Internet gaming disorder and comorbidities among campus-dwelling US university students

This study investigates the prevalence and associations of DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) with sleep impairment, daytime functioning, psychiatric disorders, and health status among young adults living in student houses on the campus of an American university. A random sample of students living on the campus underwent phone interviews during the 2007 & 2015 academic years. The sample included 1,871 undergraduate and 1,113 graduate students (2,984 in total). Students were considered to have IGD if they recreationally spent >15 hours per week on an electronic device (39.4% of the students) and displayed >5 addiction-related symptoms; 5.3% of the sample met these 2 criteria. In bivariate analyses, IGD students had a greater proportion of suicidal thoughts (16.9% vs. 6.6%), suicide attempts (9.7% vs. 3.3%), major depressive disorder (9.7% vs. 3.0%), and social anxiety disorder (24.8% vs. 8.5%) than the no-IGD group. In multivariate analyses, IGD predicted non-restorative sleep, excessive fatigue, less close friends, depressive mood, bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, and a poor to fair health status. IGD is highly prevalent in this student population, affecting one in 20 students. IGD was associated with a variety of sleep, psychiatric, and health factors which may impact functioning and academic performance.

Automated summary

The study investigated the prevalence and associations of DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) with various factors among young adults living in student houses on an American university campus. It found that IGD was associated with higher rates of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, major depressive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Additionally, IGD was linked to sleep problems, psychiatric disorders, and poor health status, which could impact academic performance.