User-avatar bond profiles : how do they associate with disordered gaming?
- Authors: Stavropoulos, Vasileios , Gomez, Rapson , Mueller, Astrid , Yucel, Murat , Griffiths, Mark
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Addictive Behaviors Vol. 103, no. (2020), p.
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- Description: Aims: The avatar constitutes the in-game representation of the gamer. Although aspects of the user-avatar bond (UAB) have been associated with disordered gaming, there is a need for clearer understanding concerning the impact of potential UAB profiles. Methods: To address this need, the present study recruited a normative sample of 1022 World of Warcraft (WoW) players (Mage = 28.55 years, SD = 9.90). Participants completed the User-Avatar Questionnaire (to assess UAB aspects such as identification, immersion, and compensation), the Proteus-Effect Scale (to assess transference of the avatar's behaviour in real life), and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short-Form (to assess disordered gaming). Results: Latent class analysis indicated the existence of three UAB profiles, ‘differentiated gamers’ (DGs), ‘identified gamers’ (IGs) and ‘fused gamers’ (FGs). The DGs were characterized by low scores across all UAB aspects. The IGs did not report significant Proteus Effect (PE) or immersion behaviours, and despite being more identified with their avatar, did not significantly compensate through it. The FGs presented with higher PE, immersion, and compensation, although they did not significantly identify with their avatars, possibly due to having idealized them. Disordered gaming behaviours were significantly lower for the DGs and sequentially higher for the IGs and the FGs. Preoccupation and mood modification behaviours related to gaming disorder were distinctively associated with FGs. Conclusion: Disordered gaming assessment and treatment implications of the UAB profiles are discussed. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
- Description: Murat Yucel has received funding from Monash University , and Australian Government funding bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; including Fellowship #APP1117188 ), the Australian Research Council (ARC), and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. He has also received philanthropic donations from the David Winston Turner Endowment Fund, Wilson Foundation, as well as payment from law firms in relation to court and/or expert witness reports. The funding sources had no role in the design, management, data analysis, presentation, or interpretation and write-up of the data.
Inattention and disordered gaming : does culture matter?
- Authors: Stavropoulos, Vasileios , Baynes, Kyi , O’Farrel, Dominic , Gomez, Rapson , Mueller, Astrid , Yucel, Murat , Griffiths, Mark
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Psychiatric Quarterly Vol. 91, no. 2 (2020), p. 333-348
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- Description: Problematic gaming has emerged as a contemporary concern, leading to the introduction of the diagnostic term ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ (IGD; American Psychiatric Association). The present study aims to empirically assess the association between inattention and IGD, in the light of variable levels of vertical-individualism that reflects cultural inclinations towards independence, competitiveness, and hierarchy. The participants (N = 1032) comprised a normative cohort of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) gamers (Mage = 24 years; 48.7% male). IGD was measured with the nine-item short-form IGD Scale (IGD9-SF), inattention with the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale, and vertical individualism with the Individualism-Collectivism Questionnaire. Complex hierarchical and moderated regressions were employed. Findings demonstrated an association between IGD and inattention, and additionally showed that this association was exacerbated by a more vertically-individualistic cultural orientation without significant gender differences. The need of differentially addressing IGD risk among inattentive gamers of diverse cultural orientation is highlighted. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.