Autism Spectrum Disorder and Video Games: Restricted Interests or Addiction?

Coutelle, Romain; Weiner, Luisa; Paasche, Cecilia; Pottelette, Julien; Bertschy, Gilles; Schröder, Carmen; Lalanne, Laurence

doi:10.1007/s11469-021-00511-4

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 77 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Participants with autism did indeed display longer screen times during the evening, less frequent physical exercise and a shorter daily exposure to light than the comparison group. These results are in line with the literature describing a more sedentary behavior in children with autism compared to their neurotypical peers (Jones et al, 2017), and although the literature is much more sparse, concordant results are found for adults with autism (Coutelle et al, 2021; Weir et al, 2021). In addition to these external factors, the irregular sleep–wake patterns or circadian rhythm sleep–wake disorders in ASD are also likely to be intrinsic to ASD pathophysiological mechanisms (Lorsung et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The increased prevalence of sleep disturbances in ASD may be due to variations in clock genes and melatonin pathway genes (Yang et al, 2016) leading to abnormal melatonin production and secretion (Melke et al, 2008; Pagan et al, 2017). However behavioral modifications in participants with autism may also lead to inappropriate light exposure patterns, including screen use (Coutelle et al, 2021), and difficulties integrating social cues linked to daily rhythms and sleep timing (Ballester et al, 2020). Therefore, lockdown strategies may have led to greater sleep–wake disturbances in adults with autism compared to those in the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Differential effects of COVID‐related lockdown on sleep–wake rhythms in adults with autism spectrum disorder compared to the general population

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

COVID-related lockdown led to a radical modification of daily activities and routines which are known to affect sleep. Compared to the general population, participants with autism may be particularly vulnerable to the repercussions of lockdown on sleep, given their intrinsic inflexible adherence to routines and the high overall prevalence of sleep disturbances in this population. The study is a French nation-wide online survey assessing sleep-wake rhythms and behaviors known to affect sleep (daily screen time, daylight exposure, and physical activity), before and during COVID-related lockdown. Respondents were 207 adults with autism (56% female) and 1652 adults of the general population (77% female), with a mean age 35.3 years (SD 11.3). Before lockdown, the adults with autism displayed on average later bedtime and waking hours, lower sleep quality, more evening screen time, less exposure to daylight, and less exercise (all p < 0.01). Lockdown affected all studied measures of sleep and related exposures in a similar way in both groups: poorer self-rated sleep quality as well as a less regular and delayed sleep-wake rhythm, longer screen time in the evening and less exposure to daylight (all p < 0.001). Adults with autism displayed significantly higher levels of sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances and less favorable daily routines known to regulate sleep. While the effect of confinement on sleep and sleep related behaviors was similar in both groups, the results highlight that the preexisting shift in circadian rhythms and lifestyles in adults with ASD further deteriorated during lockdown. Lay abstract: COVID-related lockdown led to a radical modification of daily activities and routines known to affect sleep. In a sample of 1800 adults, we observed that, before lockdown, participants with autism displayed significantly higher levels of sleep disturbances and less favorable daily routines known to regulate sleep, compared to the general population. While the deleterious effect of lockdown on sleep was similar in both groups, pre-existing difficulties in adults with autism reached worrying levels during lockdown. K E Y W O R D S autism spectrum disorder, circadian rhythm, insomnia, sleep, sleep hygiene Eve Reynaud and Julien Pottelette are co-first authors. Romain Coutelle and Carmen M. Schröder are co-last authors.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential effects of COVID‐related lockdown on sleep–wake rhythms in adults with autism spectrum disorder compared to the general population

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Affected adolescents often neglect school and private responsibilities, spend less time with friends and in leisure activities in the real world, and show increasing conflicts in family interactions [6,7,12,13]. Moreover, IGD is often accompanied by mental comorbidities such as depression [14], attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [15], autism spectrum disorder [16], oppositional defiant and dissociative disorder [17] and (social) anxiety [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Requirements of a Group Intervention for Adolescents with Internet Gaming Disorder in a Clinical Setting: A Qualitative Interview Study

Wendt

Austermann

Rumpf

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become an important health concern in a significant proportion of adolescents. Intervention studies in this age group are scarce, mostly follow quantitative designs, and rarely consider adolescents’ experiences. This study aimed to evaluate the requirements for a group therapy program for adolescents with IGD. A qualitative interview study was conducted in a German clinic for addictive disorders in childhood and adolescence with nine participants (seven IGD patients (12–18 years, M = 15.86, SD = 1.95) and two psychotherapists). The semi-structured interviews addressed helpful contents, general conditions, and suggestions for alterations for an effective group intervention. Data were analyzed using content structuring qualitative analysis. Patient interview data resulted in 234 codings with eight main categories. Expert interview data yielded 151 codings with six main categories. The following treatment components were described as effective by the participants and experts: psychoeducation, emotion management, behavior analysis and modification, social skills training, parent participation, and relapse prevention. Additionally, adolescents emphasized the importance of group functionality for coherence, feedback and rewards, content presentation, physical activity and fun. The results are a valuable addition to findings from quantitative studies on IGD interventions and an interesting starting point for further representative studies.

show abstract

“…However, most studies have focused on action games, and no previous work has analyzed subclinical autistic and schizotypal traits (i.e., traits related to social cognition, neurodevelopment, and other phenotypes) together in relation to video game usage and preferences and their neurophysiological correlates. Such studies are important given the important roles of video games of diverse genres in human imaginative culture, and given that individuals with autism or schizotypy show some evidence of high rates of video game usage ( Mazurek and Engelhardt, 2013a , b ; Schimmenti et al, 2017 ; Choi et al, 2020 ; Menear and Ernest, 2020 ; Coutelle et al, 2021 ). This study thus analyzes how video game usage patterns, genre preferences, motivations, and reaction times are associated with measures of non-clinical autism and schizotypy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, autistic traits have been associated with higher video game usage ( Mazurek and Engelhardt, 2013b ), and problematic video game usage (i.e., symptoms of clinical addiction to video games) ( Liu et al, 2017 ; Coutelle et al, 2021 ; Craig et al, 2021 ; Murray et al, 2021 ). Compared to neurotypicals, boys and male adolescents with ASD also play video games for longer times, prefer to play alone, and play less frequently in multiplayer mode ( Paulus et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why iPlay: The Relationships of Autistic and Schizotypal Traits With Patterns of Video Game Use

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Video games are popular and ubiquitous aspects of human culture, but their relationships to psychological and neurophysiological traits have yet to be analyzed in social-evolutionary frameworks. We examined the relationships of video game usage, motivations, and preferences with autistic and schizotypal traits and two aspects of neurophysiology, reaction time and targeting time. Participants completed the Autism Quotient, Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, a Video Game Usage Questionnaire, and two neurophysiological tasks. We tested in particular the hypotheses, motivated by theory and previous work, that: (1) participants with higher autism scores would play video games more, and participants with higher schizotypy scores would play video games less; and (2) autism and positive schizotypy would be associated with opposite patterns of video game use, preferences and motivations. Females, but not males, with higher autism scores played more video games, and exhibited evidence of relatively male-typical video game genre preferences and motivations. By contrast, positive schizotypy was associated with reduced video game use in both genders, for several measures of game use frequency. In line with previous findings, males played video game more than females did overall, preferred action video games, and exhibited faster reaction and targeting times. Females preferred Puzzle and Social Simulation games. Faster reaction and targeting times were associated with gaming motives related to skill development and building behavior. These findings show that gaming use and patterns reflect aspects of psychology, and gender, related to social cognition and imagination, as well as aspects of neurophysiology. More generally, the results suggest that video game use is notably affected by levels of autistic and schizotypal traits, and that video games may provide an evolutionarily novel medium for imaginative play in which immersive play experiences can be decoupled from social interaction.

show abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Video Games: Restricted Interests or Addiction?

Cited by 20 publications

References 77 publications

Differential effects of COVID‐related lockdown on sleep–wake rhythms in adults with autism spectrum disorder compared to the general population

Differential effects of COVID‐related lockdown on sleep–wake rhythms in adults with autism spectrum disorder compared to the general population

Requirements of a Group Intervention for Adolescents with Internet Gaming Disorder in a Clinical Setting: A Qualitative Interview Study

Why iPlay: The Relationships of Autistic and Schizotypal Traits With Patterns of Video Game Use

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About