The cognitive psychology of Internet gaming disorder

Abstract

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has received nomenclatural recognition as a potential mental health disorder, despite evident variability in its core psychopathology and psychometric assessment. Although cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is considered an efficacious treatment for IGD, the underlying cognitions of the disorder are not well understood. This review aimed to synthesise research evidence on Internet gaming cognition toward identification of cognitive factors underlying IGD. A systematic review of 29 quantitative studies on Internet gaming cognition and 7 treatment studies employing cognitive therapy for IGD was conducted. Four cognitive factors underlying IGD were identified. Factors included (a) beliefs about game reward value and tangibility, (b) maladaptive and inflexible rules about gaming behaviour, (c) over-reliance on gaming to meet self-esteem needs, and (d) gaming as a method of gaining social acceptance. It is proposed that IGD-related cognition may be more complex than "preoccupation" (i.e., criterion A of IGD). IGD cognition may involve the persistent overvaluation of video gaming rewards, activities, and identities, combined with a need to adhere to maladaptive rules governing use and completion of video games. Greater understanding of the proposed cognitive factors may advance clinical research agendas on identification of individuals with IGD, as well as the expansion and improvement of cognitive therapies for the disorder.

Electrophysiological studies in Internet addiction: A review within the dual-process framework

“…attentional or memory biases) and interpersonal (e.g. social isolation, online communication specificities) correlates of Internet addiction have been widely explored (King & Delfabbro, 2014;Kuss, 2013). These behavioral results have been recently renewed by a neuroscience approach which confirmed (by means of fMRI) that Internet addicts (IA) display, in line with other addicted populations, a double modification of brain functioning, i.e.…”

Internet Gaming Disorder and the DSM-5: Conceptualization, Debates, and Controversies

“…In addition, some researchers argue that treatment models based on the theory of addiction might reduce the patients' self-efficacy by teaching them they are not in control of their behavior making the recovery process more difficult [20]. Another potential negative consequence of the inclusion is that it might lead to the premature acceptance of IGD as a behavioral addiction [21,22] and to the preconception that the proposed criteria are the Btrue^IGD criteria. This could hinder following efforts to create or test alternative explanatory models of the disorder (e.g., reward deficiency syndrome [23], or compensatory internet use [24]) and/or to critically evaluate each proposed criterion (that is actually the main purpose of the inclusion).…”

“…King and Delfabbro [22] emphasized the complexity of the preoccupation criterion. In their view, preoccupation should not be assessed in terms of time but rather in terms of cognitive content.…”

Defining tolerance in Internet Gaming disorder: Isn't it time?

“…However, applying the concept of tolerance to a complex activity such as gaming may be more difficult than is currently acknowledged in the DSM-5 formulation. There has been some preliminary scholarly debate that has examined the topic of gaming tolerance [3], relative to wider discussion of other IGD features such as preoccupation [4][5][6], withdrawal [7,8] and harm [9,10]. However, an important question that remains unresolved is: what specific gaming stimuli do individuals with IGD develop a tolerance for?…”