Associations Between Parental Gaming Behaviors and Conversion From Internet Gaming Disorder Noncases to Cases Among...

Parental factors are known determinants of internet gaming disorder (IGD) among adolescents. However, the associations between gaming-specific parental factors (eg, parental gaming frequency and parental invitations for cogaming) and IGD have been less investigated, and relevant longitudinal evidence is lacking to inform effective IGD interventions.

This study aimed to investigate (1) the prevalence of IGD conversion (from a noncase at baseline to a case at follow-up) and (2) the prospective associations between two parental gaming behaviors and IGD conversion as well as their mediation mechanisms via parental supportive attitude toward adolescents' gaming behaviors and behavioral intention of increasing gaming time.

A 12-month prospective longitudinal study, with the baseline survey in December 2018 (T1) and the follow-up survey in December 2019 (T2), was conducted among students from 6 convenience-selection junior middle schools in Chengdu and Guangzhou, China. All grade 7 and 8 students of these schools were invited for participation; students self-administered the structured questionnaire on paper and pencil, in classroom settings, and in the absence of schoolteachers. The 9-item DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms Checklist was used to assess IGD (Cronbach α=0.73). Those with IGD at T1 were excluded, and the final sample size was 2172 (mean age 12.56, SD 0.02, 95% CI 12.52-12.60 years; n=1102, 50.7%, 95% CI 48.7%-52.8% female). The prevalence of IGD conversion was 5.2% (113/2172; 95% CI 4.4%-6.1%).

Adjusted for background factors and respective mediator and outcome scores at T1, two path analysis models showed satisfactory model fit indices (ie, root mean square error approximation=0.02 and 0.03, comparative fit index=0.97 for both models, and standardized root mean square residual=0.02 for both models). The prospective associations between perceived parental gaming frequency and perceived parental invitations for cogaming and IGD conversion were significantly and fully mediated by the 1-mediator indirect path via parental supportive attitude (β=0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04 and β=0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04) and the 2-mediator indirect path first via parental supportive attitude and then via behavioral intention of increasing gaming time (β=0.006, 95% CI 0.002-0.009 and β=0.005, 95% CI 0.001-0.009) but not the 1-mediator indirect path via the behavioral intention (β=0.01, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.03 and β=0.01, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.03), respectively.

This longitudinal study revealed the prospective associations between 2 parental gaming behaviors and adolescent IGD conversion, as well as the mediation mechanisms, addressing inconsistencies in previous cross-sectional studies and filling in the knowledge gap in longitudinal studies that overlooked parental gaming behaviors. It suggests that parental gaming behaviors may form important family environments shaping adolescents' perceptions and behaviors related to internet gaming. Family-based prevention and intervention programs on IGD conversion may hence take into account these findings.