Abstract
PurposeThis study aimed to develop the Thai gaming disorder scale (T-GDS) in children and adolescents to serve medical staff and investigate the effectiveness of the scale.Design/methodology/approachThis is a research and development study. In total, 217 participants were children and adolescents between 8–18 years, then classified into four groups according to Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). The T-GDS was developed; its content validity was then investigated by three experts. Mock assessment was conducted on 15 individuals replicating the actual sample group before the assessment was tested on the sample group by two medical staff. The quality of the scale is assessed through reliability, validity and cut-off point analysis.FindingsExploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted four components with 18 items meeting the criteria and have Cronbach's alpha of 0.95. The analysis of ROC curve, to determine the cut-off point, associated the mild game addiction group with T-GDS score = 14; moderate group score = 28; and severe group score = 42.Research limitations/implicationsInvestigation of cut-off point by practitioners is vital to compare whether it aligns with the point determined by doctors in game addiction diagnosis. Future research should select critical item in order to reduce the number of questions and construct validity should be examined using confirmatory factor analysis.Originality/valueThis paper provides a comprehensive insight regarding severity of game addiction based on related criteria. As a result, treatment appropriate for each type of severity could be enhanced.
Highlights
Game addiction is recognized as a major problem leading to a condition known as gaming disorder, a psychological condition caused by gaming addiction
This study aimed to develop a Thai gaming disorder scale (T-GDS) for medical staff to test children and adolescents that complies with the diagnostic criteria; tests the reliability and validity and defines the cut-off point for categorizing the severity of game addiction into three levels
The results of the study signify the reliability of T-GDS in children and adolescents since it had been developed from the IGD-20 Test [8] which aligns with criteria from DSM-5 from which adaptations and translations were made
Summary
Game addiction is recognized as a major problem leading to a condition known as gaming disorder, a psychological condition caused by gaming addiction. In 2018, gaming disorder or gaming addiction was included in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) by the World Health Organization under the chapter on mental disorder in the section of substance addiction and behavioral addiction and highlighted the common brain activities during gaming disorder and substance use disorder [1]. There are approximately 2.2 billion gamers around the world, 3–4 percent, or an estimated 10 million of whom are game addicts. This figure is expected to rise in the future with children and teens being the most vulnerable to game addiction [2]. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
