Abstract
Both Internet and offline video gaming have become a normal aspect of child development, with estimates of children playing video games ranging from 90% to 97%. Research on problematic video gaming (PVG) has grown substantially in the last decade. Much of that research has focused on community samples, while research on clinically referred children and youth is lacking. The present study includes 5820 clinically referred children and youth across 44 mental health agencies, assessed using the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health Assessment. Logistic regression analyses revealed that older age, male sex, extreme shyness, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and poor relational strengths are all significant predictors of problematic video gaming (PVG). Further analyses suggested that, out of the internalizing symptoms, anhedonia was predictive of PVG in both males and females, but depressive symptoms and anxiety were not predictive of PVG when controlling for other variables in the model. Moreover, proactive aggression and extreme shyness were predictive of PVG in males, but not in females. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Highlights
With more than 2 billion people accessing the interactive web worldwide, the popularity of Internet and offline gaming is becoming a global phenomenon [1,2,3]
With the majority of literature examining video gaming in community samples and college students, this study uniquely contributes to the literature by examining problematic video gaming in children/youth referred for mental health treatment
In this large sample of clinically referred children/youth collected across 44 mental health agencies, older age, male sex, the presence of anhedonia, externalizing symptoms, extreme shyness, and poor relational strengths are significantly associated with problematic video gaming
Summary
With more than 2 billion people accessing the interactive web worldwide, the popularity of Internet and offline gaming is becoming a global phenomenon [1,2,3]. Video gaming has become a common experience in childhood, with 90% to 97% of children reporting that they play video games [1]. In Canadian youth surveyed in Ontario, only 13.9% reported that they do not play video games [4]. Video gaming can offer cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social benefits [5,6] and even enhance creativity amongst children and youth [7]. There is growing concern with respect to problematic gaming in a minority of youth who suffer from social isolation and avoidance of daily activities [8]. Excessive gaming can lead to impairment of daily functioning, loss of control, and emotional distress in a minority of adolescents and young adults [8]
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