Abstract
Gaming has increasingly become a part of life in Africa. Currently, no data on gaming disorders or their association with mental disorders exist for African countries. This study for the first time investigated (1) the prevalence of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, anxiety and depression among African gamers, (2) the association between these conditions and gamer types (i.e., non-problematic, engaged, problematic and addicted) and (3) the predictive power of socioeconomic markers (education, age, income, marital status, employment status) on these conditions. 10,566 people from 2 low- (Rwanda, Gabon), 6 lower-middle (Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Ivory Coast) and 1 upper-middle income countries (South Africa) completed online questionnaires containing validated measures on insomnia, sleepiness, anxiety, depression and gaming addiction. Results showed our sample of gamers (24 ± 2.8 yrs; 88.64% Male), 30% were addicted, 30% were problematic, 8% were engaged and 32% were non-problematic. Gaming significantly contributed to 86.9% of the variance in insomnia, 82.7% of the variance in daytime sleepiness and 82.3% of the variance in anxiety [p < 0.001]. This study establishes the prevalence of gaming, mood and sleep disorders, in a large African sample. Our results corroborate previous studies, reporting problematic and addicted gamers show poorer health outcomes compared with non-problematic gamers.
Highlights
Gaming has increasingly become a part of life in Africa
The results reveal that none of the gaming categories in the present paper were associated with depression; even if problematic gamers (PG) and addicted gamers (AG) still have higher mean scores than non-problematic gamer (NG) and engaged gamer (EG) (Fig. 1D)
The aim of this research was to classify the different types of gamers that exist among African university students at universities where gaming devices are readily available and document the presence of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, anxiety and depression in African gamers
Summary
Www.nature.com/scientificreports when NG are compared with EG These conditions are more prevalent for problematic gamers (PG) and addicted gamers (AG) with respectively 14 ± 1 and 18 ± 1 for insomnia, 11 ± 0.5 and 14 ± 0.75 for excessive daytime sleepiness, and 9 ± 1 and 11.5 ± 0.5 for anxiety. The aim of this research was to classify the different types of gamers that exist among African university students at universities where gaming devices are readily available and document the presence of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, anxiety and depression in African gamers.
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