Prevalence and associated factors of internet gaming disorder among secondary school students in rural community, Thailand: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is an emerging mental problem for adolescent that has been increasingly piqued interest over the last decade. Although many studies have been conducted, very few studies have studied populations with low technological access. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of internet gaming disorder among secondary school students in an area with a comparatively lower technological access in a large community sample. We used Chachoengsao province, Thailand as our sample area with a comparatively lower access to technology. This cross-sectional study was conducted during December 2017-January 2018 among 12 secondary schools in Chachoengsao province, Thailand.Results: 5.4% of the 5497 subjects were positive for IGD. The associated factors found were male gender (odds ratio (OR) = 1.4), not living with both parents (OR = 1.75), use of online dating (OR = 1.53), being bullied at school (OR = 1.51), depression (OR = 1.92), anxiety (OR = 1.62) and stress (OR = 3.57) after being adjusted for age, family composition, failure of an exam, limit of internet use, use of online dating, bully perpetration, bully victimization, cyber bully perpetration, cyber bully victimization, suicidal ideation, use of alcohol, depression, anxiety, and stress.

Current Research and Viewpoints on Internet Addiction in Adolescents

“…While this may be the case, summary findings from two large reviews do have similar final estimates-5.5% [27] and 4.6% [28 •• ]. This rate is also similar to the prevalence of youth "at-risk" for IGD across Europe (5.1%) [29] and for full IGD in rural Thailand (5.4%) [35]. While far from definitive, 5% might be our strongest general prevalence estimate given the evidence.…”

“…Among middle and high school students in Japan, prevalence was 7.9% for problematic internet use and 15.9% for adaptive internet use, a lower cutoff of the diagnostic questionnaire [34]. In rural Thailand, 5.4% reached the cutoff for IGD [35], and in Taiwan 3.1% met that threshold [17]. Among 2666 urban middle school children in China, prevalence of IGD was 13.0% [36].…”

Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming: The Mediating Role of Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

“…What is unique about the present study is that this relationship also extends to gaming disorder. This not only replicates previous studies reporting positive relationships between bullying victimization and PVG [52][53][54], yet provides evidence for the role of mental health symptoms in this relationship, accounting for 16.1% of the variance in PVG severity. The extent of the variance explained in this model points to the fact that various factors other than bullying victimization, externalizing and internalizing problems may explain youth PVG, including self-esteem, impulsivity, attention difficulties, social competencies and parental relationship quality [16].…”

“…Additionally, some studies have found that frequent video game playing has been associated with increases in cyberbullying perpetration (or of being both a victim and perpetrator of bullying [i.e., bully-victims]), within and outside online gaming environments [43][44][45][48][49][50][51]. Specific to PVG, direct positive relationships have been identified between bullying victimization and PVG [52][53][54]. However, little research has investigated the potential mediators explaining the relationship between these variables.…”

Relationship between Online Game Addiction with Depression in Adolescents from 6 High Schools in Indonesia

“…Besides, other studies reveal the prevalence of IGDs varies in the range between 1%-9% depending on the age of the respondent, country, and other sample characteristics (Gentile et al, 2017). The prevalence of IGD for rural adolescents living in a province in Thailand in 2018 was 5.4% (Taechoyotin, Tongrod, Thaweerungruangkul, & Towattananon, 2020). The prevalence of online game addiction in Indonesia has not been well documented.…”