Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016;14(5):672-686.
doi: 10.1007/s11469-015-9592-8. Epub 2015 Sep 23.

Prevalence and Predictors of Video Game Addiction: A Study Based on a National Representative Sample of Gamers

Charlotte Thoresen Wittek  1 , Turi Reiten Finserås  1 , Ståle Pallesen  2 , Rune Aune Mentzoni  2 , Daniel Hanss  3 , Mark D Griffiths  4 , Helge Molde  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and Predictors of Video Game Addiction: A Study Based on a National Representative Sample of Gamers

Charlotte Thoresen Wittek et al. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2016.

Abstract

Video gaming has become a popular leisure activity in many parts of the world, and an increasing number of empirical studies examine the small minority that appears to develop problems as a result of excessive gaming. This study investigated prevalence rates and predictors of video game addiction in a sample of gamers, randomly selected from the National Population Registry of Norway (N = 3389). Results showed there were 1.4 % addicted gamers, 7.3 % problem gamers, 3.9 % engaged gamers, and 87.4 % normal gamers. Gender (being male) and age group (being young) were positively associated with addicted-, problem-, and engaged gamers. Place of birth (Africa, Asia, South- and Middle America) were positively associated with addicted- and problem gamers. Video game addiction was negatively associated with conscientiousness and positively associated with neuroticism. Poor psychosomatic health was positively associated with problem- and engaged gaming. These factors provide insight into the field of video game addiction, and may help to provide guidance as to how individuals that are at risk of becoming addicted gamers can be identified.

Keywords: Demographic variables; Personality traits; Prevalence; Psychosomatic health; Video game addiction.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Algeria M, Canino G, Shrout PE, Woo M, Duan N, Vila D, Meng X. Prevalence of mental illness in immigrant and non-immigrant U.S. Latino groups. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2008;165:359–369. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07040704. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andreassen CS, Griffiths MD, Gjertsen SR, Krossbakken E, Kvam S, Pallesen S. The relationships between behavioral addictions and the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Behavioral Addictions. 2013;2(2):90–99. doi: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhugra D, Jones P. Migration and mental illness. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2001;7:216–223. doi: 10.1192/apt.7.3.216. - DOI
    1. Brunborg GS, Mentzoni RA, Melkevik OR, Torsheim T, Samdal O, Hetland J, Pallesen S. Gaming addiction, gaming engagement, and psychological health complaints among Norwegian adolescents. Media Psychology. 2013;16:115–128. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2012.756374. - DOI
    1. Brunborg GS, Hanss D, Mentzoni RA, Pallesen S. Core and peripheral criteria of video game addiction in the game addiction scale for adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. 2015;18(5):280–285. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0509. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources