Abstract
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, digital gaming has become a welcome pastime and distraction for many people. However, this phenomenon can have severe consequences; intensive digital gaming can foster the Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and negatively affect mental health. The present experimental longitudinal study investigated the consequences of a conscious abstinence from gaming in a German sample. The experimental group (N = 131; age: M = 26.21, SD = 7.70) did not engage in gaming for two weeks; the control group (N = 140; age: M = 25.10, SD = 4.94) maintained its gaming time and habits. Gaming-related variables and mental health-related variables were assessed via online surveys at five measurement time points (baseline, intermediate status, post-intervention, one-month follow-up, three-month follow-up). The intervention significantly reduced gaming time, gaming flow, IGD, daily stress, and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, we found a significant improvement in positive mental health. The effects were stable over the three months of the investigation. Thus, we could show that a conscious and controlled, short-term abstinence from gaming leads to reduced IGD and a better mental health. The present results emphasize that conscious periods of gaming abstinence could be an effective step in the clinical context and in mental health prevention programs, especially during a pandemic such as the COVID-19 outbreak.
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