Abstract
Background: This study aimed to explore relationships between impulsivity, interpersonal relationships, depression, and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) symptoms. Methods: A total of 118 young adults participated in this study: 67 IGD patients who met five or more of the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for IGD and 56 healthy controls. We administered questionnaires to assess IGD symptoms (Young’s Internet Addiction Test; Y-IAT), impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale; BIS-11), interpersonal relationship (Relationship Change Scale; RCS), and depression (Beck Depression Inventory; BDI). We used PROCESS macro in SPSS to perform mediation analysis. Results: IGD symptom was positively related to depression and impulsivity, and negatively related to the quality of interpersonal relationships. Mediation analysis revealed full mediation effects of interpersonal relationships and depression on the association between impulsivity and IGD symptoms in the IGD group. Specifically, even after adjusting for gender as a covariate, high impulsivity was associated with greater difficulty with interpersonal relationships; which further affected depression and increased the risk of IGD. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the importance of early intervention in IGD patients, particularly in young adults with high impulsivity. When intervening in adults’ IGD, we should consider not only individual factors (e.g., depression) but also socioenvironmental factors (e.g., interpersonal relationships).
Highlights
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is a kind of behavioral addiction that has been defined as a loss of control, and persistent and recurrent use of internet games leading to significant impairment in psychosocial functioning [1]
A comparison of the demographic and clinical characteristics of the IGD and Healthy controls (HC) groups showed that the percentage of males [x2 (1) = 7.662, p < 0.05], the internet gaming use time on weekdays
Thesethat results showed that interpersonal relationships and depression fully relationship between impulsivity and the findings suggest mediated the relationship between impulsivity and IGD symptoms in IGD group
Summary
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is a kind of behavioral addiction that has been defined as a loss of control, and persistent and recurrent use of internet games leading to significant impairment in psychosocial functioning [1]. This study aimed to explore relationships between impulsivity, interpersonal relationships, depression, and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) symptoms. Methods: A total of 118 young adults participated in this study: 67 IGD patients who met five or more of the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for IGD and 56 healthy controls. Results: IGD symptom was positively related to depression and impulsivity, and negatively related to the quality of interpersonal relationships. Mediation analysis revealed full mediation effects of interpersonal relationships and depression on the association between impulsivity and IGD symptoms in the IGD group. Even after adjusting for gender as a covariate, high impulsivity was associated with greater difficulty with interpersonal relationships; which further affected depression and increased the risk of IGD. When intervening in adults’ IGD, we should consider individual factors (e.g., depression) and socioenvironmental factors (e.g., interpersonal relationships)
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