Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 3, 2025
06:01
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Online Gamers
Published on: November 9, 2019
8.2K
The interplay between time spent gaming and disordered gaming: A large-scale world-wide study
Halley M Pontes1, Bruno Schivinski2, Christopher Kannen3
1Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|February 15, 2022
Summary
Gaming Disorder prevalence differs between WHO and APA frameworks, with the APA framework identifying more cases. Excessive gaming time is linked to disordered gaming, but the exact threshold varies by diagnostic criteria.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Mental Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Gaming Disorder (GD) is recognized by WHO, while Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is tentative by APA.
- Both frameworks address excessive gaming but the problematic threshold remains unclear.
- Further research is needed on how GD and IGD frameworks assess disordered gaming symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between gaming time and disordered gaming.
- To estimate the prevalence of disordered gaming using WHO and APA frameworks.
- To compare diagnostic criteria for disordered gaming.
Main Methods:
- Online survey methodology.
- Cross-sectional study design.
- Large sample of 123,262 gamers from 168 countries.
Main Results:
- Disordered gaming prevalence was 1.96% (WHO) vs. 4.97% (APA).
- Disordered gaming averaged 34.53 hours/week (APA) and 40.13 hours/week (WHO).
- Gaming time associated with disordered gaming varied by diagnostic framework.
Conclusions:
- The link between gaming time and disordered gaming is complex and framework-dependent.
- Diagnostic criteria for disordered gaming require further refinement.
- Prevalence estimates vary significantly based on the adopted diagnostic framework.
