title: Physical interpersonal relationships and social anxiety among online game players.
abstract: Many online game players spend inordinate amounts of time in their favorite virtual worlds. A large percentage of these players are teenagers who show behaviors normally associated with physical addiction. Parents, educators, and social scientists are therefore saying that online games are sources of social problems. The authors surveyed 174 Taiwanese college-age online players to collect data on the potential effects of online games on the quality of interpersonal relationships and levels of social anxiety. According to the results, the quality of interpersonal relationships decreased and the amount of social anxiety increased as the amount of time spent playing online games increased.
authors.affiliation: Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shao-Kang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Chih-Chien
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenchang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games