Prevalence of problematic online gaming among undergraduate medical students and its relation to well-being, self-esteem and depressive mood in Goa, India

Abstract

Background: Online video games are one of the most popular recreational activities irrespective of age, gender and culture. Gaming disorder has been recently included in the 11th Revision of the international classification of diseases (ICD-11). Thus online video game addiction among people is a serious mental health issue and unfortunately, research on this addiction is still in its infancy. Thus the present study examines the prevalence of problematic online gaming among undergraduate medical students and its association with demographic variables, and health-related measures like well-being, self-esteem and depressive mood.Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate students of Goa medical college using online survey method. Problematic online gaming was assessed using the problematic online gaming questionnaire short form (POGQ-SF). Additionally, well-being was assessed using the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS), self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg’s self- esteem scale (RSES) and depressive mood was assessed using the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9).Results: According to POGQ-SF, 8% of the study participants showed problematic online gaming. It was significantly associated with sex of the study participants, frequency of online gaming, duration of internet use per day and duration of a gaming session.Conclusions: Playing online games is a widespread activity among undergraduate medical students and a substantial proportion of these students exhibit addictive behaviours with regards to online gaming. Further research in terms of longitudinal studies involving larger samples of general population is needed to throw light on causal relationship between problematic online gaming and related factors.

The Association of Problematic Online Gaming Behavior With Mental Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms Among Students of Professional Colleges in Rishikesh

“…The present study also found that the study participants from dental/paramedical sciences had 1.021 higher odds of developing POGB when compared to other streams such as technology, management, commerce, etc. This finding contrasts with a previous study [10], which concluded that due to busy schedules and heavy academic burden, students from medical and related fields were less exposed to frequent gaming.…”

“…The present study also found that out of 27.4% of the participants with POGB, females accounted for the higher proportion (60.5% as compared to 39.5% for males). This finding contrasts with that of another study [10] where it was found that male participants (12.1%) were affected more by problematic online gaming compared to females (4.9%). Other studies [12,19] have also suggested a higher inclination of problematic online gaming among males than among females.…”

“…The overall prevalence of POGB was found to be 27.4% among students at professional colleges in Rishikesh. This finding was comparatively higher than the findings of a study conducted in 2019 among undergraduate medical students in Goa, which reported a prevalence of 8% [10]. Another study conducted in 2018 among college students in Peshawar, Pakistan reported a much lower prevalence of 1.5% for internet gaming disorder [16].…”

“…The prevalence of POGB as reported in a previous study done by Bicholkar et al in 2019 in Goa, India is 8%.…”

“…In Goa, India, the prevalence of problematic online gaming behavior (POGB) has been reported to be 8% [10]. Another study conducted among the students at a medical college has found that students who indulged in addictive gaming reported psychosocial disturbances like mood disorders, depression, disturbed sleep, and anxiety [5].…”