An Observational Pilot Survey Study to Assess the Level of Online Gaming Addiction in Adults

Introduction

Gaming is becoming one of the major component in the society and is considered to be an indispensable factor. Use of the internet, computers, smartphones and other  electronic devices has excessively increased over recent decades. While the increased use in certain fields such as real-time information exchange is associated with benefits to users, excessive use in other fields such as  gaming may result in health problems. Prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder among the adolescent group is found to be between 1.3% to 19.9%.¹

The gaming addiction issue has spread widely, is becoming uncontrollable and majority of the adolescents’ time is spent engaging in games rather than engaging in the surroundings. Instead of being involved in the actual world, an addicted person devotes bulk of his or her time to gaming (Conrad, 2011). The problem of sport dependency is unfolding to be extensive and uncontrollable.^2,3

Playing is a part of every individual’s childhood. Playing games is a part of curriculum in schools, on competitive platforms, and some play for stress relief. In modern era, use of internet has become a routine part of life. Elderly people are encouraged to utilize internet to be informed of any competitive programmes and for gaining knowledge. Nevertheless, heavy usage can lead to negative consequences. Since ancient times, games have become part of entertainment, competitiveness, or show of power. These days instead of internet, most of the young adults are addicted to games. Most of the children are addicted to certain games like, PUBG, Ludo, Candy Crush, Freefire, etc.

During the lockdown, people were not allowed to venture out and were restricted to home. Hence they found an alternative, in the form of mobile games.⁴ In the modern era, the families are primarily nuclear where either of the parents or both are working, and since the children were not allowed to go out during lockdown, they were given mobile devices. Many children who were addicted to the Blue whale game during those days even committed suicide.

Most of the research on adolescent game playing tended to concentrate more on the negative aspects including immoderate play and addiction, the outcomes of gambling, competitive video games and the scientific and psychosocial consequences.

The present study aimed to assess the gaming addiction among the adults. A survey was conducted to understand the extent of gaming addiction using the GAS (Gaming addiction scale), and also to investigate the type of games preferred. Using this survey, we also aimed to outline the list of online games played by them. 

Aim & Objectives

To assess gaming addiction among young adults (above 16 years) with the list of various online games played.

1. To assess the level of gaming addiction among adults using gaming addiction scale

2. To list various online games played by students

Materials and Methods

The data was collected through an online survey using a questionnaire based on gaming addiction scale.

Study design: Prospective survey study

Type of research: Original research

Sampling technique: Purposive sampling

Inclusion criteria

• Young adults in the age group of 16 years and above

• All participants consenting to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

• Subjects receiving treatment for game addiction.

Duration of study

From March 1st 2022 to 30th November 2022

Data evaluation and statistical tools

Percentages and descriptive statistics

Questionnaire⁵

1. Which gadget do you use for playing game?

2. Which game do you play? Mention the name?

3. In last six months, how often did you play games?

4. Do you think about playing games all day along?

5. Time spent on playing games in a day?

6. Did you spend increasing amount of time on games?

7. Do you play the games to forget about real life situations (eg; stress, anxiety, disappointments, fear etc.,)?

8. Did family or others try to reduce your game use?

9. Do you feel bad when you are unable to play?

10. Do you have fights with others (family/ friends) over your time spent on the games?

11. Have you neglected other important activities (eg; school/ college, work, sports, personal hygiene etc.,) due to playing games?

 12. Have you suffered from any physical symptoms due to playing games?

Results and Discussion

This was an observational study conducted to determine the level of gaming addiction among young adults and to list various online games played by them. A total of 134 responses were considered for the study.

Participants belonging to age group of >16 years were more addicted for the online gaming. The male/female ratio was found to be 52.2/47%, respectively. Gaming addiction scale was used to collect the data, and college students were found to be more addicted to online games.

Various games commonly played are as follows: PUBG, Ludo, Candy Crush, COD, Temple Run in an increasing order. Mobiles were most often used for gaming (93.3%), along with other devices such as computers, tabs, etc.

About 48.5% reported to play games all day while 79.1% played for at least 1-2 hours per day.

About 22.4% participants reported that the time spent on playing increased constantly. Around 12.7% participants reported to be playing games for relief from stress, anxiety, depression or for forgetting their real life situations. About 22.4% participants reported to be suffering from eye pain, eye strain, neck pain and headache as a result of playing games. Study conducted by Sayeed MA et al. in bangaldesh university students reported that most of the students (32%) had headaches and ear discomfort.⁶ Numerous studies have been conducted on gaming addiction in particular areas such as, video games, computer, internet. The present study was undertaken to determine in general the most used gadgets, most played games and most addicted age group using various gadgets.^7,2,8 A study done in Kerala by Shivanand Pawar concluded that the gaming behavior of majority of school and degree students had increased during lockdown.⁹

Conclusion

The outcome of this survey suggest that adults are mostly addicted to online gaming and it affects the individual's day-to-day activities including physical, social and psychological health.

Pros & Cons

It was observed that gaming can help in the development of cognitive skills, but can also make individuals more socially isolated, aggressive and depressed, once gaming becomes uncontrollable and addictive.

Recommendations

More studies are needed to be conducted on a larger sample to determine the impact of online gaming addiction on socio-psychological health.

Limitations

With the scale used in the study, we could analyze if the individual was addicted or not. However, the scale did not facilitate determining the grade or stage of addiction of an individual.

Conflict of Interest

None