Purpose: Adolescents’ excessive social media use has characteristics similar to other addictive behaviours. This study aims to explore whether the same risk factors are associated with excessive social media use as with excessive gaming and gambling among Finnish adolescents. Methods: Multinomial logistic regression analyses were carried out using the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs data, collected from Finnish adolescents aged 15–16 in 2019 (n = 4595). Results: Excessive use of social media was more common among girls (reported by 46% of respondents) than boys of the same age (28%), whereas boys reported both excessive gaming (23%) and gambling (6%) more often than girls (4% and 1%, respectively). All differences between genders were statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Daily smoking was associated with a high risk of excessive gambling (AOR = 3.23) and low risk of excessive gaming (AOR = 0.27) but had no significant effect on excessive social media use. Cannabis use in the past 12 months was positively associated only with excessive gambling (AOR = 2.39), while past 12 months alcohol consumption increased the risk for excessive social media use (AOR = 1.25). Conclusions: Adolescent girls are at greater risk of excessive social media use than boys, while boys are at greater risk of excessive gaming and gambling. The associations with known risk factors are somewhat different for excessive use of social media as compared to excessive gambling and gaming and should be acknowledged when developing preventive measures for adolescents.
Excessive digital gaming can have unfavorable effects on gamers’ well-being and everyday functioning. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of a novel group intervention “Limitless Gaming Bootcamp” on (i) gaming disorder (GD) tendencies, (ii) the amount of time spent on leisure activities, and (iii) subjective well-being among Finnish young adults, and to determine the persistence of the intervention’s influence over time. A one-group pre- and post-test design with no control group was used. Thirty-seven participants were enrolled in the study. The inclusion criteria were being between the ages of 18 and 29; self-reported excessive gaming; a willingness to get support in monitoring one’s gaming behaviour; and a fluency in Finnish. Participants completed a 10-session group intervention designed to enhance conscious gaming behavior and well-being. Baseline, post-test, and six month follow-up measurements were conducted to gather data. Variables measured included background variables, gaming disorder tendencies (Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire, POGQ), self-reported time spent on various leisure activities, and subjective well-being (Short Form of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure, CORE-SF/A). The time spent on gaming decreased from pre- to post-intervention measurement and further to the six month follow-up, and participants exhibited less severe GD symptoms during the post-intervention phase and six months after the intervention. Gradual improvements in subjective well-being were also observed. The group intervention was found to be particularly effective at reducing the severity of GD symptoms.
Gaming Disorder (GD) has been recognized as an official psychiatric condition characterized by individuals' impaired control over gaming, continuous gaming despite the occurrence of negative side-effects, and gaming taking increasing priority over other important areas of life, thus leading to significant impairments in their everyday lives. To date few prevention and treatment programs have been developed. The present pilot study aimed to investigate the effects of an early psycho-educational intervention for young adults with excessive gaming behaviors. A one-group pre-and post-test design without a control group was used. A total of 22 young adults (20 males and 2 females) aged between 18 and 28 (M = 23.05, SD = 3.02) years old, engaged with the intervention. The severity of gaming-related problems, average gaming time per day, quality of life, and mental well-being were assessed at pre-test and post-test stages. Participants demonstrated a slight reduction in gaming time (d = 0.13, p = .545 for weekdays, and d = 0.08, p = .714 for weekend days) and in the severity of problematic gaming (d = 0.17, p = .411) over the three-month intervention period. Changes in neither gaming-related measures nor self-assessed quality of life (p > .01) and mental wellbeing (d = 0.23, p = .288) reached statistical significance, however.Regardless of limitations on sample size, this study shows encouraging signs that this brief 10-session and three-month educational intervention can achieve positive effects on gaming behavior. A larger scale investigation is needed to develop the intervention further.
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