, A. D., Cunningham, V. J., Dagher, A., Jones, T., et al. (1998). Evidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game. Nature 393, 266–268. doi: 10.1038/30498

Kowert, R., Vogelgesang, J., Festl, R., and Quandt, T. (2015). Psychological causes and consequences of online video game play. Comput. Hum. Behav. 45, 51–58. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.074

Kringelbach, M., and Berridge, K. (2009). Towards a functional neuro-anatomy of pleasure and happiness. Trends Cogn. Sci. 13, 479–487. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.006

Kringelbach, M., and Berridge, M. (2010). The neuroscience of happiness and pleasure. Soc. Res. 77, 659–678.

Lawrence, L. M., Ciorciari, J., and Kyrios, M. (2014). “Relationships that compulsive buying has with addiction, obsessive-compulsiveness, hoarding and depression”. Compr. Psychiatry 55, 1137–1145. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.03.005

Lazarus, R. S., and Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York, NY: Springer.

Lee, Y., Han, D., Yang, K. C., Daniels, M. A., Na, C., Kee, B. S., et al. (2008). Depression like characteristics of 5HTTLPR polymorphism and temperament in excessive Internet users. J. Affect. Disord. 2, 165–169. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2007.10.020

Lemmens, J., Valkenburg, P., and Peter, J. (2011). Psychological causes and consequences of pathological gaming. Comput. Hum. Behav. 27, 144–152. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.015

Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., and Peter, J. (2009). Development and validation of game addiction scale for adolescents. Media Psychol. 12, 77–95. doi: 10.1080/15213260802669458

Lepine, J.-P., and Briley, M. (2011). The increasing burden of depression. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 7(Suppl. 1), 3–7.

Loas, G., Dubal, S., Perot, P., Tirel, F., Nowaczkowski, P., and Pierson, A. (1997). Etude de validation de la version française de l’échelle de plaisir de Snaith et Hamilton. L’Encephale 23, 454–458.

Loonen, A., and Ivanova, S. (2016). Circuits regulating pleasure and happiness – mechanisms of depression. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 10:571.

Lu, D., Wang, J. W., and Huang, A. C. (2010). Differentiation of internet addiction risk level based on autonomic nervous responses: the internet-addiction hypothesis of autonomic activity. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 13, 371–378. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0254

Lustig, R. (2017). The Hacking of the American Mind. New York, NY: Avery.

MacNicol, B. (2016). The biology of addiction. Can. J. Anesthesia 64, 141–148. doi: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000095

Mahapatra, A., and Sharma, P. (2018). Association of internet addiction and alexithymia – A scoping review. Addict. Behav. 81, 175–182. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.02.004

Mikolajczak, M., and Luminet, O. (2006). Is alexithymia affected by situational stress or is it a stable trat related to emotion regulation? Pers. Individ. Differ. 40, 1399–1408. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.10.020

Orzack, M. H., Vouse, A. C., Wolf, D., and Hennen, J. (2006). An on-going study of group treatment for men involved in problematic Internet enabled sexual behaviour. CyberPsychol. Behav. 9, 348–360. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.348

Petry, N. M., Rehbein, F., Gentile, D. A., Lemmens, J. S., Rumpf, H. J., Mößle, T., et al. (2014). An international consensus for assessing Internet gaming disorder using new DSM-5 approach. Addiction 109, 1399–1406. doi: 10.1111/add.12457

Petry, N. M., Rehbein, F., Ko, C. H., and O’Brien, C. H. (2015). Internet gaming disorders in the DSM-5. Curr. Psychiatry Rep. 17:19.

Pollard, I. (2003). From Happiness to Depression”. Today’s Life Science. Available at: www.biotechnews.com.au (accessed August, 2019).

Procter, P. (1985). Longman Concise English Dictionary. England: Longman Group Limited.

Ryu, H., Lee, J., Choi, A., Park, S., Kim, D., and Choi, J. (2018). The relationship between impulsivity and internet gaming disorders in young adults: mediating effects of interpersonal relationships and depression. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 15:458. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15030458

Sarda, E., Bègue, L., Bry, C., and Gentile, D. (2016). Internet gaming disorders and well-being: a scale validation. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 19, 674–679. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2016.0286

Schimmenti, A., and Caretti, V. (2010). Psychic retreats or psychic pits? Unbearable states of mind ad technological addiction. Psychoanalogy 27, 115–132. doi: 10.1037/a0019414

Schimmenti, A., Passanisi, A., Caretti, V., La Marca, L., Granieri, A., Iacolino, C., et al. (2017). Traumatic experiences, alexithymia and Internet addiction symptoms among late adolescents: a moderated mediation analysis. Addict. Behav. 64, 314–320. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.11.002

Schmidt, L. A. (2016). “What are addictive substances and behaviours and how far do they extend?,” in Impact of Addictive Substances and Behaviours on Individual and Societal Well-Being , eds P. Anderson, J. Rehm, and R. Room, (London: Oxford Unversity Press).

Schwabe, L., Tegenhoff, M., Höffken, O., and Wolf, O. (2012). Simultaneous glucocorticoid and noradrenergic activity disrupts the neural basis of goal-directed action in the human brain. J. Neurosci. 32, 10146–10155. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1304-12.2012

Seay, A. F., and Kraut, R. E. (2007). “Project massive: self-regulation and problematic use of on-line gambling,” in Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , San Jose, CA.

Serretti, A., Calati, R., Mandelli, L., and Ronchi, D. D. (2006). Serotonin transporter gene variant and behaviour: a comprehensive review. Curr. Drug Targets 7, 1659–1669. doi: 10.2174/138945006779025419

Shen, C., Ratan, C., Dora, Y., and Leavitt, A. (2016). Do men advance faster than women? Debunking the gender performance gap in two massively multiplayer online games. J. Comput. Med Commun. 21, 312–329. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12159

Sinha, R., Fuse, T., Aubin, L. R., and O’Malley, S. S. (2000). Psychological stress drug-related cues and cocaine craving. Psychopharmacology 152, 140–148. doi: 10.1007/s002130000499

Snaith, R. P., Hamilton, M., Morley, S., and Humayan, A. (1995). A scale for the assessment of the hedonic tone: the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale. Br. J. Psychiatry 167, 99–103. doi: 10.1192/bjp.167.1.99

Szalavitz, M. (2011). What does a 400% increase in antidepressant use really mean?. Patna: Time.

Teplan, M., and Krakovskà, A. (2009). “EEG features of psycho-physiological relaxation,” in Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Applied Sciences in Biomedical and Communication Technologies ISABEL 2009 , (Bratislava: Institute of Measurement Science SAS).

Tian, Y., Liu, P., and Huang, X. (2018). The role of emotion regulation in reducing emotional distortions of duration perception. Front. Psychol. 9:347. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00347

Torres, A., Catena, A., Megias, A., Maldonado, A., Candido, A., Verdejo-Garcia, A., et al. (2013). Emotional and non-emotional pathways to impulsive behavior and addiction. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7:43. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00043

Tricomi, E., Ballaine, B. W., and O’Doherty, J. P. (2009). A specific role for posterior dorsolateral striatum in human habit learning. Eur. J. Neurosci. 29, 2225–2232. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06796.x

Üstün, T. B., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Chatterji, S., Mathers, C., and Murray, C. J. (2004). Global burden of depressive disorders in the year 2000. Br. J. Psychiatry 184, 386–392. doi: 10.1192/bjp.184.5.386

van Holst, R. J., Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., Veltman, D. J., and Goudriaan, A. E. (2012). Attentional bias and disinhibition toward gaming cues are related to problem gaming in male adolescents. J. Adolescent. Health 50, 541–546. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.07.006

Volkow, N., Wang, G., Fowler, J., Tomasi, D., and Telang, F. (2011). Addiction: beyond dopamine reward circuitry. PNAS 108, 15037–15042. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1010654108

Wallace, B. C. (1989). Psychological and environmental determinants of relapse in crack cocaine smokers. J. Subst. Abuse Treat. 6, 95–106. doi: 10.1016/0740-5472(89)90036-6

Wang, L., Wu, L., Wang, Y., Li, H., Liu, X., Du, X., et al. (2017). Altered brain activities associated with craving and cue reactivity in people with Internet gaming disorders: evidence from the comparison with recreational Internet game users. Front. Psychol. 8:1150. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01150

Waterman, A., Schwartz, S., and Conti, R. (2008). The implication of the two conceptions of happiness (Hedonic. (enjoyment)and Eudamonia) for the understanding of intrinsic motivation. J. Happiness Stud. 9, 41–79. doi: 10.1007/s10902-006-9020-7

Wei, H.-T., Chen, M. H., Huang, P. C., and Bai, Y. M. (2012). The association between online gaming, social phobia and depression: an internet survey. BMC Psychiatry 12:92. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-92

Wenzel, H. G., Bakken, I. J., Johansson, A., Götestam, K. G., and Øren, A. (2009). Excessive computer game playing among Norwegian adults: self-reported consequences of playing and association with mental health problems. Psychol. Rep. 105, 1237–1247. doi: 10.2466/pr0.105.f.1237-1247

Whiteford, H., Degenhardt, L., Rehm, J., Baxter, A. J., Ferrari, A. J., Erskine, H. E., et al. (2013). “Global burden of attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the global burden of disease study 2010”. Lancet 382, 1575–1586. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6

Wittek, C. T., Reiten Finseras, T., Pallesen, S., Mentzoni, A., Hanss, D., Griffiths, M., et al. (2016). Prevalence and predictors of video game addiction: a study based on a national and representative sample gamers. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 14, 672–686. doi: 10.1007/s11469-015-9592-8

World Health Organization [WHO] (2018). Available at: https://www.who.int/features/qa/gaming-disorder/en/ (accessed December, 2018).

Yau, Y., Crowley, M., Mayes, L., and Potenza, M. (2012). Are Internet use and video game play addictive behaviours? Biological, clinical and public health implications for youths and adults. Minerva Psichiatrica 53, 153–170.

Yin, H. H., Knowlton, B. J., and Ballaine, B. W. (2004). Lesions of dorsolateral striatum preserve outcome expectancy but disrupt habit formation in instrumental learning. Eur. J. Neurosci. 19, 181–189. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03095.x

Zheng, Y., Fan, F., Liu, X., and Mo, L. (2012). Life events, coping and posttraumatic stress symptoms among Chinese adolescents exposed to 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. China. PLoS One 7:e29404. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029404

Self-Report Questionnaires

– Six items Questionnaire: Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG play (Items 7 and 8 were suppressed after the preliminary phase)

(1) I enjoy playing video games.

(2) I am happy when I play video games.

(3) I would find pleasure in my video game activities.

(4) I find video games amusing.

(5) I enjoy playing my favorite video game.

(6) I often experience joy and exaltation when playing video games.

(7) I would feel pleasure when I receive praise from other people on my capacity to play video games.

(8) I don’t have fun when playing video games with other people.

fully disagree disagree slightly disagree slightly agree agree fully agree

<———I——————I——————I————————I——————I—————I———>

– Questionnaire on Craving for playing VG

– After having watched this clip I feel craving for playing video games.

– Three bipolar items Questionnaire: Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG play

Bipolar items.

(1) I enjoy playing video games I am happy when I play video games

I——————I——————I——————I—————I

(2) I would find pleasure in I find video games amusing my video game activities

(3) I enjoy playing my favorite I often experience joy and exaltation video game when playing video games

– Ten key words [resulting from the semantic mapping of pleasure (P) and happiness (H)]: 3/10 words to be associated with VG play

– Joy

– Craving

– Well-being

– Impulsivity

– Fellowship

– Desire

– Fun

– Contentment

– Gratification

– Serenity

Pleasure cluster: joy, craving, impulsivity, desire, fun, gratification.

Happiness cluster: well-being, fellowship, contentment, serenity.

– One bipolar item Questionnaire: Pleasure or Happiness associated with VG play (with explicit definitions)

Happiness : emotional state of lasting contentment.

Pleasure : transient emotional state when satisfying a desire, a craving.

A bipolar item

Keywords : video games, addiction, confusion, pleasure and happiness, emotional states

Citation: Gros L, Debue N, Lete J and van de Leemput C (2020) Video Game Addiction and Emotional States: Possible Confusion Between Pleasure and Happiness? Front. Psychol. 10:2894. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02894

Received: 03 July 2019; Accepted: 06 December 2019; Published: 27 January 2020.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Gros, Debue, Lete and van de Leemput. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Lucio Gros, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Video Game Addiction

Jul 20, 2014

190 likes | 711 Views

Video Game Addiction. By the beautiful and talented Michaela Reist . . Advantages of Playing Video Games. Work better in team activities Boast your creativity Learn how to make fast decisions Improved hand-eye co-ordination Some games increase kids self confidence

Share Presentation

• always high
• role playing
• disturbed eating habits children
• warcraft everquest halo
• wowdetox com

Presentation Transcript

Video Game Addiction By the beautiful and talented Michaela Reist.

Advantages of Playing Video Games Work better in team activities Boast your creativity Learn how to make fast decisions Improved hand-eye co-ordination Some games increase kids self confidence Teach problem solving, motivation and cognitive skills

Disadvantages of Playing Video Games Violent games can sometimes make people do things they normally wouldn’t do. Such as going on a killing spree, thinking they’re playing a game. Damages eyesight, causes dizziness, and headaches (excessive gaming) Lack of social interaction Become lazy and unfit Disturbed eating habits Children are often fearful

How They Keep You Addicted High Scores- In video games, there’s always high scores. One way to keep you playing is by showing these to you, which makes you want to beat them. Everyone wants to be the best, right? But being the best takes lots of time and practice. Even just trying to beat your own high score can keep you playing for hours. Finishing The Game- There’s some games where you can play forever (role-playing games), but the majority have steps and clues to finish and beat the game. These steps keep the player hooked. Each time a new task is uncovered, he or she becomes more interested.

Attachment-With role playing games, you get to bring your creativity into it. You get to design your character and make it unique. Since you added your own personal touch to the character, you have an emotional tie to it, which makes you want to keep playing. Discovery-Discovering things, places or people keeps players curious, always wondering what they’ll find next. In World of Warcraft, most of the game is spent exploring fantasized worlds.

Are There More Male Addicts Than Female? Some may say there are more male gaming addicts than female. That is true. Both genders have the same amount of a chance to become addicted to gaming in general but for some reason, males are found to find video games more addictive. The reason why more males are addicted to violent video games is because of the higher amount of testosterone, there by having a more aggressive nature than females. 90% of American youth plays video games and 15% of them are addicted 31% of males and 13% of females have felt ‘addicted’ 60% of gamers are male

Some of The Most Addicting Games World of Warcraft Everquest Halo 3 Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Call of Duty: MW2 (Modern Warfare 2) Skyrim

Stories of Video Game Addicts A website was created, WoWdetox.com, to help WoW players to get over their addiction. The site was made by Gary Haran, a former World of Warcraft addict himself. You can anonymously write a post about your problems with your addiction and get help from others on the site. After about a couple months after he created the site, there was over 20,000 posts. Below are some posts from people wanting to get over their addiction. None have been altered. "I ended up ill with a deep vein thrombosis in one of my legs caused, according to the Doctors by me sitting on my backside doing instances all night and all day."

User’s posts: "Im 12 and i cant stop playing wow i play about 8-10 hours a day mostly because all my frend are on it, and im bored when idont play it.I just failed socials too so wat should i do.” "WOW addiction is no joke. I started to play becuase cousins and friends played (who are by the way all overweight). At first all I did was play WoW once or twice a day for lets say 2-3 hours. Then out of the blue my cousin stoped playing becuase he said he was addicted to WoW so he gave me his 70 (rogue). Well after thta I was on 6-10 hours a day. I ignored my friends went from workingout 4times a week to twice. I would cuse people who asked me to get off. In the end though I relised by playing WoW I was just supporting big bussiness. Also, why waste money, time with friends for a game? I know ppeolpe who would be alot better off without WoW. I just want to try to get all the money I have invested into it back so I am going to sell the (rogue)....."

The Early Show- Gaming Addiction Some benefits and disadvantages about video gaming + how to find out if you or someone else is addicted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdfagA_VYFQ

Bibliography http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/videogamewho.htm http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html http://www.video-game-addiction.org

• More by User

Computer Game Addiction

Table of Contents. A brief introduction into Online Computer GamesHow online computer games can be addictiveExplanation on the factors of online gaming which facilitate addictionsWhy Addiction is a ProblemEthical AnalysisConcluding thoughts. Introduction to Online Games. 3 Primary Online Games:World of WarcraftFinal Fantasy XI OnlineEverQuestThese are called MMORPGs

745 views • 28 slides

Video Game Addiction. Don’t Let It Happen To You!. What is Video Game Addiction?. Addiction is defined as “A primary, chronic disease, characterized by impaired control over the use of a psychoactive substance and/or behavior.”

697 views • 11 slides

[ online game addiction ]

[ online game addiction ]. What is online gaming?. Games played over some form of computer network (Internet) Ability to connect to multiplayer games Single-player online games are also common . World-wide “problem”. South-Korea USA Norway. Counter-Strike. Commonly abbreviated to CS

4k views • 14 slides

Game addiction

Game addiction. By Ernie. Call of Duty games. Game addiction is when you play game every day for more then 5 hours . Sonys new ps4 coming out . infinity ward Games.

375 views • 10 slides

Video Game Addiction. By: Spates, Kelly. Statistics . Video game industry makes more money each year then Hollywood. The American Medical association says 90% of kids today play video games. As many as 5,000,000 of those kids play so much that doctors are considering it a disorder.

408 views • 13 slides

Video Game Addiction . Are you addicted?. Facts about Video Game Addiction. Video Game addiction is an extreme use of computer and video games interfering with your daily life. People who have video game addiction isolates themselves from their family and friends.

834 views • 9 slides

Video Game Addiction. By; Meghan Kraakman.

411 views • 11 slides

Video Game Addiction. Created by Zachary Hayes, Justin Barnhart, Tyler L ayton. Summary. Some people think video game addiction is a metal disorder. Also some doctors say that video games are addicting as drugs and alcohol. All ages can and are becoming addicted to video games.

400 views • 5 slides

Video game addiction

By Issak Tremblay. Video game addiction. Hope you enjoy . Advantages and Disadvantages to video games . Advantages Gain creativity Gain better eye hand coordination Some video games gives kids self confidence You get your anger out . Disadvantages Can damage eyesight

583 views • 10 slides

Video game addiction. By felicity Verbeek. How video game addiction can affect you. Video game addictions can cause (couch potato) lake of eating sometimes, because some people just sit there and play for hours without out eating.

370 views • 10 slides

VIDEO GAMES ADDICTION

VIDEO GAMES ADDICTION. A presentation by Bilal, Peter, Malcolm and Anna Sojung Lee. What Is video game addiction?.

353 views • 10 slides

Video game addiction. Preoccupation

235 views • 10 slides

Video Game Addiction!

Instances have been reported in which users play compulsively, isolating themselves from family and friends or from other forms of social contact, and focus almost entirely on in-game achievements rather than other life events. Video Game Addiction!.

485 views • 11 slides

Game addiction. Central idea : Lifestyle choices and social pressure affect human health An inquiry into : video game addiction rehabilitation. How many get cured. About 7 of 10 thet get help are completely cured

388 views • 15 slides

Video Game Addiction. The Knights Diamoneek McDougald. What is it?. Video Game Addiction is someone who constantly plays video games Likes virtual life better than real life MMORPG are massive multiplayer online role playing games WOW (World of Warcraft ) is the biggest addicting game

1.06k views • 61 slides

Video Gaming Addiction

Video Gaming Addiction. Is it really worth it?. A PowerPoint presentation by Lilian Osborne. Video Gaming in the Past:. Video games have changed a lot since they first came out. Home video games only came out during the third generation of video game consoles.

510 views • 11 slides

Spyware, Video game addiction and netiquette

Tech-Knowledge G$$. Devon C. Floyd Alyric Knight Brain Vanhook 10/28/10 6/7. Spyware, Video game addiction and netiquette . Vide Game Addiction.

603 views • 44 slides

Tech-Knowledge G$$. Devon C. Floyd Alyric Knight Brain Vanhook 10/28/10 6/7. Spyware, Video game addiction and netiquette. Vide Game Addiction.

595 views • 44 slides

Video Game. 東吳大學資訊管理系 江清水. Video Games. A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.

753 views • 27 slides

VIDEO Game Addiction

VIDEO Game Addiction. A PowerPoint presentation by: Alyssa Schiavon (: Enjoy. Video game addiction is real.

3.97k views • 11 slides

Teen Video Game Addiction

Teen Video Game Addiction. By Marcus Dixon &amp; Stiv Deleon. Video Game Addiction No Fun @ http :// www.webmd.com /mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun. What Is Addiction?. Addiction is when a person craves something and feels like they need it all the time

574 views • 8 slides

Video Game Addiction Does Exist!

Video Game Addiction Does Exist!. By : Spates, Kelly. http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp3HpcPHTBA. Main Points:. Determine the different levels of game playing Games that are more likely to addicting Signs of addiction Reasons why video game addiction is bad Controlling the problem.

324 views • 10 slides

• PowerPoint Templates
• Google Slides Themes
• Keynote Templates
• Business Models
• Technology and Science
• Education & Training
• Nature & Environment
• Careers/Industry
• Abstract/Textures
• Infographics
• Business Concepts
• Construction
• Religious/Spiritual
• Food & Beverage
• Utilities/Industrial
• Art & Entertainment
• Holiday/Special Occasion
• Financial/Accounting
• Cars and Transportation
• Architecture
• Arts & Entertainment
• Food & Drink
• Transportation
• Beauty & Fashion
• Word Templates
• Letterheads
• Newsletters
• Technology, Science & Computers
• Agriculture and Animals
• Cars/Transportation
• Illustrations
• Backgrounds
• Business and Office
• Education and Training
• Arrows, Shapes and Buttons
• Animals and Pets
• Industry Essentials
• Objects and Equipment
• Consumer Electronics
• Agriculture
• Religious / Worship
• Home Appliances
• Web templates
• Actions and Presets
• Layer Styles
• Become a Contributor

• Presentation Templates
• Graphic Templates
• Video games addiction

Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Templates & Google Slides Themes

Unlock your presentation potential: explore our collection of professionally crafted free and premium powerpoint templates and backgrounds for instant download, gamepad powerpoint template, game console controls closeup presentation, similar to "video games addiction" presentation templates, versus game powerpoint template, gamepad illustration powerpoint template, mobile versus game powerpoint template, video games powerpoint template, game joystick powerpoint template, wondersoft - gaming powerpoint template, cybersport powerpoint template, video games background powerpoint template, game console free powerpoint template, cyber security, vr controller presentation, online commerce flat design concept powerpoint template, computer addiction powerpoint template, virtual reality collage powerpoint template, sport presentation template, technology concept powerpoint template, imbalance game powerpoint presentation template, concept design powerpoint template, multimedia computer powerpoint template, man checking email in smartphone powerpoint template, streaming services presentation template, human centered design toolkit, man uses a virtual reality headset in the forest presentation, man wearing grey shirt using virtual reality headset presentation, green field for sport games presentation, digital business technology powerpoint template, online payments industry, board game playing pieces powerpoint template, excited guy using a vr headset powerpoint template, top view of woman working on computer powerpoint template, flat design game items powerpoint template, businessman pressing virtual buttons powerpoint template, splash football background powerpoint template, gray keyboard on the green background powerpoint template, tablet pc powerpoint template, a young woman in glasses of virtual reality presentation, distance control powerpoint template, skittles powerpoint template, bowling illustration powerpoint template, virtual reality free powerpoint template, portable computer powerpoint template, racing video game powerpoint template, computer mouse powerpoint template, online finances presentation concept, computer scheme powerpoint template, success computer button powerpoint template, download free and premium video games addiction powerpoint templates.

Choose and download Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates , and Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Backgrounds in just a few minutes. And with amazing ease of use, you can transform your "sleep-inducing" PowerPoint presentation into an aggressive, energetic, jaw-dropping presentation in nearly no time at all. These from free or premium Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Templates and Backgrounds are a great choice for a wide variety of presentation needs.

Our Free and Premium PowerPoint Templates are "pre-made" presentation shells. All graphics, typefaces, and colors have been created and are pre-set by an expert graphic designer. You simply insert your text. That's it!

Free vs. Premium Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Presentation Templates

PoweredTemplate offers a wide range of free Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Presentation Templates. You can find them by filtering by “Free”, from the “Filters” option on the site, on the top left corner of the screen after you search. This content is completely free of charge.

If you download our free Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates as a free user, remember that you need to credit the author by including a credits slide or add an attribution line “Designed by PoweredTemplate”, clearly and visibly, somewhere in your final presentation.

PoweredTemplate also offers premium PowerPoint templates, which are available only to Premium users. There is no difference in product quality between free and premium Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Presentation Templates.

Best Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Templates

Are you looking for professionally designed, pre-formatted Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates so you can quickly create presentations? You've come to the right place - PoweredTemplate has created these templates with professionals in mind. At PoweredTemplates, we understand how busy you are and how you love to save time.

That's why we've created a set of PowerPoint design templates with a Video Games Addiction theme. These Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates are a great choice for a wide variety of presentation needs. Spend your time wisely - download the Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Templates today.

Video Games Addiction PowerPoint Presentation Themes FAQ

What are video games addiction powerpoint templates.

A PowerPoint template is a pattern or blueprint for your slides that you save as a .pptx or .potx file.

All the Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates are natively built in PowerPoint, using placeholders on the slide master, color palettes, and other features in PowerPoint, and can contain layouts, theme colors, theme fonts, theme effects, background styles, and even content (according to Microsoft Office).

How to choose Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates for presentations?

Choose after carefully studying the template features and viewing the big preview images. All the product information is on the product page in the description and a list of the features can be found in the horizontal scrolling bar under the Download button. You may download a few free templates before making the final decision.

Who are Video Games Addiction PowerPoint templates suitable for?

Why do i need video games addiction powerpoint templates.

Account Sign In

Create your Free Account

Forgot Password?

Remember me on this computer

Not Registered? Create Free Account

By creating an account I agree to PoweredTemplate’s Terms and Conditions .

Already have an account? Sign in

share this!

August 20, 2024 report

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

Study suggests video game playing may have mental health benefits under some conditions

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

A team of mental health, human behavior and economic specialists affiliated with several institutions in Japan has found that under the right conditions, playing video games may be good for mental health.

In their study, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the group sent questionnaires to people sequestered at home during the COVID-19 lockdown, some of whom were able to purchase video game consoles and games during a lottery.

Prior research has found mixed results regarding the mental health impacts of regular, long-term playing of video games. Some have suggested it can lead to addictive symptoms; in teens, it may lead to social isolation , and in some cases, aggressive behavior . The World Health Organization went so far as to classify "gaming disorder" as a mental illness .

Other studies have suggested such findings are overblown. One of the problems those in the field have encountered while attempting to study such impacts is quantification difficulty—most studies have been done in controlled environments, which could have impacted results.

For this new study, the research team found an opportunity to study the impact of video games on large numbers of people outside of a lab—people stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic.

During the lockdown in Japan, demand for video game consoles and associated games skyrocketed. Console makers attempted to make things fair by holding lotteries—winners had the option of purchasing either a Sony PlayStation 5 or a Nintendo Switch; losers had to find other ways to amuse themselves.

The research team realized this represented an opportunity to test the impact of video game playing on a captive group of players. They created a questionnaire designed to measure mental health and the amount of time spent playing games and sent it to people participating in the lotteries. They received 97,602 of them, filled out and ready for analysis.

The research team found a pattern in the responses—people playing video games appeared to have a greater sense of life satisfaction, a key component of mental health, than those who were not playing games. They also found that the benefits had limits: Those playing more than three hours a day experienced the same benefits as those playing just three hours a day.

Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour

© 2024 Science X Network

Explore further

Feedback to editors

Honey bees may play key role in spreading viruses to wild bumble bees

Cryo-ET study elucidates protein folding helpers in their natural environment

Birds have accents, too: Researchers find cultural change in the dialects of parrots over 22-year period

Humpbacks are among animals who manufacture and wield tools, researchers say

2 hours ago

Using AI to link heat waves to global warming

To kill mammoths in the Ice Age, people used planted pikes, not throwing spears, researchers say

Modeling study finds highest prediction of sea-level rise unlikely

Freeze-frame: Researchers develop world's fastest microscope that can see electrons in motion

Human-wildlife overlap expected to increase across more than half of land on Earth by 2070

US Congress members' wealth statistically linked with ancestors' slaveholding practices

Relevant physicsforums posts, cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better, today's fusion music: t square, cassiopeia, rei & kanade sato.

7 hours ago

Interesting anecdotes in the history of physics?

11 hours ago

Favorite songs (cont.)

15 hours ago

Why are ABBA so popular?

Aug 20, 2024

Song: Epiphany of the Physicist

More from Art, Music, History, and Linguistics

Related Stories

Volunteers in video game study self-report positive well-being

Feb 17, 2021

Should parents buy video games for their children at Christmas?

Dec 1, 2023

Gaming time has little effect on short-term mental health: study

Jul 27, 2022

New study explores video game addiction rates

Apr 8, 2024

Study suggests video games can help mental health

Nov 16, 2020

New study shows violent video games do not make teens more aggressive

Feb 13, 2019

Recommended for you

Study says ChatGPT could help people with creativity in everyday tasks

5 hours ago

Study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style

Aug 19, 2024

Study finds gun violence in rural America rises as deer hunting season begins

Spread the love (online): Study reveals in-party positivity drives online engagement more than out-party hostility

How some states help residents avoid costly debt during hard times

Aug 16, 2024

Singing from memory unlocks a surprisingly common musical superpower

Aug 15, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter