The Predictive Value of Emotional Intelligence for Internet Gaming Disorder: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study

Della L. Dang, Meng Xuan Zhang, Karlas Kin-hei Leong and Anise M. S. Wu
Additional contact information
Della L. Dang: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, China
Meng Xuan Zhang: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, China
Karlas Kin-hei Leong: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, China
Anise M. S. Wu: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: This one-year longitudinal study examined trait emotional intelligence as a predictor of Internet gaming disorder (IGD). To date, only cross-sectional research has been conducted to test the protective effects of emotional intelligence against IGD tendency. Based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, this study aimed to address the research gap by examining not only the direct effects of trait emotional intelligence, but also its indirect effects (via depressive symptoms and coping flexibility) on IGD, with both a cross-sectional and longitudinal design. The participants were 282 Chinese university students (mean age = 20.47; 39.4% males) who voluntarily completed an anonymous questionnaire at both baseline (W1) and one-year follow-up (W2). Path analysis results revealed that trait emotional intelligence had a protective but indirect effect on IGD tendency in both our cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Depression was found to have a significant, full mediating effect on the relationship between: (i) trait emotional intelligence and IGD tendency (W2) and (ii) coping flexibility and IGD tendency (W2), after adjusting for IGD tendency at the baseline (W1). Gender invariance of the path coefficient was also observed in the prospective model. This study provided longitudinal evidence to support the I-PACE model. Interventions should address both IGD and depressive symptoms, and school-based workshops to increase emotional intelligence and coping flexibility are also recommended.

Keywords: internet gaming disorder; interaction of person-affect-cognition-execution model; trait emotional intelligence; depression; coping flexibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/15/2762/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/15/2762/ (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:16:y:2019:i:15:p:2762-:d:254212

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 ().