Emotional Regulation in Young Adults with Internet Gaming Disorder

Ju-Yu Yen, Yi-Chun Yeh, Peng-Wei Wang, Tai-Ling Liu, Yun-Yu Chen and Chih-Hung Ko
Additional contact information
Ju-Yu Yen: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Yi-Chun Yeh: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Peng-Wei Wang: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Tai-Ling Liu: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Yun-Yu Chen: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Chih-Hung Ko: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: People diagnosed with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have been frequently reported to experience depression, anxiety, and hostility. Emotional regulation contributes to these mood symptoms. This study evaluated emotional regulation in subjects with IGD and examined relationships between emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility in young adults with IGD. We recruited 87 people with IGD and a control group of 87 people without a history of IGD. All participants underwent a diagnostic interview based on the IGD criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and they completed a questionnaire on emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility. We found that subjects with IGD were less likely to practice cognitive reappraisal and were more likely to suppress their emotions. Linear regression revealed the higher cognitive reappraisal and lower expressive suppression associated with depression, anxiety, and hostility among subjects with IGD. The emotional regulation strategies that characterize those with IGD could be contributing factors to the depression and hostility tendencies of these people. When treating patients with IGD, in addition to providing appropriate interventions to relieve depression and hostility, practitioners should effectively assess emotional regulation strategies and provide emotional regulation therapy to prevent a vicious cycle of negative emotions.

Keywords: Internet gaming disorder; IGD; emotional regulation; cognitive reappraisal; suppression; depression; hostility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/30/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/30/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2017:i:1:p:30-:d:124346

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().