Abstract
BackgroundOnline gaming has become increasingly popular. However, this has led to concerns that these games might induce serious problems and/or lead to dependence for a minority of players. Aim: The aim of this study was to uncover and operationalize the components of problematic online gaming.MethodsA total of 3415 gamers (90% males; mean age 21 years), were recruited through online gaming websites. A combined method of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied. Latent profile analysis was applied to identify persons at-risk.ResultsEFA revealed a six-factor structure in the background of problematic online gaming that was also confirmed by a CFA. For the assessment of the identified six dimensions – preoccupation, overuse, immersion, social isolation, interpersonal conflicts, and withdrawal – the 18-item Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ) proved to be exceedingly suitable. Based on the latent profile analysis, 3.4% of the gamer population was considered to be at high risk, while another 15.2% was moderately problematic.ConclusionsThe POGQ seems to be an adequate measurement tool for the differentiated assessment of gaming related problems on six subscales.
Highlights
The popularity of online gaming has spread at an increasing rate since its introduction [1]
The phenomenon is referred to as addiction [11,12], problematic use [13,14], excessive game use [10] or engagement [15]. All these authors – irrespective of the name – agree in that there exists an excessive form of online gaming that shows a problematic pattern and that is related to behavioral addictions [16,17]
The goodness of fit was assessed by the root-meansquare error of approximation (RMSEA) and its 90% confidence interval, and p value smaller than 0.05 for test of close fit (Cfit..05)
Summary
The popularity of online gaming has spread at an increasing rate since its introduction [1]. Given the increasing number of studies on the phenomenon of problematic gaming [2,3,4,5,6], there have been growing concerns about negative consequences for a small minority. The present authors propose to use the name problematic gaming This term describes both the quintessence of the phenomenon (i.e., that the behavior is excessive but gaming-related problems are expected to be present), while avoiding the notion of dependency (as the exact definition and diagnostic criteria have not yet been clarified or agreed). Aim: The aim of this study was to uncover and operationalize the components of problematic online gaming
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