Objectives:
To estimate the
prevalence of
internet gaming disorder (
IGD) and associated
risk factors in a sample of
secondary and postsecondary
students from a public federal institution of
higher education (Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia) in Southern
Brazil.
Methods:
The study included a sociodemographic
questionnaire, the Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI), Self-Report
Questionnaire (SRQ-20), Pittsburgh
Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-BR), the Mini-
Social Phobia Inventory (Mini-SPIN), and the Game Addiction Scale (GAS). Finally,
IGD was measured with the Brazilian version of the
Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Form (IGDS9-SF), which has been psychometrically validated in this
population.
Results:
Overall, 38.2% (n=212) of the sample exhibited
IGD symptoms, with 18.2% (n=101) being classed as at-
risk gamers.
Regression analysis found
IGD to be associated with
male gender, severe
depressive symptoms, poor
sleep quality, increased
time spent gaming, and total free
time spent gaming (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
The
prevalence of
IGD in this sample was relatively high, and associated
risk factors found were
similar to those previously reported in the
literature. Further studies investigating the
epidemiology of
IGD in Brazilian samples are warranted to better understand
treatment needs and inform preventive
measures in this
population.