Social intelligence and pathological gaming: a longitudinal study of the associations among negative emotions, social intelligence, aggression, and pathological gaming in adolescents.

Introduction: Pathological gaming continues to be highlighted as one of the most critical issues concerning adolescents. Numerous studies have aimed to elucidate the relationships between adolescents' negative emotions (e.g., peer stress, anxiety, loneliness) and social factors (e.g., social skills and relationships) with pathological gaming. Despite the recognition of social intelligence as a crucial factor related to social factors in adolescents, there is a paucity of research examining pathological gaming and social intelligence through longitudinal analyses. Method: This study focuses on exploring the factors that induce or inhibit pathological gaming among adolescents by analysing three-year longitudinal data from Korean adolescent gamers (N=968). Using a structural equation model, the study examines the relationships between adolescents' negative emotions (e.g., peer stress, anxiety, loneliness), social intelligence, and pathological gaming to elucidate their associations. Results: The results indicate that negative emotions can potentially reduce levels of social intelligence and increase aggression. Increased aggression, in turn, appears to be associated with higher levels of pathological gaming. Social intelligence was found to impact pathological gaming potentially negatively and may exert a significantly stronger influence on aggression compared to negative emotions. Discussion: The study's findings suggest that bolstering adolescents' social aptitude and addressing mental health concerns could serve as beneficial interventions in tackling issues associated with excessive media engagement among youth. These findings suggest that, within the context of adolescent pathological gaming, social intelligence could significantly affect aggression and emerge as a key variable that may lead to pathological gaming.

Pathological gaming: a longitudinal study from the perspectives of mental health problems and social stress model.

Debates about pathological gaming continues in the wake of the World Health Organization's (WHO) decision to establish a gaming disorder diagnosis. Questions persist whether gaming disorder is best conceived as a stand-alone psychiatric disorder, or whether it heralds or accompanies other, more established conditions, such as depression or ADHD. We tested these hypotheses in a sample of 3,034 youth from Singapore. Evidence suggests that pathological gaming is a somewhat unstable construct, often remitting spontaneously. Youth with preexisting ADHD or depression were more likely to develop later pathological gaming problems, while the inverse was not true, with neither early pathological gaming nor gaming time predictive of later mental health problems. Results suggest that, whenever there is any need to conduct robust evidence-based studies, more evidence should be collected before new disorders are recognized by means of "expert consensus".

The influence of psychological needs and motivation on game cheating: insights from self-determination theory.

Introduction: Game cheating (i.e., behavior of violating rules in games by using unregulated Software or assistive devices to gain advantage) poses a fatal problem as it destroys fair competition systems and negatively impacts the game ecosystem. Game cheating is reported to be common in competitive online games because they stimulate strongly a user's motivation and psychological needs. However, there is still in lack of academic research which focused on the issue from the psycho-social perspective. Methods: This study investigated the relationships between basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and motivation (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) based on self-determination theory, and examined their effects on the degree of game cheating with survey data of 322 gamers in a competitive online gaming community. Results: The results showed the opposite associations between the two forms of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) and game cheating. On one hand, extrinsic motivation decreased by autonomy enhanced the degree of game cheating. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation increased by both autonomy and relatedness finally abated game cheating. Competence did not influence any form of motivation. The results indicated that people motivated by interest or enjoyment (i.e., intrinsic motivation) of the game tend to view game cheating negatively while those motivated by game victory and rewards are likely to have positive attitudes toward game cheating. Increasing the degree of user autonomy and social relations in the game could decrease game cheating through the enhancement of intrinsic motivation. Discussion: Digital game cheating is a crucial problem threatening the spread of game culture and the growth of the eSports industry. The findings of this study reveal the influence of psychological needs and intrinsic motivation related to 'game cheating,' providing valuable guidelines in educational and policy aspects.

Mental Health of Parents and Their Children: A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Parents' Negative Affect on Adolescents' Pathological Gaming.

Parents' negative affect could lead to the deterioration of the mental state of their adolescent children. According to previous studies, children of parents who have symptoms of depression or anxiety are more likely to have mental problems. As one of the most important issues concerning adolescents with the rapid rise of screen time, the concern for pathological gaming among adolescents continues to intensify. Many studies have demonstrated the remarkable relationships between adolescents' pathological gaming and mental factors, but seldom examined them via longitudinal analysis. With three-year data from adolescents (N = 778) and their parents (N = 685) in South Korea, this study assessed the effects of parents' negative affect (depression and anxiety) on pathological gaming using adolescents' mental factors (i.e., aggression, ADHD, self-control). The results showed the critical role of parents' negative affect on their children's mental health, which finally leads to pathological gaming among adolescents. Depressive parents increased the degree of adolescents' aggression and ADHD, and decreased the degree of adolescents' self-control. Anxious parents increased the degree of adolescents' ADHD. Moreover, both adolescents' aggression and self-control mediated the relationship between parents' depression and adolescents' pathological gaming. Specifically, self-control was one of the most influential factors contributing to pathological gaming among adolescents.

Role of social capital in adolescents' online gaming: A longitudinal study focused on the moderating effect of social capital between gaming time and psychosocial factors.

Adolescents often create social relationships with their gaming peers who take on the role of offline friends and peer groups. Through collaboration and competition in the games, the social relationships of adolescents are becoming broader and thicker. Although this is a common phenomenon in online games, few studies have focused on the formation and roles of social capital among adolescent gamers. In particular, longitudinal research that examines the role of social capital in terms of influencing gaming time on adolescent gamers' psychosocial factors has been minimal. This study was designed to fill this gap to see the long-term effect of social capital among adolescent gamers. Specifically, by using the three-year longitudinal data involving 403 adolescents, we analyzed the effect of gaming time on psychological factors (i.e., loneliness, depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) with the moderating role of social capital. Results showed that social capital played a crucial moderating role. In the higher social capital group, gaming time enhanced the degree of self-esteem and life satisfaction. However, a vicious circle was found in the lower social capital group: Gaming time increased the degree of depression but decreased self-esteem, which in turn led to increase in gaming time. These results indicate that games work as an important tool for social capital cultivation among adolescent gamers, which imply successful cultivation of social capital is a key to positive gaming effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Why Do Some Users Become Enticed to Cheating in Competitive Online Games? An Empirical Study of Cheating Focused on Competitive Motivation, Self-Esteem, and Aggression.

Cheating, the act of winning in a competition based on unfair advantages over one's opponents, often occurs in online games (e.g., illegal money exchange, account hacking, and exploiting a bug). With the recent flourishing of competitive tournament games online, such as League of Legends (LoL) and Overwatch, cheating has emerged as a serious problem since it not only promotes the de-socialization of gamers but also adversely affects game brands. However, there has little research on this issue in studies on competitive online games. Focused on three psychological factors (i.e., competitive motivation, self-esteem, and aggression), which has been reported to be primarily related to cheating in sports, this paper presents a study that empirically examined the associations between the factors and cheating in competitive online game environments. From survey data of 329 LoL gamers in South Korea, a structural equation model was analyzed. The results showed that gamers with a high degree of competitive motivation are more inclined to cheat in the game. Aggression increased cheating behavior and had a significant relationship with competitive motivation. Self-esteem decreased the degree of cheating but did not affect competitive motivation. Notably, gaming time negatively influenced cheating. The practical implications of these study results were discussed.

Exploring the Mechanism of Pathological Gaming in Adolescents: Focused on the Mediation Paths and Latent Group Comparison.

Pathological gaming among adolescents has been reported to hamper the achievement of a balanced life and to threaten the development of social competencies. Despite the increasing social concerns on the adolescent users, however, the mechanism of gaming behavior of adolescents has not been sufficiently examined. This study explored the mechanism of pathological gaming among adolescents from 3-year longitudinal data of 778 Korean adolescent gamers, by analyzing the effects of negative affects (i.e., anxiety, loneliness, and academic stress) on the degree of pathological gaming through the mediation variables (i.e., aggression and self-control) based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to uncover potential risk groups, and through partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, the mediation pathways to pathological gaming were compared between the risk group and the non-risk group. The results highlighted the key role of academic stress on the degree of pathological gaming. In the entire group, academic stress primarily increased pathological gaming through self-control. The mediation path of self-control was the most influential result in the risk group. Aggression was the key mediator between loneliness and pathological gaming in the non-risk group. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.

Pathological Gaming in Young Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study Focused on Academic Stress and Self-Control in South Korea.

With the increase in social concern regarding pathological gaming among adolescents, the WHO (World Health Organization) included "gaming disorder" in the International Classification of Disorders, 11th version (ICD-11). However, little longitudinal research has been conducted examining social influences on pathological gaming, particularly in Asian countries (e.g., South Korea, China). With 4-year panel data from young adolescents (N = 968, 50.7% girls; Mage = 13.3 years) in South Korea, this study examined the effects of cultural environmental factors (parents' excessive interference, communication with parents, and friends' and teachers' support) on pathological gaming through academic stress and self-control. The results showed the critical role of academic stress and self-control in the effects of environmental factors on pathological gaming. Parents' excessive interference increased the degree to which youth experienced academic stress while the degree of communication with parents decreased this stress. Increased academic stress damaged self-control, which finally increased the degree of pathological gaming. Self-control affected the degree of pathological gaming stronger than gaming time did. The theoretical and practical implications from the study findings are discussed.

Social activities, self-efficacy, game attitudes, and game addiction.

This study examines whether social activities with parents, online and offline social self-efficacy, and attitudes toward gaming are associated with the degree of game addiction among adolescents. Using data from a survey of 600 middle- and high-school students in South Korea, we tested the relationships of personal characteristics (grade point average and time spent on gaming each day), social self-efficacy (both on- and offline), general social activities (with parents, friends, and teachers), gaming activities with parents, and attitudes toward gaming (those of self, parents, friends, and teachers) with the degree of game addiction. In addition, we conducted ANOVA tests to determine the differences among three groups: non-addicts (NA), possible (mild or moderate) addicts (PA), and Internet addicts (IA). The results show that social self-efficacy in the real world (offline) was negatively related with the degree of game addiction, whereas social self-efficacy in the virtual world (online) indicated a positive association. Social activities with parents are negatively associated with game addiction, although no relationship is found between gaming activities with parents and game addiction. Parental attitude toward gaming has a negative relationship with the addiction. Results and implications are discussed.