Cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional predictors of the intensity of internet gaming disorder among adolescents

Akbari, M, Mohammadaliha, N, Mohammadkhani, S, Seydavi, M and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2024. Cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional predictors of the intensity of internet gaming disorder among adolescents. Psychiatric Quarterly, 95 (3), pp. 385-414. ISSN 0033-2720

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Abstract

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is multifaceted and can have significant negative consequences. The present study examined the contribution of cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional factors as predictors for IGD severity. In a cross-sectional study, 703 Iranian adolescents (36.8% females, mean age = 16.98 years [SD = 1.23]) completed an online survey. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional factors predicted 7.8%, 17.4%, 1.4%, and 1.9% of the variance in IGD symptoms, respectively. The findings indicated that the cognitive factors including some maladaptive cognitions, such as cognitive salience, regret, and perfectionism, and metacognitive factors including some maladaptive metacognitions (negative metacognitions regarding the uncontrollability of online gaming and negative metacognitions regarding the dangers of online gaming) were significant predictors of IGD severity, highlighting their importance in understanding and predicting problematic gaming behaviors. Although contributing to the variance in IGD, motivational factors (escape, coping, and skill development) and emotional factors including emotion regulation (especially reappraisal) played relatively smaller roles compared to cognitive and metacognitive factors. Of the examined predictive factors, metacognitions were the most important predictor of IGD severity. Exploratory moderator analyses showed significant interactions between three predictors of IGD (reappraisal, negative metacognitions, and cognitive salience) with loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Reappraisal was the most frequent predictor and had a significant interaction with these variables. Other predictors independently impacted IGD irrespective of the level of loneliness, stress, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Based on these findings, special attention to metacognitive, cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors is suggested in the treatment of IGD.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Psychiatric Quarterly
Creators:	Akbari, M., Mohammadaliha, N., Mohammadkhani, S., Seydavi, M. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date:	September 2024
Volume:	95
Number:	3
ISSN:	0033-2720
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1007/s11126-024-10075-w DOI 1910664 Other
Rights:	This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11126-024-10075-w
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	05 Jul 2024 13:43
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 11:37
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51699

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