Prevalence and Assessment of Internet Gaming Disorder in Psychiatric Outpatient Treatment

Abstract

Abstract: Aim: While Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the general population has a prevalence of 0.6-3.5 %, its frequency and relevance among clinical samples remains unclear. The present investigation aims at assessing the prevalence of IGD in an adult sample in a German psychiatric outpatient clinic and to identify potential predictors that could be helpful for screening for IGD. Methods: We performed a naturalistic retrospective study on data collected via a self-report survey including the Ten Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT10). Problematic gaming was defined as either reaching the proposed IGDT10 cut-off for IGD or “gamer at risk” or having self-reported problems and negative consequences related to gaming. Age, gender, comorbid diagnoses and response patterns in the IGDT10 were analyzed. Results: 299 outpatients participated in the survey, with 54 % confirming engagement in gaming. 2.0 % (n=6) of the participants fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for IGD and almost all of these (n=5) gave a self-report of problems related to gaming. 5.0 % of the participants met our wider definition of problematic gaming (n=15; 13 male; mean age= 25.3 years). Conclusion: The prevalence of IGD-affected patients resembled results found in epidemiological studies in the general population. Analyses suggest that for an effective screening assessment, particularly questions regarding subjective impairment related to gaming patterns could be helpful.