Compulsive Internet Gaming and Its Relationship with Poor Psychological Well-Being Among Selected Adolescents

Abstract

Over the past few years, empirical studies have indicated that compulsive internet gaming can negatively influence one’s psychological well-being. To date, the World Health Organization recognizes individuals who have internet gaming disorder as having a mental health condition. As current global statistics on internet usage show an increasing number of heavy users among adolescents in India, this study aims to examine the relationship between internet gaming and psychological well-being among this segment of young people deemed by studies to be vulnerable to addiction and are largely exposed to the Internet. A correlation study between internet gaming and psychological well-being among 456 sampled adolescents from India was carried out for this research given no evidence exists in the literature on similar research. The Internet gaming disorder (IGDS9-SF) and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being (PWB) scales were used to gather the needed data for this research. Result of the use of the Pearson correlation coefficient yielded a very strong negative correlation at − .771 between internet gaming disorder and psychological health suggesting the influence of poor psychological well-being to compulsive internet gaming. This study pointing to the emerging issue on IGD as a significant health concern calls for the development of an effective intervention program aimed at improving the psychological well-being of adolescents.