Internet gaming disorder (IGD) was included in the Addendum to DSM-5 as a condition for further study. Studies of community samples using a diagnostic interview are lacking, and evaluations of the proposed symptoms, comorbidities, and predictors of IGD are scarce. To provide such information participants in a Norwegian prospective community study were assessed with a clinical interview at age 10 years. Symptoms of other psychiatric disorders were measured with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment at ages 8 and 10 (n = 740). Children, parents, and teachers provided information on demographics, temperament, intelligence, executive functions, self-concept, social skills, victimization, emotion regulation, family climate, and parenting. Results indicated that IGD was present in 1.7% (95% confidence interval, 0.7-2.7) of the participants (3.0% boys and 0.5% girls). Factor analysis revealed two factors: heavy involvement and negative consequences. The positive predictive value of withdrawal, tolerance, and unsuccessful attempts to control gaming symptoms to the disorder was low. Symptoms of other common disorders correlated weakly with IGD-symptoms (i.e., from r = 0.07 to r = 0.15). Upon adjusting for gender and gaming at age 8, only limited social and emotion regulation skills at age 8 predicted more age-10 IGD symptoms. In conclusion, IGD is already present in a small percentage of Norwegian 10-year olds. At least three of the proposed symptoms -withdrawal, tolerance and unsuccessful attempts to control gaming -merit further study given their weak associations with the disorder. Symptoms of IGD are only marginally associated with symptoms of other psychiatric disorders and only predicted by social skills and emotion regulation deficits.

No abstract

Escapism is predominantly assumed to be a negative aspect of media consumption. However, research also indicates that escapism may spur positive psychological outcomes. Here, using a 2-dimensional model of escapism and its corresponding scale, we tested a dualistic approach to escapism in relation to both gaming and online streaming. Data were collected from 2 separate Web-based questionnaires. Study 1 comprised 126 dedicated gamers, whereas Study 2 comprised 191 university students regularly using streaming services. Results showed that the Escapism scale-with its 2 dimensions, Self-Expansion and Self-Suppression-demonstrated good factorial validity and internal consistency in both samples. In the gaming sample, self-expansion was related to positive psychological outcomes from gaming, whereas self-suppression was substantially overlapping with Internet gaming disorder (Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test [IGDT-10]) and negative psychological outcomes. In the streaming sample, self-expansion was related to general positive affect and approach coping, whereas self-suppression was related to avoidance coping and general negative affect, tested in a path model. Overall, results provide preliminary support for a 2-dimensional conceptualization of escapism in media engagement, here evidenced in gaming and streaming. Furthermore, results indicate that a dualistic operationalization of escapism, currently not incorporated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, or International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition, Revised, classifications of pathological gaming in may help distinguish healthy from unhealthy gaming and may also be relevant for distinguishing adaptive from maladaptive streaming. Public Policy Relevance StatementEscapism is an imperative motivation in media consumption. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is debated and has been criticized for having an ambiguous role in, for example, the classification of pathological gaming (in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition, Revised). In 2 studies, derived from the 2dimensional model of escapism, an adaptive and a maladaptive form of escapism was identified in gaming and streaming, illuminating a potential explanation for the unsettled role of escapism in media engagement.

Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in aggression. Catechol-Omethyltransferase Val158Met (COMT), a common, functional polymorphism, has been implicated in aggression and aggression traits, as have childhood experiences of adversity. It is unknown whether these effects are additive or interactional and, in the case of interaction, whether they conform to a diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility model. We examined Gene ϫ Environment interactions between COMT and serious life events on measures of childhood aggression and contrasted these 2 models. The sample was composed of community children (N ϭ 704); 355 were boys, and the mean age was 54.8 months (SD ϭ 3.0). The children were genotyped for COMT rs4680 and assessed for serious life events and by teacher-rated aggression. Regression analysis showed no main effects of COMT and serious life events on aggression. However, a significant interactive effect of childhood serious life events and COMT genotype was observed: Children who had faced many serious life events and were Val homozygotes exhibited more aggression (p ϭ .02) than did their Met-carrying counterparts. Notably, in the absence of serious life events, Val homozygotes displayed significantly lower aggression scores than did Met carriers (p ϭ .03). When tested, this constellation of findings conformed to the differential susceptibility hypothesis: In this case, Val homozygotes are more malleable to the effect of serious life events on aggression and not simply more vulnerable to the negative effect of having experienced many serious life events.

Children with histories of disorganized attachment exhibit diverse problems, possibly because disorganization takes at least two distinctive forms as children age: controlling-punitive and controlling-caregiving. This variation in the developmental legacy of disorganization has been attributed primarily to variations in children's rearing experiences. Here an alternative explanation of these divergent sequelae of disorganization is evaluated: one focused on genotype. Structural equation modeling was applied to data on 704 Norwegian children to test whether the catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met genotype moderates the effect of disorganized attachment, which was measured dimensionally at 4 years of age using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task, on changes in aggressive behavior and social competence from ages 4 to 6. Children who scored high on disorganization and were homozygous for the valine allele displayed significantly greater increases in aggression and decreases in self-oriented social skills (e.g., self-regulation and assertiveness) over time than did their disorganized counterparts carrying the methionine allele, whereas disorganized children carrying the methionine allele increased their other-oriented social skill (e.g., cooperation and responsibility) scores more than did valine-homozygous children. These results are consistent with the controlling-punitive and controlling-caregiving behaviors observed in disorganized children, suggesting that the children's genotype contributed to variations in the social development of disorganized children.

Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a community sample of Norwegian 6 year olds (n = 873) followed up at ages 8, 10, and 12, controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, and time spent gaming together with friends. Results revealed that greater social competence at both 8 and 10 years predicted less gaming 2 years later and that more age-10 gaming predicted less social competence at age 12 but only among girls.

Recent increase in children's screen activities has raised concerns that screen time may replace face-to-face interaction, and hence impair children's development of emotion understanding. This longitudinal community study of 960 Norwegian 4-yearolds, followed up at ages 6 and 8, examined bidirectional relations between screen use and emotion understanding. Results revealed that more screen time at age 4 predicted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 6. In addition, television in children's bedroom at age 6 forecasted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 8. The effect of TV watching on emotion understanding was gender moderated, with stronger effects of TV watching observed among girls, but no significant effects detected among boys. In contrast, gaming forecasted lower level of emotion understanding in boys, not girls. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of face-to-face interaction to preserve the development of social-emotional competence among young children. Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject?We know that children's screen activities correlate with poorer social competence and with decrease of the quantity and quality of interaction with parents and siblings. The capacity to understand emotions in others is primarily learned through interaction with primary caregivers, but little is known how children's screen use influences development of emotion understanding.What the present study adds?We found that more TV watching among girls at age 4 predicted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 6. Furthermore, TV in child's bedroom at age 6 forecasted lower levels of emotion understanding at age 8.

No abstract