TOPLINE:

Binge gaming, defined as playing video games for more than 5 consecutive hours, affected almost one third of student participants in a new study and was associated with increased symptoms of internet gaming disorder (IGD), depression, and anxiety compared to non-binge gaming.

METHODOLOGY:

• A cross-sectional school-based survey study was conducted in 2022 and included more than 2000 students from five primary and four secondary schools in Hong Kong (boys, n = 1404; girls, n = 1188; mean age for both, 12 years).
• Self-reported measures included the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IGD Symptoms Checklist for Adolescents, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Educational Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21.
• Mental, social, and academic outcomes were analyzed among binge gamers, non-binge gamers, and non-gamers and were adjusted for age and daily gaming time. Subgroup analyses also assessed gender differences.

TAKEAWAY:

• The overall prevalence of binge gaming was 32%, with higher prevalence in boys than in girls (38% vs 24%, respectively; P < .001).
• Among boys, binge gamers were significantly more likely to have symptoms of IGD (adjusted mean difference [aMD], 0.25; P < .001), depression (aMD, 0.19; P < .01), anxiety (aMD, 0.21; P < .001), stress (aMD, 0.16; P < .05), and poor sleep quality (aMD, 0.21; P < .001), as well as lower educational self-efficacy (aMD, -0.11; P < .05), than non-binge gamers.
• Female binge gamers had a significantly higher likelihood of having IGD symptoms (aMD, 0.31; P < .001), depression (aMD, 0.36; P < .001), anxiety (aMD, 0.36; P < .001), stress (aMD, 0.32; P < .001), loneliness (aMD, 0.22; P < .01), and poor sleep quality (aMD, 0.23; P < .01) and a lower likelihood of social support (aMD, -0.19; P < .01) and educational self-efficacy (aMD, -0.15; P < .05) than female non-binge gamers.
• Non-gamer boys had significantly lower levels of stress and loneliness and higher levels of educational self-efficacy than non-binge gamer boys; and non-gamer girls had lower levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness and higher levels of educational self-efficacy than non-binge gamer girls.

IN PRACTICE:

“Binge gaming may act as a behavioral indicator and risk factor for various social, academic, and health problems and preventive effort is warranted. Future interventions should also be gender-specific as our results showed significant gender differences in binge gaming and its correlates,” the investigators wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Nick Tse, PhD, Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong College of Technology, Hong Kong. It was published online on August 13 in PLoS One.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s cross-sectional design prevented the establishment of causal relationships between variables, and the use of a convenience sample in Hong Kong limited the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the measurement of binge gaming relied on a single self-reported question.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund and General Research Fund. The investigators reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.