Problems with computer games without monetary reward: similarity to pathological gambling.
An epidemiological study was performed on a representative sample of the Norwegian youth population (12 to 18 years old, N=3,237; response rate 45.2%). The percentage who were frequent players (weekly) of different computer games was 63.3%, and the percentage of infrequent users was 36.7%. A mean of 2.7% (4.2% of the boys, 1.1% of the girls) could be described as exhibiting "pathological playing" according to the criteria in the 1998 Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction of Young, and an additional 9.82% (14.5% of the boys, 5.0% of the girls) were considered to be engaging in "at-risk playing." Of the weekly gamblers, 4.2% fulfilled 5 criteria for pathological playing, and an additional 15.5% 3 to 4 criteria, i.e., at-risk playing. This indicated that frequent gaming on computer games without money rewards may be related to problematic playing even though no monetary reward is involved.
Johansson
Agneta
A
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Götestam
K Gunnar
KG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003201:Computers; D003710:Demography; D004467:Economics; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012201:Reward; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018910:Video Games