Internet gaming as a coping method among schizophrenic patients facing psychological distress

Chang, Y-H, Chang, K-C, Hou, W-L, Lin, C-Y and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2021. Internet gaming as a coping method among schizophrenic patients facing psychological distress. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9 (4), pp. 1022-1031. ISSN 2062-5871

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Abstract

Background and aims: Patients with schizophrenia are known to use potentially addictive psychoactive substances as self-medication and to ease psychological distress. Other potentially addictive behaviors such as online gaming are also used to self-medicate and ease psychological distress. However, the role of online gaming and problematic gaming (in the form of internet gaming disorder [IGD]) has not previously been investigated for patients with schizophrenia facing distress.

Methods: One hundred and four participants diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited and completed a number of psychometric scales including the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSPS), Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Self-Stigma Scale-Short (SSS-S), and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21).

Results: The results showed significant negative associations between PSPS, IGDS-SF9, and DASS-21, and significant positive correlations between the IGDS-SF-9, SSS-S and DASS-21. Moreover, IGD did not mediate the association between self-stigma and depression. However, IGD significantly mediated the association between self-stigma and anxiety, and the association between self-stigma and stress. In addition, (i) age and self-stigma were significant predictors for IGD; (ii) social function and self-stigma were significant predictors for depression; (iii) social function, self-stigma, and IGD were significant predictors for anxiety; and (iv) self-stigma and IGD were significant predictors for stress.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that online gaming may be a coping strategy for individuals with schizophrenia with psychological stress and self-stigma and that for some of these individuals, their gaming may be problematic.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Creators:	Chang, Y.-H., Chang, K.-C., Hou, W.-L., Lin, C.-Y. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Akadémiai Kiadó
Date:	15 January 2021
Volume:	9
Number:	4
ISSN:	2062-5871
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1556/2006.2020.00081 DOI 1387267 Other
Rights:	© 2020 the author(s). Open access journal. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	10 Nov 2020 15:43
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2021 14:05
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/41591

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