A prospective study of the motivational and health dynamics of Internet Gaming Disorder

Netta Weinstein; Andrew K Przybylski; Kou Murayama

doi:10.7717/peerj.3838

A prospective study of the motivational and health dynamics of Internet Gaming Disorder

PeerJ. 2017 Sep 29:5:e3838. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3838. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Netta Weinstein¹, Andrew K Przybylski^{2

3}, Kou Murayama^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
² Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁴ School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
⁵ Kochi University of Technology, Japan.

Abstract

The American Psychiatric Association has identified Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) as a potential psychiatric condition and called for research to investigate its etiology, stability, and impacts on health and behavior. The present study recruited 5,777 American adults and applied self-determination theory to examine how motivational factors influence, and are influenced by, IGD and health across a six month period. Following a preregistered analysis plan, results confirmed our hypotheses that IGD criteria are moderately stable and that they and basic psychological need satisfaction have a reciprocal relationship over time. Results also showed need satisfaction promoted health and served as a protective factor against IGD. Contrary to what was hypothesized, results provided no evidence directly linking IGD to health over time. Exploratory analyses suggested that IGD may have indirect effects on health by way of its impact on basic needs. Implications are discussed in terms of existing gaming addiction and motivational frameworks.

Keywords: Internet gaming; Internet gaming disorder; Internet/cyberpsychology; Self-determination theory; Self-regulation; Well-being.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by a John Fell Fund Grant (CZD08320) through the University of Oxford. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.