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
. 2023 Nov 30:18:100520.
doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2023.100520. eCollection 2023 Dec.

From game engagement to craving responses - The role of gratification and compensation experiences during video-gaming in casual and at-risk gamers

S Antons  1   2 , M Liebherr  1 , M Brand  1   2 , A Brandtner  1
Affiliations

From game engagement to craving responses - The role of gratification and compensation experiences during video-gaming in casual and at-risk gamers

S Antons et al. Addict Behav Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Although playing videogames is a common leisure activity some individuals develop problematic gaming behaviors or even symptoms of a gaming disorder. Game engagement may be involved in reinforcement learning that may result in experiences of craving, an important feature of gaming disorder. In the following study we aimed to approach the question which aspects contribute to increased craving for gaming.

Methods: Overall, 439 individuals participated in an online survey, answering questionnaires on game engagement, experience of gratification and compensation, craving, and symptoms of gaming disorder. A mediation model testing if the association between game engagement and facets of craving are mediated by the experience of gratification and compensation during gaming.

Results: Three facets of craving (reward/relief, physiological, obsessive craving) were statistically explained by game engagement and the experience of gratification and compensation. Models differed between casual gamers and at-risk gamers. The effects on reward/relief and physiological craving were fully mediated in the casual group and partially mediated in the at-risk group by gratification and compensation experiences.

Conclusion: Game engagement may contribute to the development of craving by increasing the experience of gratification and compensation and thus might be important in reinforcement learning. Games evoking a high engagement may therefore have a higher addictive potential. Further processes potentially related to game engagement, such as intrusive thoughts and desire thinking, which are related to craving experiences, should be considered in future studies.

Keywords: Craving; Cue-reactivity; Engagement; Flow; Gaming; Immersion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Results of the structural equation model in the casual group.Note. ***p≤ 0.001, **p≤ 0.01, *p≤ 0.05; n = 255.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Results of the structural equation model in the at-risk group, Note. ***p≤ 0.001, **p≤ 0.01, *p≤ 0.05; n = 184.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Altintas E., Karaca Y., Hullaert T., Tassi P. Sleep quality and video game playing: Effect of intensity of video game playing and mental health. Psychiatry Research. 2019;273:487–492. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.01.030. - DOI - PubMed
    1. American-Psychiatric-Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). - PubMed
    1. Andrade J., May J., Kavanagh D.J. Sensory imagery in craving: From cognitive psychology to new treatments for addiction. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology. 2012;3(2):127–145. doi: 10.5127/jep.024611. - DOI
    1. Antons S., Müller S.M., Liebherr M., Brand M. Gaming disorder: How to translate behavioral neuroscience into public health advances. Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports. 2020;7(4):267–277. doi: 10.1007/s40473-020-00216-3. - DOI
    1. Antons S., Trotzke P., Wegmann E., Brand M. Interaction of craving and functional coping styles in heterosexual males with varying degrees of unregulated Internet-pornography use. Personality and Individual Differences. 2019;149:237–243. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.051. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources