The Impact of Excessive Internet Game Use on Physical and Mental Health Among Young Adults in East Asia

Background and Purpose: Internet, video games, and mobile phone related behavioral issues have become a public health concern in United States, European and Asian countries. Especially, along with the epidemic of excessive Internet game use and relating problems, the new phenomena was introduced in DSM-5 section III, with name of Internet gaming disorder. Previous literature has revealed that excessive Internet game use can cause a wide variety of negative consequences. However, little research exists regarding the association between excessive Internet game use and comprehensive health status. This study examined the effect of excessive Internet game use on physical and mental health among young adults in China, Japan, and Korea.

Methods: Using a sample of 2,649 young adults, the cross-sectional data were studied from East Asian Social Survey (EASS) in 2010. Young adults age of 20 to 30 were selected for analyses. The participants were surveyed in China (50.32%), Japan (24.84%), and Korea (24.84%). 12-item Short Form (SF-12) was used to assess mental and physical health status. SF-12 consists of two summary measures, physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS), with 8 subscales. Multiple regression with sampling weights and cluster adjustment was employed for analysis. A categorical variable, excessive Internet game use, was an independent variable in the study. Individual (age, gender, BMI), environmental (air and noise pollution), and behavioral (alcohol use and smoking) factors were included in the regression model as control variables.

Results: 983 young adults (male=47.91%) with a mean age of 24.75 (SD=.09) were selected. 50.36% of the subjects was Chinese, 24.01% was Japanese, and 25.64% was Korean. 13.24% of Chinese group (n=491), 20% of Japanese group (n=235), and 20.24% of Korean group (n=252) played Internet game excessively. The results of multiple regression showed that MCS score of young adults who played Internet game excessively was significantly (p<.05) lower than MCS score of non-exessive user group, after controlling for other variables. There was no significant difference of PCS score between excessive and non-excessive Internet gamer groups. Severe noise and smoking were negatively associated (p<.05) with physical health.

Conclusion: Excessive Internet gaming has not been a major concern in social work practice and research while psychologists and epidemiologists have tried to figure out its psychometric structure, etiology, and ramifications. Also, previous studies have majorly focused on male children and adolescents. The results of this study revealed that excessive Internet game use has negative association with comprehensive mental health among young adults in east Asia countries. In sum, it is notable that excessive Internet gaming is a serious phenomenon. There should be more extensive recognition regarding its impact on physical and mental health status in social work practice and research in the future.