Problematic Video Game Use in a Sample of Children and Youth: An Empirical Examination

Purpose: Researchers have identified psychological and physical consequences of excessive internet and video game utilization among youth. The DSM-V has included Internet Gaming Disorder as a condition warranting more research. However, most studies have focused on problematic video game use among adolescents outside of the U.S., with little research comparing adolescents with pre-adolescent children, who also frequently engage in video game playing. This exploratory study reports the degree of problematic video game play in a diverse community sample of older children and adolescents, using an established measure of problematic video game playing.

Methods: The sample consisted of one hundred and sixty children and youth who completed a brief questionnaire as they attended community health fairs with their guardians in two cities in Southeast Florida. The mean age of participants was 12.6 years (SD = 3.2), with most (n = 76, 48%) of elementary school age (6-11 years old), followed by high school (15-18 years old; n = 45; 28.3%) and middle school (12-14 years old; n = 38, 23.9%). Participants completed the nine-item Problem Video Game Playing scale (PVP), which was designed to measure the level of dependence on video game play. Higher scores on the PVP indicate more problematic video game playing use. As this was an exploratory study, planned analyses examined differences in PVP scores with age and gender, and any interaction effects. Analyses consisted of factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS general linear modeling, with Levene’s tests to determine homogeneity of variances across groups, with estimated effect sizes.

Results: There was a significant interaction effect between gender and school age level, F (2, 24.43) = 32.45, p = .03, partial η² = .043. Mean scores for younger males had the highest problematic gaming scores (M = 4.47), followed by males in middle school. However, high school aged males had the lowest problematic gaming scores of the entire sample. To examine statistical differences within gender across age groups, separate factorial ANOVAs were done. With the girls, there were no significant differences between school age groups, F (2, 78) = .93, p = .40. However, there was a significant difference across age groups for the boys, F (2, 75) = 11.47, p < .001, partial η² = .234. Scheffé post hoc tests indicated significant differences between elementary school age boys PVP scores and high school age boys mean PVP scores (p < .001), and between middle school age and high school age boys (p = .02).     

Conclusions: Elementary school aged males presented with the most problematic video game use. Gaming platforms are becoming cheaper and more portable, which makes the risk of problematic gaming an increasing concern among children. There is a need for continued surveillance among this age group. Also, given that older males in this sample had the lowest PVP scores, longitudinal studies are needed to examine if risk reduces as one ages, and what factors other than maturation might reduce problematic use.