Relationship of Internet Gaming Disorder with Psychopathology and Social Adaptation in Italian Young Adults

Concetta De Pasquale, Federica Sciacca, Valentina Martinelli, Matteo Chiappedi, Carmela Dinaro and Zira Hichy
Additional contact information
Concetta De Pasquale: Department of Education Science, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy
Federica Sciacca: Department of Education Science, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy
Valentina Martinelli: Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Matteo Chiappedi: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Carmela Dinaro: Drug Addiction Health Service, SER.T—ASP3, 95024 Catania (CT), Italy
Zira Hichy: Department of Education Science, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-8

Abstract: Internet addiction is currently considered a worldwide problem, with a possible impact on mental health. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of internet gaming disorder (IGD) among Italian young adults and to explore its association with psychopathological symptoms. Our sample included 566 young adults (324 males/242 females; age: 22.74 ± 4.83 years). Participants were asked to state their favorite games and complete the following questionnaires: the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale Short Form (IGD9-SF); the APA symptom checklist, based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for IGD; the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90 R); and the Social Adaptation Self Evaluation Scale (SASS). Use of video games was common among study participants (95% of the sample). Thirty subjects (5.3% of the sample) matched criteria for a clinical diagnosis of IGD. Data showed a positive correlation between higher use of online games and higher levels of depression (r = 0.501), anxiety (r = 0.361) and psychoticism (r = 0.431), and lower family and extra-family relationships (r = −0.383). At linear regression analysis, somatization ( p = 0.002), depression ( p = 0.001) and sleep disturbances ( p = 0.003) were predictors of IGD diagnosis. IGD was significantly associated to mental health distress. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the problematic consequences of online gaming.

Keywords: Internet gaming disorder; Internet addiction; video game addiction; video game usage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8201/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8201/ (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:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8201-:d:440917

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 ().