Coping, Resilience, and Perceived Stress in Individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder in Taiwan

Pai-Cheng Lin, Ju-Yu Yen, Huang-Chi Lin, Wei-Po Chou, Tai-Ling Liu and Chih-Hung Ko
Additional contact information
Pai-Cheng Lin: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 801, Taiwan
Ju-Yu Yen: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 801, Taiwan
Huang-Chi Lin: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Wei-Po Chou: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan
Tai-Ling Liu: 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, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: Aim: Gaming escapism is an essential factor for developing internet gaming disorder (IGD). We evaluated coping strategies, resilience, stress, and depression in individuals with IGD. Methods: We included 69 participants with IGD and 138 controls (69 regular gamers and other non-gamers) in Taiwan. The self-reported coping strategies, coping stress with gaming, resilience, perceived stress, and depression were assessed. Results: Participants with IGD had higher dysfunctional coping, coping stress by gaming, perceived stress, and depression, as well as lower problem-focused coping and resilience. Regression analysis revealed that coping by gaming was associated with dysfunctional coping mechanisms, particularly venting and self-distraction. Compared with participants with adequate resilience, those with lower resilience had higher perceived stress, depression, and coping by gaming, and lower problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Dysfunctional coping and coping by gaming were associated with perceived stress and depression in both IGD and control groups. Problem-focused coping was negatively associated with perceived stress and depression in controls. Conclusion: Individuals with IGD had higher perceived stress and depression, as they were more likely to cope with stress by dysfunctional coping and gaming and less likely to try problem-focused coping, particularly those with lower resilience. Interventions for IGD should promote problem-focused coping, such as active coping and planning strategies, particularly among those with lower resilience.

Keywords: internet gaming disorder; coping; stress; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1771/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1771/ (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:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1771-:d:497872

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 ().