Accordance of Adolescent and Parental Ratings of Internet Gaming Disorder and Their Associations with Psychosocial Aspects.

Abstract

In 2013, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) was incorporated in the DSM-5. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the inclusion of the new diagnosis "Gaming disorder" in the ICD-11. Both IGD and Gaming disorder refer to a problematic use of video games. Yet, IGD has thus far only been assessed by self-ratings, while external ratings have not been available. We adapted a frequently used screening tool for IGD (Internet Gaming Disorder Scale, IGDS) to a parental rating (Parental version of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale, PIGDS) and evaluated its psychometric properties. Data were collected in 1,970 face-to-face interviews (with 985 parents and 985 related adolescents) using a standardized questionnaire measuring adolescent IGD by self- and parental ratings and frequency of gaming, psychopathological burden, hyperactivity/inattention, family functioning, and school performance. Furthermore, we determined the accordance of adolescent and parental ratings for IGD. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analyses, and have determined reliability and concordance. We observed a one-dimensional factor structure of the PIGDS and its internal consistency was 0.86. We found very first indications of criterion validity for the PIGDS. The correlation between IGDS and PIGDS was 0.78 and we observed kappa coefficients between both ratings of 0.62 and 0.61 (based on the most suitable cutoff points for the PIGDS). Both adolescent and parental ratings of IGD were consistently associated with higher psychopathological burden, stronger hyperactivity/inattention, poorer family functioning, and poorer school performance. According to the results, a parental assessment of IGD in adolescence seems to be a promising new approach and it opens a new perspective in the exploration of IGD.