Background and aims
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is included as a condition for further study in Section 3 of the DSM‐5. Nine criteria were proposed with a threshold of five or more criteria ...recommended for diagnosis. The aims of this study were to assess how the specific criteria contribute to diagnosis and to estimate prevalence rates of IGD based on DSM‐5 recommendations.
Design
Large‐scale, state‐representative school survey using a standardized questionnaire.
Setting
Germany (Lower Saxony).
Participants
A total of 11 003 ninth‐graders aged 13–18 years (mean = 14.88, 51.09% male).
Measurements
IGD was assessed with a DSM‐5 adapted version of the Video Game Dependency Scale that covered all nine criteria of IGD.
Findings
In total, 1.16% 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.96, 1.36 of respondents were classified with IGD according to DSM‐5 recommendations. IGD students played games for longer periods, skipped school more often, had lower grades in school, reported more sleep problems and more often endorsed feeling ‘addicted to gaming’ than their non‐IGD counterparts. The most frequently reported DSM‐5 criteria overall were ‘escape adverse moods’ (5.30%) and ‘preoccupation’ (3.91%), but endorsement of these criteria rarely related to IGD diagnosis. Conditional inference trees showed that the criteria ‘give up other activities’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘withdrawal’ were of key importance for identifying IGD as defined by DSM‐5.
Conclusions
Based on a state‐wide representative school survey in Germany, endorsement of five or more criteria of DSM‐5 internet gaming disorder (IGD) occurred in 1.16% of the students, and these students evidence greater impairment compared with non‐IGD students. Symptoms related to ‘give up other activities’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘withdrawal’ are most relevant for IGD diagnosis in this age group.
Aims
For the first time, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM‐5) introduces non‐substance addictions as psychiatric diagnoses. The aims of this paper are to (i) present the ...main controversies surrounding the decision to include internet gaming disorder, but not internet addiction more globally, as a non‐substance addiction in the research appendix of the DSM‐5, and (ii) discuss the meaning behind the DSM‐5 criteria for internet gaming disorder. The paper also proposes a common method for assessing internet gaming disorder. Although the need for common diagnostic criteria is not debated, the existence of multiple instruments reflect the divergence of opinions in the field regarding how best to diagnose this condition.
Methods
We convened international experts from European, North and South American, Asian and Australasian countries to discuss and achieve consensus about assessing internet gaming disorder as defined within DSM‐5.
Results
We describe the intended meaning behind each of the nine DSM‐5 criteria for internet gaming disorder and present a single item that best reflects each criterion, translated into the 10 main languages of countries in which research on this condition has been conducted.
Conclusions
Using results from this cross‐cultural collaboration, we outline important research directions for understanding and assessing internet gaming disorder. As this field moves forward, it is critical that researchers and clinicians around the world begin to apply a common methodology; this report is the first to achieve an international consensus related to the assessment of internet gaming disorder.
In this article, results of a German nationwide survey (KFN schools survey 2007/2008) are presented. The controlled sample of 44,610 male and female ninth-graders was carried out in 2007 and 2008 by ...the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN). According to a newly developed screening instrument (KFN-CSAS-II), which was presented to every third juvenile participant (N = 15,168), 3% of the male and 0.3% of the female students are diagnosed as dependent on video games. The data indicate a clear dividing line between extensive gaming and video game dependency (VGD) as a clinically relevant phenomenon. VGD is accompanied by increased levels of psychological and social stress in the form of lower school achievement, increased truancy, reduced sleep time, limited leisure activities, and increased thoughts of committing suicide. In addition, it becomes evident that personal risk factors are crucial for VGD. The findings indicate the necessity of additional research as well as the respective measures in the field of health care policies.
Internet Gaming Disorder in the DSM-5 Petry, Nancy M.; Rehbein, Florian; Ko, Chih-Hung ...
Current psychiatry reports,
09/2015, Volume:
17, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The fifth revision of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-5) includes in its research appendix a potential new diagnosis—Internet gaming disorder. This article outlines the ...debate surrounding non-substance addictions and the rationale for including this condition in the “Conditions for Further Study” chapter in DSM-5 Section III. It also describes the diagnostic criteria that DSM-5 recommends and methods to assess Internet gaming disorder. The paper details international research related to prevalence rates, demographic, psychiatric, and neurobiological risk factors, the natural course of the condition, and promising treatment approaches. The paper concludes by describing important issues for research to address prior to official recognition of this condition as a mental disorder.
The proposed introduction of gaming disorder (GD) in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has led to a lively ...debate over the past year. Besides the broad support for the decision in the academic press, a recent publication by van Rooij et al. (2018) repeated the criticism raised against the inclusion of GD in ICD-11 by Aarseth et al. (2017). We argue that this group of researchers fails to recognize the clinical and public health considerations, which support the WHO perspective. It is important to recognize a range of biases that may influence this debate; in particular, the gaming industry may wish to diminish its responsibility by claiming that GD is not a public health problem, a position which maybe supported by arguments from scholars based in media psychology, computer games research, communication science, and related disciplines. However, just as with any other disease or disorder in the ICD-11, the decision whether or not to include GD is based on clinical evidence and public health needs. Therefore, we reiterate our conclusion that including GD reflects the essence of the ICD and will facilitate treatment and prevention for those who need it.
Androgen-dependent signaling regulates the growth of the fingers on the human hand during embryogenesis. A higher androgen load results in lower 2D:4D (second digit to fourth digit) ratio values. ...Prenatal androgen exposure also impacts brain development. 2D:4D values are usually lower in males and are viewed as a proxy of male brain organization. Here, we quantified video gaming behavior in young males. We found lower mean 2D:4D values in subjects who were classified according to the CSAS-II as having at-risk/addicted behavior (n = 27) compared with individuals with unproblematic video gaming behavior (n = 27). Thus, prenatal androgen exposure and a hyper-male brain organization, as represented by low 2D:4D values, are associated with problematic video gaming behavior. These results may be used to improve the diagnosis, prediction, and prevention of video game addiction.
In recent years, a variety of epidemiological studies have provided empirical
data on the prevalence of video game addiction (GA) in different age groups.
However, few studies investigated the causes ...of GA and could explain why video
game playing as a widespread phenomenon leads to a comparatively small
percentage of addicted players. Additionally, the existing longitudinal studies
mainly consider psychological trait variables and neglect the possible
explanatory value of predictors in socialization regarding media availability,
media use, and family and everyday school life. In this paper, the results of a
two-wave longitudinal study comprising a sample of students from Grades 4 to 9
(
N
= 406) are presented. The data show that 15-year-old
video game addicts had already exhibited a number of specific risk factors at
the age of 10. Students from single-parent families seem to be particularly at
risk, as are students with low experienced school well-being and with a weaker
social integration in class. The data also indicate that problematic use of
video games in childhood increases the risk of GA in adolescence. Male students
are especially vulnerable for developing GA. The results of this study are an
important contribution to understanding risk factors for GA in adolescents,
thereby laying the groundwork for effective prevention measures.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ
The aim of this study was to thoroughly investigate the link between violent media consumption and aggressive behavior. Using a large longitudinal student sample, the role of empathy as a possible ...mediator of this relationship was of special interest. Data were drawn from wave three to five of the Berlin Longitudinal Study Media, a four-year longitudinal control group study with 1207 school children. Participants completed measures of media usage (violent content of TV and computer games), aggressive behavior perpetration, and empathy. The average age of participants was 10.4 years at Time 1 and 12.4 years at Time 3. Half of the study sample was male (50%). Trivariate structural equation modeling using three measurement times were conducted for assessing the role of empathy as a mediator of the longitudinal relationship between the usage of violent media content and aggressive behavior. For male students empathic skills were shown to unfold a key mediating role between problematic media usage and aggressive behavior.
Prior studies observed involvement with video games to vary between different sociodemographic strata with considerable higher gaming time in males compared to females. However, empirical evidence ...explaining the gender gap in gaming time is still scarce. The present study aims to evaluate if the higher gaming time can be attributed to gender specific game genre preferences.
A nationwide representative survey comprising 3073 participants aged 16–93 years (M = 49.1; SD = 18.2) was conducted. Video game use and genre preferences were assessed via a written questionnaire. OLS regression and subsequent mediation analyses were used to determine significant predictors of gaming time and to evaluate the contribution of genre preferences.
Higher age, high education and employment predicted lower gaming time whereas male gender and the preference of certain game genres predicted higher gaming time. Mediation analyses revealed that the higher gaming time of males is fully mediated by the higher preference of role-playing and shooter games among this gender group.
The higher gaming time of men is fully accounted for by the male specific preference for certain game genres. Future research should address the functional connection between genre preferences and gaming behavior in further detail.
•Predictors of video gaming are evaluated in a representative sample of German adults.•Lower gaming is predicted by higher age, high education and employment.•Higher gaming is predicted by male gender and preference of certain video game genres.•Higher gaming in males is fully mediated by gender specific game genre preferences.
Abstract Objectives Development of a brief instrument (F-SozU K-6) for the measurement of perceived social support in epidemiologic contexts by shortening a well-established German questionnaire ...(F-SozU K-14). Study Design and Setting The development of the F-SozU K-6 consisted of two phases; phase 1: the F-SozU K-14 was presented to a general population sample representative for the Federal Republic of Germany ( N = 2,007; age: 14–92 years). Six items for the short form were selected based on the maximization of coefficient alpha. Phase 2: the new short form (F-SozU K-6) was evaluated and standardized in an independent second population survey ( N = 2,508, age: 14–92 years). Results The F-SozU K-6 showed very good reliability and excellent model fit indices for the one-dimensional factorial structure of the scale. Furthermore, strict measurement invariance was detected allowing unbiased comparison of means and correlation coefficients and path coefficients between both sexes across the full lifespan from adolescence (14–92 years). Well-established associations of perceived social support with depression and somatic symptoms could be replicated using the short form. Conclusion The F-SozU K-6 presents a reliable, valid, and economical instrument to assess perceived social support and can thus be effectively applied within the frameworks of clinical epidemiologic studies or related areas.
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