Video Game Addiction among Young Adults in Norway: Prevalence and Health.
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The present study sought to investigate video game addiction among Norwegian adults aged 16-40 years. Video game addiction has not yet been classified as a disorder in the DSM or ICD systems, and its existence is debated in the field. A central issue in this study was whether or not excessive video game playing should be considered an addiction. It is concluded that video game addiction does appear to be a valid term, which can be applied to a small subgroup of gamers. Prevalence is estimated to range from 0.6% to 4.0% of young adults, depending on whether a polythetic, monothetic or core criteria approach to defining addiction is adopted. Compared to respondents who did not engage in video game play, addicted gamers were found to score lower on a measure of life satisfaction, and higher on measures of anxiety, depression and symptoms of insomnia. However, the levels were all within the non-pathological range. Also, addicted gamers were found to spend significantly more time playing video games than non-addicted gamers, but contrary to what was expected, addicted gamers did not seem to prefer MMORPGs over other games.
Author: Anette Addington Arnesen
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1534377796