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Addiction to video games, social media linked to mental health

Addictive use of video games and social media was significantly associated with mental health disorder symptoms, according to recent findings.

“Excessively engaging in gaming may function as an escape mechanism for, or coping with, underlying psychiatric disorders in attempt to alleviate unpleasant feelings, and to calm restless bodies,” Cecilie Schou Andreassen, PhD, of the University of Bergen, Norway, said in a press release. “The study implies that younger [people] with some of these characteristics could be targeted regarding preventing development of an unhealthy gaming pattern.”

Cecilie Schou Andreassen

To assess associations between addictive use of technology and comorbid psychiatric disorders, researchers assessed online cross-sectional survey results from 23,533 adults with a mean age of 35.8 years. Surveys examined attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms and use of social media and video games.

Researchers found positive and significant correlations between addictive technology use and mental health disorder symptoms, including a weak interrelationship between addictive use of video games and social media.

Age was inversely associated with addictive use of video games and social media.

Male sex was significantly associated with addictive use of video games, while female sex was significantly associated with addictive use of social media.

Being single was positively correlated with addictive use of both video games and social media.

Hierarchical regression analyses indicated demographic variables explained between 11% and 12% of variance in addictive technology use.

Mental health variables explained between 7% and 15% of variance in addictive technology use.

Despite these findings, “most people have a relaxed relationship with video games and fairly good control,” Andreassen said in the release. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.