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Alexithymia in gaming addiction and engagement
Lukas Blinka1, Anna Faltýnková1, Karel Rečka1
1Psychology Research Institute, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|March 13, 2024
Summary
Alexithymia, difficulty identifying and describing feelings, strongly predicts gaming addiction. However, it negatively impacts gaming engagement, suggesting distinct pathways for problematic versus non-problematic excessive gaming.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Alexithymia is linked to substance and behavioral addictions.
- Limited research exists on alexithymia's role in gaming addiction.
- No studies have examined its differential impact on gaming engagement versus addiction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between alexithymia and gaming addiction.
- To differentiate the effects of alexithymia on gaming engagement and gaming addiction.
- To explore the specific facets of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, externally oriented thinking) in relation to gaming behaviors.
Main Methods:
- A sample of adult gamers completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Addiction-Engagement Questionnaire, and demographic questions.
- Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.
- The study included measures of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking.
Main Results:
- Difficulty identifying feelings and externally oriented thinking positively predicted gaming addiction.
- Externally oriented thinking negatively predicted gaming engagement, contrasting with its effect on addiction.
- The alexithymia model explained 32.7% of the variance in gaming addiction and 10.4% in gaming engagement.
Conclusions:
- Alexithymia is a significant predictor of gaming addiction.
- Gaming engagement appears distinct from gaming addiction, with opposing associations with alexithymia.
- Findings highlight the need to differentiate problematic from non-problematic excessive gaming due to varying links with affect dysregulation.
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