Cited by 102Impact of Technology on AdolescentsGambling Behavior and TreatmentsSexuality, Behavior, and Technology

Established risk factors for addiction fail to discriminate between healthy gamers and gamers endorsing DSM-5 Internet gaming disorder

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Deleuze, Jory, Nuyens, Filip, Rochat, Lucien, Rothen, Stéphane, Maurage, Pierre, Billieux, Joël·2017·Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Abstract

Background and aims: The DSM-5 includes criteria for diagnosing Internet gaming disorder (IGD) that are adapted from substance abuse and widely used in research and clinical contexts, although evidence supporting their validity remains scarce. This study compared online gamers who do or do not endorse IGD criteria regarding self-control-related abilities (impulsivity, inhibitory control, and decision-making), considered the hallmarks of addictive behaviors. Method: A double approach was adopted to distinguish pathological from recreational gamers: The first is the classic DSM-5 approach (≥5 criteria required to endorse the IGD diagnosis), and the second consists in using latent class analysis (LCA) for IGD criteria to distinguish gamers’ subgroups. We computed comparisons separately for each approach. Ninety-seven volunteer gamers from the community were recruited. Self-reported questionnaires were used to measure demographic- and game-related characteristics, problematic online gaming (with the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire), impulsivity (with the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale), and depression (with the Beck Depression Inventory-II). Experimental tasks were used to measure inhibitory control (Hybrid-Stop Task) and decision-making abilities (Game of Dice Task). Results: Thirty-two participants met IGD criteria (33% of the sample), whereas LCA identified two groups of gamers [pathological (35%) and recreational]. Comparisons that used both approaches (DSM-5 and LCA) failed to identify significant differences regarding all constructs except for variables related to actual or problematic gaming behaviors. Discussion: The validity of IGD criteria is questioned, mostly with respect to their relevance in distinguishing high engagement from pathological involvement in video games.

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  • Some authors have reported that gamers who do not exhibit evidence of other psychopathology or functional impairment may endorse items intended to parallel substance addiction, challenging their diagnostic utility.

    “Some authors have reported that gamers who do not exhibit evidence of other psychopathology or functional impairment may endorse such items intended to parallel substance addiction 174-176 , thus challenging their diagnostic utility 172 .”

    From Emerging experience with selected new categories in the <scp>ICD</scp>‐11: complex <scp>PTSD</scp>, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (2022) · cites this paper as [176]

    The Results report that 32 of 97 gamers endorsed at least five DSM-5 gaming-disorder criteria, without a significant difference in depressive symptoms from the comparison group. The Discussion questions whether these substance-addiction-derived criteria distinguish healthy from pathological gaming. But the study did not establish that the gamers endorsing those criteria had no other psychopathology or functional impairment; depression was the only psychopathology measure reported, and functional impairment was not directly assessed. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  1. Beck A. T. Steer R. A. Brown G. K. (1998). Inventaire de Dépression de Beck – 2ème édition (IDB-II) [Beck Depression Inventory – 2nd edition (BDI-II)] (2nd ed.). Paris, France: Éditions du Centre de Psychologie Appliquée.

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Authors
Deleuze, J., Nuyens, F., Rochat, L., Rothen, S., Maurage, P., & Billieux, J.
Affiliations
  • UCLouvain (BE)
  • Nottingham Trent University (GB)
  • University of Geneva (CH)
  • University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
  • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (BE)
Corresponding author
  • Deleuze, Jory
  • Billieux, Joël
Venue
Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Published
2017-11-10
Volume
6
Issue
4
Pages
516-524
ISSN
  • 2062-5871 (ISSN-L)
  • 2063-5303
OpenAlex
W2770443556
Cited by
102
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9
FWCI
20.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Journal of Behavioral Addictions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
  • Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) (acceptedVersion)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion)
  • Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
  • Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds UGent
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Keywords
internet gaming disorder, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, problematic online gaming, gaming addiction, impulsivity, inhibitory control, decision-making, self-control, latent class analysis, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, Game of Dice Task, depression, diagnostic validity
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Decision Making, Depression, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Recreation, Risk Factors, Sensitivity and Specificity, Reproducibility of Results, Case-Control Studies, Behavior, Addictive, Video Games, Internet, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Young Adult

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