Just over 50% of individuals with gaming disorder say it significantly affects their work

This was followed by 13.37% stating it had affected their psychological health and 12.26% reporting it had affected their family relationships. The least affected area was the impact on friendships, at 4.67%.  

Gaming is a popular form of entertainment and leisure activity enjoyed by people worldwide. In the United Kingdom alone, over half (56%) of the population plays video games regularly while in the United States this figure is about 65%. Gaming disorder is defined as a pattern of gaming behaviour characterised by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.   

The research team analysed data from a sample of 2,162 individuals with gaming disorder, 1,973 males and 189 females, aged from 12 to 74 years (average age 23.5 years). Participants were asked if they had experienced a significant problem due to gaming in the last 12 months, with those answering ‘yes’ being asked to specify which area had been affected the most. The six areas assessed were family; friends; partner; school and/or work; physical health; and psychological health. 

The study was jointly led by Dr Christian Montag (Ulm University) and Dr Halley Pontes, Lecturer in Organizational Psychology at Birkbeck, who commented: “Gaming disorder is a public health issue and is currently recognised as a mental health disorder. Our previous research showed that specific groups of people present greater risk for the perils of gaming disorder, however, in this latest study, we wanted to see how the lives of individuals are affected by having gaming disorder. The results indicate that health practitioners need to direct treatment efforts to mitigate impairments due to gaming affecting academic and/or professional activities, followed by psychological health, and family relationships. As the least affected area was friendships, this may indicate that in-game social relationships may be compensating for in-person social relationships with friends. 

“Although gaming disorder can affect multiple areas of one’s life and overall functioning, in our study, individuals had to select only one area where they felt the challenges were dominant, from a total of six areas commonly reported to be affected in gaming disorder. Therefore, despite the possibility of multiple areas of life being affected by gaming-related impairments, the study only reported the most relevant areas disclosed by participants experiencing gaming disorder. It is important that future studies should examine other important areas of life that might be impaired due to gaming.”