Antecedents and consequences of game addiction

Abstract

Antecedents and consequences of game addiction are investigated. Correlation study method is utilized; structural equation modeling is applied to analyze the data. There are eleven hypotheses generated for the model. The data is collected via numerous instruments proven as reliable and valid by the previous studies. There are 159 undergraduate students as participants of the study. Antecedent variables are socio-economic status (SES), computer-ownership, gender, smoking, online and computer gaming, mothers' employment and education level. Consequence variables are grade point average, self-esteem, and self-confidence. The results indicates that socio-economic status, smoking, online gaming, computer gaming, and mother employment status increased game addiction; whereas, gender (female) and mother education level decreased game addiction. SES, gender, online and computer gaming affect game addiction significantly; smoking, mothers’ employment status and education level do not have a significant impact. For the consequences, game addiction decreases significantly GPA and Self-Esteem; it does not influence significantly in self-confidence. Parents and educational institutions may be illuminated about prevention or monitoring of excessive online or computer game playing. Further research studies and implications are presented and discussed.