Factors Predicting Internet Gaming Disorder: A Two-Wave Panel Study

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Abstract

The adoption of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the latest edition of the DSM-5 marks an important new shift within research on pathological gaming. The main aim of the current study was to explain the antecedent structure of IGD. In doing so, this study is the first to longitudinally examine the causal relationship between a set of personality and situational factors, and the newly classified IGD. A two-wave panel study was conducted among 643 Dutch adolescent games over the course of six months. Using autoregressive structural equation models, the causal relationship between each identified factor and IGD over time was examined in more detail. The analyses yield valuable insights for the understanding of the pathological involvement with video games among adolescents, in particular with respect to the prevalence, progressiveness and antecedent structure of pathological gaming.

Authors

• Sophie F Waterloo, U of Amsterdam

• Jeroen S Lemmens, U of Amsterdam