Gaming disorder with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and social anxiety disorder comorbidities: A...

Problematic gaming is common among adolescents in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate the differences in motivational and psychological factors linked to gaming disorder (GD) with either comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or social anxiety disorder (SAD). We evaluated 90 adolescents for clinical diagnosis of GD according to ICD-11 definition, and for ADHD and SAD using a semi-structured diagnostic interview. The clinician scored the GD symptom measure according to symptoms defined in the ICD-11. Adolescent self-report on problematic gaming was also obtained by using Internet GD Scale-9 item shot form (IGDS-9-SF). Additionally, we used validated instruments to investigate motivational and psychological correlates, including motivations to play online games questionnaire-12 (MPOGQ-12), Barratt impulsivity scale-11-short form (BIS-11-SF), regulation of emotions questionnaire, Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSE), self-efficacy questionnaire for children (SEQ-C), and social support appraisals scale. GD with comorbid ADHD was significantly positively correlated with achievement (r = 0.26, P = .01) and immersion (r = 0.25, P = .02) on MPOGQ, and total impulsivity score (r = 0.28, P = .01) on BIS-11-SF. Moreover, GD with comorbid ADHD was significantly negatively correlated with internal functional emotion regulation score on regulation of emotions questionnaire (r = -0.26, P = .01). On the other hand, GD with comorbid SAD was significantly positively correlated with immersion (r = 0.25, P = .02) on MPOGQ, and significantly negatively correlated with total self-esteem score (r = -0.24, P = .02) on RSE scale; academic self-efficacy (r = -0.23, P = .03), social self-efficacy (r = -0.29, P = .01) and emotional self-efficacy (r = -0.23, P = .03) scores on SEQ-C; and parent support score (r = -0.25, P = .02) on social support appraisals scale. Our findings exhibit motivational and psychological differences between ADHD and SAD comorbidities of GD among adolescents. Further studies are needed to explore distinct profiles.