Modeling daily sleep-gaming processes in high-risk gamers: A dynamic structural equation approach combining wearable...

Evidence is limited on whether changes in sleep are linked to changes in gaming behavior among high-risk individuals in the short terms. This study examined the dynamic associations between sleep and gaming duration among Chinese university students with high-risk gaming behaviors, and explored the potential mediating role of daily physical activity. 40 participants (92.5% for male; Mean age = 18.43, SD = 1.30) who met criteria for high-risk gaming behavior completed a 28 day daily diary protocol. Using a combination of self report and wearable data, participants reported daily gaming duration and subjective sleep quality, while objective sleep duration and daily step counts were captured via Huawei wearable devices. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to separate within person and between person variance and to estimate lagged day to day effects. The results showed that, across the study period, better subjective sleep quality was associated with longer gaming duration on the following day, whereas objective sleep duration was not associated with next day gaming duration. Neither subjective sleep quality nor objective sleep duration was not associated with subsequent physical activity. In contrast, higher levels of objective physical activity were associated with shorter gaming duration. These findings suggest that sleep quality, rather than sleep duration, is more relevant for understanding gaming behavior among high risk gamers. These findings suggest that sleep-related processes and daily behavioral patterns may be jointly relevant when considering gaming behavior. Interventions or programs targeting sleep in this population may benefit from taking broader behavioral habits into account, including engagement in alternative activities such as physical exercise.