Association of Game Use With Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Nationwide Korean Study

The aim of this article is to examine the correlation between social isolation, loneliness, and the use of online games. Conflicting conclusions have been drawn in previous studies on this topic due to small sample sizes and the confounding effects of psychiatric disorders. To address these limitations, the authors conducted a nationwide study that gives consideration to sociodemographic variables and psychiatric disorders.

A total of 5,511 Koreans responded to the Loneliness and Social Isolation Scale-6, Game Overuse Screening Questionnaire, and Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview between January 2021 and March 2021. Participants were classified as non-gamer, low-risk gamer, and high-risk gamer according to their game usage. Multivariate linear regression was performed to evaluate the association of game usage with loneliness and social isolation after propensity matching controlling for sociodemographic data and presence of psychiatric disorders.

Low-risk gamers reported significantly lower loneliness scores (0.53±1.02) compared to other gaming groups (non-risk: 0.94±1.44, high-risk: 1.02±1.64). Among male participants, non-risk gamers (2.49±1.51) showed lower social network scores than low-risk gamers (2.10±1.11) and high-risk gamers (2.09±1.31). Loneliness (p=0.001) was more strongly correlated with game usage than social support (p=0.839) or network (p=0.055). The relationship between loneliness and game usage was significantly stronger in non-risk (B=0.41) and high-risk (B=0.44) gamers than in low-risk gamers.

Increased use of game does not show a linear relationship with loneliness and isolation when correcting for confounding factors including psychiatric disease. Rather, low-risk game use was associated with lower scores for loneliness and isolation. Further studies exploring other factors that affect gaming overuse, loneliness and social isolation are needed.