title: Trajectories of problem video gaming among adult regular gamers: an 18-month longitudinal study.
abstract: A three-wave, longitudinal study examined the long-term trajectory of problem gaming symptoms among adult regular video gamers. Potential changes in problem gaming status were assessed at two intervals using an online survey over an 18-month period. Participants (N=117) were recruited by an advertisement posted on the public forums of multiple Australian video game-related websites. Inclusion criteria were being of adult age and having a video gaming history of at least 1 hour of gaming every week over the past 3 months. Two groups of adult video gamers were identified: those players who did (N=37) and those who did not (N=80) identify as having a serious gaming problem at the initial survey intake. The results showed that regular gamers who self-identified as having a video gaming problem at baseline reported more severe problem gaming symptoms than normal gamers, at all time points. However, both groups experienced a significant decline in problem gaming symptoms over an 18-month period, controlling for age, video gaming activity, and psychopathological symptoms.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. daniel.king@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Delfabbro
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology*