Intensive online videogame involvement: A new global idiom of wellness and distress

Abstract

Extending classic anthropological “idioms of distress” research, we argue that intensive online videogame involvement is better conceptualized as a new global idiom, not only of distress but also of wellness, especially for emerging adults (late teens through the 20s). Drawing on cognitive anthropological cultural domain interviews conducted with a small sample of U.S. gamers ( N = 26 free-list and 34 pile-sort respondents) (Study 1) and a large sample of survey data on gaming experience ( N = 3629) (Study 2), we discuss the cultural meaning and social context of this new cultural idiom of wellness and distress. Our analysis suggests that the “addiction” frame provides a means for gamers to communicate their passion and commitment to online play, even furthering their enthusiasm for the hobby and community in the process, but also a way for players to express and even resolve life distress such as depression and loneliness. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has recently included “Internet gaming disorder” (IGD) as a possible behavioral addiction, akin to gambling, warranting further consideration for eventual formal inclusion in the next iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Our study leads us to suggest that clinicians only sparingly use IGD as a clinical category, given that medical and gamer understandings of “addictive” play differ so markedly. This includes better distinguishing positive online gaming involvement—also sometimes framed by gamers as “addictive”—from other play patterns more clearly entailing distress and dysfunction.

Internet addiction and loneliness as predictors of internet gaming disorder in adolescents

“…This finding is supported by the results of a research in which internet addiction, which is one of the negative consequences of excessive internet use, is found to be related to loneliness (Kuss et al, 2014). Those findings also suggested the importance of loneliness and social isolation in addictive and problematic gaming, which echoed a now substantial body of literature (Kim et al, 2009;Nowland et al, 2017;Snodgrass et al, 2018). The findings of this study are supported by the findings that show social media platforms can reduce the loneliness of users (Pittman and Reich, 2016).…”

“…Therefore, high levels of perceived online social support may lead to excessive internet use (Hardie and Tee, 2007). These findings show that gaming-related distress can be experienced by the internet gamers' experiences of loneliness (Kim et al, 2009;Nowland et al, 2017;Snodgrass et al, 2018). In online environments, that especially adolescents feel social pressure to actively participate in peer activities (Turel and Osatuyi, 2017) can be considered as a way to deal with loneliness.…”

“…When the findings of the study were examined, researches on explaining the relationship of internet addiction with insecure attachment styles (Eichenberg et al, 2017;Monacis et al, 2017), ADHD (Ko et al, 2012), physical or sexual abuse and insecure attachment attitudes in childhood (Schimmenti et al, 2014), anxiety and depression (Ebeling-Witte et al, 2007), obsessivecompulsive symptoms (Dong et al, 2011), individualism and psychological needs (Arpacı et al, 2018) and social phobia (Yen et al, 2007) were found. There have been researches stating that loneliness feeling is displayed in individuals who are addicted to internet games (Kim et al, 2009;Nowland et al, 2017;Snodgrass et al, 2018). It is understood that excessive internet use lie at the bottom of Facebook intensity, fear of missing out and smartphone addiction (Traş and Öztemel, 2019).…”

Cultural concepts of distress and psychiatric disorders: Understanding symptom experience and expression in context

“…Recently, the attention in idioms in health research has expanded to include ''idioms of wellness'' or ''resilience,'' spurred, no doubt, by the move towards a strengths-based anthropology and therapeutics (Eggerman & Panter-Brick, 2010). This new focus is illustrated by three articles in this issue (Cassaniti, 2019;Kim, Kaiser, Bosire, Shabazian, & Mendenhall, 2019;Snodgrass, Dengah, Polzer, & Else, 2019). This kind of idiom is defined as expressions of commitments, capacities, and positive states that signal the good life and the ability to cope (Snodgrass et al, 2019).…”

The cross-cultural expression of internet gaming distress in North America, Europe, and China

“…Based on both the literature cited above and our earlier EFA findings, we anticipate, for example, that we will confirm that North American and Chinese “addiction” experiences will be shaped by particularly strong achievement motivations and also the experience of loneliness, in ways that we don't see as much in Europe. Further, based on anthropological work by Kleinman and others, we expect to again see in China in this confirmatory factor analysis distinctive experience clusters related to feeling psychosomatically “drained,” which would differ from North American and European idioms for expressing mental and other forms of distress ( Snodgrass, Dengah, Polzer, & Else, 2018 ). Such results would, if identified, point simultaneously to important cultural similarities—in the four identified dimensions and their key item components—and also differences—in the way, for example, each region's secondary factors or dimensions might relate somewhat differently to experiences related to achievement, loneliness, and distinctive psychosomatic states.…”