The Development of a Screening Tool for Chinese Disordered Gamers: The Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist (C-IGDC)

Abstract

Despite the increasing research attention being paid to gaming disorder globally, a screening tool developed specifically for the Chinese population is still lacking. This study aims to address this gap by constructing a screening tool to assess Internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptomology, defined by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), among Chinese gamers. Based on expert interviews and consultations, a focus group of gamers, a background literature review, and the IGD criteria proposed by the DSM-5, we developed the Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist (C-IGDC). This study evaluated its dimensional structure, reliability, validity, and screening efficacy with 464 Chinese past-year gamers (53% female; mean age = 19.84). The two-level structure of the 27-item C-IGDC showed a satisfactory model fit, acceptable reliability, as well as good validity via expected associations with Internet addiction, gameplay frequency, and depressive symptoms. The optimal screening cutoff score (≥20) was proposed to detect probable IGD cases. The C-IGDC is the first DSM-5-based, multidimensional IGD screening tool designed specifically for Chinese gamers. Further evaluation of the C-IGDC in epidemiological studies and clinical settings is recommended.

Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist (C-IGDC) Among Chinese Adolescents

“…We utilized confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate (a) whether the present adolescent data supported the original two-level, nine-subfactor model structure previously found in the Chinese adult sample [i.e., one second-order latent construct and nine first-order latent subfactors; for more details, see ( 22 )], and (b) whether this hypothesized two-level model is superior than its single-factor alternative, more parsimonious model. As designed, we treated C-IGDC items as ordinal variables and specified a two-level CFA in Mplus 7.4 ( 38 ).…”

“…A sample item is, “How often did you feel like you cannot stop Internet gaming (in the past 12 months)?” The summative item scores of a composite C-IGDC factor (i.e., total score) and its nine subfactors (i.e., mean score) were computed to indicate the extent of one's problematic gaming, with higher scores corresponding to greater severity. C-IGDC exhibited an acceptable range of reliability for the one composite factor (α = 0.92) and all the nine subfactors (α s = 0.65–0.79) when being tested in a Chinese young adult sample ( 22 ).…”

“…To address the inadequacy of Chinese adolescent IGD screening, the present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the indigenously-developed, DSM-5 based Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist (C-IGDC) ( 22 ) among Chinese adolescents to provide a reliable and valid screening tool for probable adolescent IGD cases. The 27-item C-IGDC is the first DSM-5 based, multidimensional IGD screening tool designed for Chinese gamers and has exhibited satisfactory reliability, validity, and screening efficacy for Chinese young adults ( 22 ). It adopts a two-level structure: a parent second-order C-IGDC construct represents the overall IGD severity, whereas the nine subordinating first-order subfactors entail the nine DSM-5 diagnostic criteria (e.g., preoccupation and withdrawal).…”

“…It adopts a two-level structure: a parent second-order C-IGDC construct represents the overall IGD severity, whereas the nine subordinating first-order subfactors entail the nine DSM-5 diagnostic criteria (e.g., preoccupation and withdrawal). The optimal screening cutoff score for detecting probable IGD cases was set as ≥20, which corresponds to 81.7% sensitivity and 85.4% specificity in Chinese adults ( 22 ). In the present study, we attempted to assess the applicability of C-IGDC for Chinese adolescents by assessing its model structure, reliability, and validity, as well as proposing an optimal screening cutoff point for the Chinese adolescent population to facilitate an efficient mass screening for those who might need an additional diagnosis and support in clinical settings.…”

“…These patterns were captured with three functioning impairment indicators in the current study as a part of the concurrent validity test for the adolescent C-IGDC; these indicators were also in accordance with the clinically significant impairment and/or distress caused by gameplay as proposed by the DSM-5 's ( 2 ) IGD diagnostic criteria. Other factors included for the concurrent validity testing are typical gameplay characteristics of disordered gamers, such as high investment in games in terms of time amount ( 1 , 27 , 28 ), gameplay frequency ( 22 , 26 ), and monetary expense ( 9 , 29 , 30 ), as well as depressive symptoms, which were commonly observed among IGD gamers ( 26 , 31 , 32 ).…”