Correlates of Borderline Personality Disorder Traits and Internet Gaming Disorder in College Students

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently co-occurs with addictive behaviors. One such behavior that is increasing, especially among college students, is pathological gaming. However, to the best of our knowledge, no prior research has been conducted on BPD in relation to internet gaming disorder (IGD), despite the two sharing correlates such as negative emotionality and impulsivity. We therefore explored the relationship between BPD traits and IGD.

We sampled a large (N = 407) sample of college students using two non-overlapping measures of BPD traits. We additionally examined the unique relationship of BPD traits with specific motivations for internet game playing and the perceived positive and negative impacts of internet games.

On a bivariate level, BPD traits were associated with IGD, motivations to play internet games, especially for reasons of escapism or coping, and self-reported negative impact of gaming on participants' lives. However, the associations with IGD for escapism/coping motivations did not remain after controlling for demographics, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Instead, only depression uniquely predicted IGD and various motives for internet gaming.

The results highlight the robust predictive power of negative effect on IGD, and it is suggested that future studies may benefit from continuing to focus on this relationship.