|
 
 |
| BRIEF COMMUNICATION |
|
| Year : 2019 | Volume
: 35
| Issue : 2 | Page : 135-136 |
|
Internet gaming disorder and psychiatric symptoms in Bengaluru, India: Treatment implication for promotion of user mental health
R Archana1, Manoj Kumar Sharma2, Keshav J Kumar2, Palaniappan Marimuthu3
1 Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
2 Department of Clinical Psychology, (SHUT Clinic)-Service for Healthy Use of Technology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
3 Department of Biostatistics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| Date of Submission | 05-Jun-2018 |
| Date of Decision | 04-Jul-2018 |
| Date of Acceptance | 01-Dec-2018 |
| Date of Web Publication | 26-Jun-2019 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma
Department of Clinical Psychology, (SHUT Clinic)-Service for Healthy Use of Technology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_42_18
Background: Psychological distress has been seen among internet users with gaming. There is a need to evaluate the effect of internet gaming on psychological well-being. The present study assessed the depression, anxiety, and stress among users with internet gaming disorder (IGD). Methodology: Sixty users (58 males and 2 females) in the age group of 16–18 years were screened using IGD test for cases with disordered gaming. They were administered background data sheet as well as depression anxiety stress scale. Majority of them were playing multiplayer online battle arena game and first person shooter game. Results: The pattern of use was from 10 to 14 h a day. About 6.8% individuals had lifetime psychiatric history. There was significant positive relationship between the internet gaming and depression (0.412 at 0.05 level), anxiety (0.408 at 0.001 level), and stress (0.308 at 0.05 level) scale. Conclusion: It also implies the need to evolve intensive intervention program to manage internet gaming as well as other psychosocial dysfunctions.
Keywords: Gaming, intervention, psychological distress
How to cite this article:
Archana R, Sharma MK, Kumar KJ, Marimuthu P. Internet gaming disorder and psychiatric symptoms in Bengaluru, India: Treatment implication for promotion of user mental health. Indian J Soc Psychiatry 2019;35:135-6 |
How to cite this URL:
Archana R, Sharma MK, Kumar KJ, Marimuthu P. Internet gaming disorder and psychiatric symptoms in Bengaluru, India: Treatment implication for promotion of user mental health. Indian J Soc Psychiatry [serial online] 2019 [cited 2022 Jun 30];35:135-6. Available from: https://www.indjsp.org/text.asp?2019/35/2/135/261480 |
| Introduction | |  |
People diagnosed with internet gaming disorder (IGD) have been frequently observed to experience psychiatric symptoms. The amount of time spent playing online games has been seen to be positively correlated with depressive symptoms.[1] The association between IGD and psychiatric symptoms has been demonstrated in recent literature.[2],[3],[4] Lifestyle disturbance and psychiatric distress were present in cases with excessive use of gaming.[5] The excessive use of gaming had been used as a method of coping to existing psychiatric distress.[6] Physical (eye strain)/psychological distress (decrease sleep, irritability, and restlessness) was present as a morbidity - 6.8% with mobile phone addiction; 4.2% with internet use; and 3% with social networking sites among a sample of 2755.[7] Although there is evidence of association of depression and psychiatric distress with IGD in an international context, there is a need to evaluate psychological aspect of internet gaming among Indian sample.
| Methodology | | |
The present study assessed the depression, anxiety, and stress among users with IGD. Sixty internet users in the age group of 16–18 years were screened using IGD test[8] for cases with disordered gaming. In terms of education, individuals having undergraduate education were 25%; individuals who had finished their professional courses were 53.40%; and individuals who had finished their postgraduation were 21.70%. In this population, there were no individuals with history of neurological conditions. The individuals with a psychiatric history were 6.8%. The patients with physical history of asthma/diabetes were 1.7%. About 43.40% got the family history of neurological conditions, psychiatric conditions, and physical conditions. IGD test is a self-administer questionnaire designed to measure the gaming activity of an individual in the past 12 months. IGD-20 consists of 20 items and the respondent indicates on a 5 point Likert scale. It measures the dimensions of salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and relapse. Subjects were taken from Services for Healthy Use of Technology clinic, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Centre of Well Being, BTM layout, Bengaluru and Colleges based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Patients with clinical history of neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders such as affective disorders, mental and behavioral disorders, depression, stress, somatoform disorders, and disorders of adult personality and other medical problems which could interfere in taking assessment or biased the assessments were excluded. Alcohol, smoking, and substance involvement screening test developed by the World Health Organization for screening alcohol, smoking, and other substance use was administered to excluded substance use disorders.[8] Background data sheet and depression anxiety stress scale[9] were administered. The sample had 58 males and 2 females. Majority of them were playing multiplayer online battle arena game and first-person shooter game. The present work got Institute Ethical Approval.
| Results | | |
The pattern of use was from 10 to 14 h day. About 6.8% of individuals had lifetime psychiatric history. About 40% had a family history of neurological condition, psychiatric conditions, and physical conditions. They also reported disturbance in lifestyle in the form of sleep disturbance/irregular eating pattern/decreased involvement in offline activities and decrease communication/interaction with others. They attributed the excessive use to factors such as feeling bored; to feel good and to avoid/escape problems. There were significant positive relationship between the internet gaming and depression (0.412, P < 0.05 level), anxiety (0.408, P < 0.001 level), and stress (0.308, P < 0.05 level) scale.
| Discussion and Conclusion | | |
The present work indicates lifestyle disturbance and association of depression, anxiety, and stress with IGD. Available literature also showed similar trend. About 16% of 274 adolescents were addicted to video games and 54% of them had psychological distress. The psychological distress was measured using general health questionnaire-28. Addiction to video games was strongly associated with psychological distress (OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.80, 9.47).[10] Presence of emotional regulation and family warmth was related to decreased involvement in video gaming.[11] Psychiatric symptoms were both directly and indirectly associated with problematic online gaming. The gaming was also used to avoid everyday problems.[12] IGD has been found to be related to of psychological and health problems, including depression, social anxiety, fatigue, loneliness, negative self-esteem, and impulsivity.[13],[14],[15] The present work has limitation in terms of small sample size and usage pattern not seen in relation to gender. It has implication of national surveillance for the gaming usage pattern and its association with psychiatric symptoms; type of game played; amount of time spent and reciprocal relationship between gaming and psychological distress. The users have to be evaluated for other behavioral and drug use pattern. It also implies the need to evolve intensive intervention program to manage internet gaming as well as other psychosocial dysfunctions.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | | |
| 1. | Hellström C, Nilsson KW, Leppert J, Šslund C. Effects of adolescent online gaming time and motives on depressive, musculoskeletal, and psychosomatic symptoms. Ups J Med Sci 2015;120:263-75.  |
| 2. | Yeh YC, Wang PW, Huang MF, Lin PC, Chen CS, Ko CH, et al. The procrastination of internet gaming disorder in young adults: The clinical severity. Psychiatry Res 2017;254:258-62. |
| 3. | Yen JY, Liu TL, Wang PW, Chen CS, Yen CF, Ko CH, et al. Association between internet gaming disorder and adult attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and their correlates: Impulsivity and hostility. Addict Behav 2017;64:308-13. |
| 4. | Barthakur M, Sharma MK. Problematic internet use and mental health problems. Asian J Psychiatr 2012;5:279-80. |
| 5. | Sharma MK, Mahindru P. Video game addiction: Impact on teenagers' lifestyle. Natl Med J India 2015;28:282-3. |
| 6. | Ciarrochi J, Parker P, Sahdra B, Marshall S, Jackson C, Gloster AT, et al. The development of compulsive internet use and mental health: A four-year study of adolescence. Dev Psychol 2016;52:272-83. |
| 7. | Sharma MK, Rao GN, Benegal V, Thennarasu K, Thomas D. Technology addiction survey: An emerging concern for raising awareness and promotion of healthy use of technology. Indian J Psychol Med 2017;39:495-9. [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
| 8. | Pontes HM, Király O, Demetrovics Z, Griffiths MD. The conceptualisation and measurement of DSM-5 internet gaming disorder: The development of the IGD-20 test. PLoS One 2014;9:e110137. |
| 9. | Lovibond SH, Lovibond PF. Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. 2 nd ed. Sydney: Psychology Foundation; 1995. |
| 10. | Saquib N, Saquib J, Wahid A, Ahmed AA, Dhuhayr HE, Zaghloul MS, et al. Video game addiction and psychological distress among expatriate adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Addict Behav Rep 2017;6:112-7. |
| 11. | Liau AK, Neo EC, Gentile DA, Choo H, Sim T, Li D, et al. Impulsivity, self-regulation, and pathological video gaming among youth: Testing a mediation model. Asia Pac J Public Health 2015;27:NP2188-96. |
| 12. | Ballabio M, Griffith D, Urban R, Quartiroli A, Demetrovice Z, Kirlay O. Do gaming motive mediate between psychiatric symptoms and problematic gambling: An empirical study. Addict Res Theor 2017;25:397-408. |
| 13. | Männikkö N, Billieux J, Kääriäinen M. Problematic digital gaming behavior and its relation to the psychological, social and physical health of Finnish adolescents and young adults. J Behav Addict 2015;4:281-8. |
| 14. | Brunborg GS, Mentzoni RA, Frøyland LR. Is video gaming, or video game addiction, associated with depression, academic achievement, heavy episodic drinking, or conduct problems? J Behav Addict 2014;3:27-32. |
| 15. | Van Rooij AJ, Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD, Shorter GW, Schoenmakers MT, Van de Mheen D, et al. The (co-)occurrence of problematic video gaming, substance use, and psychosocial problems in adolescents. J Behav Addict 2014;3:157-65. |
|
Search Pubmed for