Abstract
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been considered a potential behavioral or non-substance addiction that requires further investigation. Recognition of the commonalities between IGD and Substance Use disorders (SUD) would be of great help to better understand the basic mechanisms of addictive behaviors and excessive Internet gaming. However, little research has targeted a straightforward contrast between IGD and SUD on neuropsychological aspects. The present study thus aimed to explore the associations of reward processing and inhibitory control with IGD and nicotine dependence (ND) in young adults. Fifty-eight IGD and 53 ND individuals, as well as 57 age- and gender-matched healthy controls, were assessed with a series of measurements including the Delay-discounting Test (DDT), Probability Discounting Test (PDT), the Stroop Color-Word Task, a revised Go/No Go Task, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Multivariate analysis of variance (mANOVA) models revealed that both IGD and ND groups scored higher than healthy controls on the BIS-11 attentional, motor, and non-planning impulsiveness (Cohen's d = 0.41–1.75). Higher degrees of delay discounting on the DDT were also found in IGD and ND groups compared to healthy controls (Cohen's d = 0.53–0.69). Although IGD group did not differ from healthy controls on the PDT, ND group had a lower degree of probability discounting than healthy controls (Cohen's d = 0.55), suggesting a reduction in risk aversion. Furthermore, ND subjects showed a lower correct accuracy in the incongruent trials of the Stroop task than healthy controls (Cohen's d = 0.61). On the Go/No Go task, both IGD and ND groups had a lower correct accuracy in the No-Go trials than healthy controls (Cohen's d = 1.35–1.50), indicating compromised response inhibition. These findings suggested that IGD was linked to both anomalous reward discounting and dysfunctional inhibitory control, which was comparable with one typical SUD category (i.e., ND). This study might promote a better understanding of the pathogenesis of IGD as a potential addictive disorder similar to SUD.
Highlights
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included as a tentative behavioral or non-substance addiction that warrants further research before it can be accepted as a full disorder in the latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., DSM-5) [1]
The current study contrasted the characteristics of monetary reward discounting, inhibitory control, and trait impulsivity between Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and Nicotine Dependence (ND) individuals, with a well-matched sample of healthy controls as the reference group
Our data demonstrated that both the IGD and ND groups scored higher on the trait impulsivity (i.e., Motor, Attentional, and Non-planning Impulsiveness) and had higher degrees of delay discounting than the healthy controls, while only the ND group showed a lower degree of probability discounting than healthy controls
Summary
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been included as a tentative behavioral or non-substance addiction that warrants further research before it can be accepted as a full disorder in the latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., DSM-5) [1]. IGD was proposed in the list of addictive conditions and was formally recognized as Gaming Disorder in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (i.e., ICD-11) [2,3,4]. Both in the DSM-5 and ICD-11, IGD is characterized by a pattern of persistent and disordered gaming behavior, which leads to significant clinical impairments within a period of at least 12 months [5, 6]. In recent meta-analysis studies, the global prevalence of IGD was reported to be about 3.05% with significant variability [10], ranging from 0.21 to 57.5% in general populations, 3.2– 91.0% in clinical populations, and 50.42–79.25% in populations undergoing intervention (i.e., severe cases) [11]
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