adolescents; game motivations; longitudinal study; problematic gaming; video gaming; Communication
Abstract :
[en] Gaming to escape or to make new friends? A longitudinal study into the effect of gaming motives on problematic gaming in adolescents To ensure that adolescent video gaming behavior does not turn into problematic use, it is crucial to identify possible antecedents of this behavior. In this study, we map the role of gaming motivations in predicting problematic gaming behavior in adolescents, using a survey of 619 Flemish gaming adolescents (11-19 years old, 53% boys), administered at two measurement times. The results show that social motivations, escapism, competition, and fantasy can sustain problematic gaming behavior. Gaming for fun, to cope with stress, or to improve one’s skills were not significantly related to problematic gaming. Given the predictive nature of motives such as escapism and competition, interventions and support for problematic gaming behavior should not only focus on addressing the motives themselves, but also on the underlying (environmental) factors that give rise to these motives (for example: escapism as a result of problems at home or at school). [nl] Om ervoor te zorgen dat het gamegedrag van adolescenten niet overgaat in problematisch gebruik, is het cruciaal om antecedenten van dergelijk gedrag goed te kunnen identificeren. In deze studie brengen we de rol van gamemotieven in het voorspellen van problematisch gamegedrag bij adolescenten in kaart, aan de hand van een survey bij 619 Vlaamse gamende adolescenten (11-19 jaar oud, 53% jongens), afgenomen op twee meetmomenten. De resultaten tonen aan dat sociale motivaties, escapisme, competitie, en fantasie samenhangen met problematisch gamen op hetzelfde meetmoment. Escapisme en competitie voorspelden problematisch gamen op een volgend meetmoment een jaar later. Gamen omwille van het plezier, om om te gaan met stress, of om je skills te verbeteren voorspelden problematisch gamen niet. Ook genderverschillen komen naar voren uit de studie.
Disciplines :
Communication & mass media Theoretical & cognitive psychology
Author, co-author :
Grosemans, Eva; KU Leuven, Belgium
Cock, Rozane De; KU Leuven, Belgium
Bradt, Lowie; Universiteit Gent, Belgium
Dupont, Bruno ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de langues modernes : linguistique, littérature et traduction > Littérature allemande ; KU Leuven, Belgium
Language :
Dutch
Title :
Een longitudinale studie naar het effect van gebruiksmotieven op problematisch gamen bij adolescenten
Publication date :
2025
Journal title :
Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap
ISSN :
1384-6930
eISSN :
1875-7286
Publisher :
Amsterdam University Press
Volume :
53
Issue :
4
Pages :
438 - 466
Peer reviewed :
Peer reviewed
Development Goals :
3. Good health and well-being 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
André, F., Broman, N., Håkansson, A., & Claesdotter-Knutsson, E. (2020). Gaming addiction, problematic gaming and engaged gaming – Prevalence and associated characteristics. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 12.
Angelini, F., Pivetta, E., Marino, C., Canale, N., Spada, M. M., & Vieno, A. (2023). Social norms and problematic gaming among adolescents: The role of internet use coping motives. Addictive Behaviors, 148.
Bäcklund, C., Elbe, P., Gavelin, H. M., Sörman, D. E., & Ljungberg, J. K. (2022). Gaming motivations and gaming disorder symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(3), 667-688.
Bowman, N.D., Daneels, R., & Possler, D. (2024). Excited for eudaimonia? An emergent thematic analysis of player expectations of upcoming video games. Psychology of Popular Media, 13(3), 416-427.
Caner, N., & Evgin, D. (2021). Digital risks and adolescents: The relationships between digital game addiction, emotional eating, and aggression. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 1-11.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). L. Erlbaum Associates.
Cudo, A., Kopiś-Posiej, N., & Griffiths, M. (2023). The role of self-control dimensions, game motivation, game genre, and game platforms in gaming disorder: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 4749-4777.
Daneels, R., Vandebosch, H., & Walrave, M. (2020). “Just for fun?”: An exploration of digital games’ potential for eudaimonic media experiences among Flemish adolescents. Journal of Children and Media, 14(3), 285-301.
De Groote, D., & Van Ouytsel, J. (2022). Digital stress within early adolescents’ friendships – A focus group study from Belgium. Telematics and Informatics, 73.
De Grove, F., Cauberghe, V., & Van Looy, J. (2016). Development and validation of an instrument for measuring individual motives for playing digital games. Media Psychology, 19(1), 101-125.
Demetrovics, Z., Urbán, R., Nagygyörgy, K., Farkas, J., Zilahy, D., Mervó, B., Reindl, A., Ágoston, C., Kertész, A., & Harmath, E. (2011). Why do you play? The development of the motives for online gaming questionnaire (MOGQ). Behavior Research Methods, 43(3), 814-825.
Ferguson, C. J., & Olson, C. K. (2013). Friends, fun, frustration and fantasy: Child motivations for video game play. Motivation and Emotion, 37(1), 154-164. González-Bueso, V., Santamaría, J., Fernández, D., Merino, L., Montero, E., & Ribas, J. (2018). Association between internet gaming disorder or pathological video-game use and comorbid psychopathology: A comprehensive review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(668).
Grosemans, E., De Cock, R., Bradt, L., Boonen, H., & Soenens, B. (2025). Psychometric Validation of the Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents (GADIS-A) in Dutch Among Flemish Adolescents. Psychologica Belgica, 65(1), 189–201.
Holl, E., Sischka, P. E., Wagener, G. L., & Melzer, A. (2024). The Motivation to Play Scale (MOPS) – Introducing a validated measure of gaming motivation. Current Psychology, 43, 31068-31080.
Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509.
Király, O., Koncz, P., Griffiths, M. D., & Demetrovics, Z. (2023). Gaming disorder: A summary of its characteristics and aetiology. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 122.
Király, O., Urbán, R., Griffiths, M. D., Ágoston, C., Nagygyörgy, K., Kökönyei, G., & Demetrovics, Z. (2015). The mediating effect of gaming motivation between psychiatric symptoms and problematic online gaming: An online survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 17(4).
Kircaburun, K., Demetrovics, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Király, O., Kun, B., & Tosuntaş, Ş. B. (2020). Trait emotional intelligence and internet gaming disorder among gamers: The mediating role of online gaming motives and moderating role of age groups. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18(5), 1446-1457.
Kosa, M., & Uysal, A. (2020). Four pillars of healthy escapism in games: Emotion regulation, mood management, coping, and recovery. In B. Bostan (Ed.), Game user experience and player-centered design (pp. 63-76). Springer International Publishing.
Krassen, C., & Aupers, S. (2022). Pressure to play: Social pressure in online multiplayer games. The Information Society, 38(1), 13-24.
Kuo, A., Lutz, R. J., & Hiler, J. L. (2016). Brave new world of Warcraft: A conceptual framework for active escapism. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(7), 498-506.
Laconi, S., Pirès, S & Chabrol, H. (2017). Internet gaming disorder, motives, game genres and psychopathology. Computers in Human Behavior,75, 652-659.
Lafrenière, M., Verner-Filion, J., & Vallerand, R. (2012). Development and validation of the gaming motivation scale (GAMS). Personality And Individual Differences, 53(7), 827-831.
Lemmens, J. S., & Hendriks, S. J. (2016). Addictive online games: Examining the relationship between game genres and internet gaming disorder. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(4), 270-276.
Liao, Z., Le, J., Chen, X., Tang, Y., Shen, H., & Huang, Q. (2025). Gender differences in problematic gaming among Chinese adolescents and young adults. BMC psychiatry, 25(1), 522.
López-Fernández, F. J., Mezquita, L., Griffiths, M. D., Ortet, G., & Ibáñez, M. I. (2021). The role of personality on disordered gaming and game genre preferences in adolescence: Gender differences and person-environment transactions. Adicciones, 33(3), 263-272.
Melodia, F., Canale, N., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). The role of avoidance coping and escape motives in problematic online gaming: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20(2), 996-1022.
Nuyens, F. M., Kuss, D. J., Lopez-Fernandez, O., & Griffiths, M. D. (2019). The empirical analysis of non-problematic video gaming and cognitive skills: A systematic review. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17(2), 389-414.
Paschke, K., Austermann, M. I., & Thomasius, R. (2020). Assessing ICD-11 gaming disorder in adolescent gamers: Development and validation of the Gaming Disorder Scale for Adolescents (GADIS-A). Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(4).
Possler, D., Daneels, R., & Bowman, N.D. (2024). Players just want to have fun? An exploratory survey on hedonic and eudaimonic game motives. Games and Culture, 19(5), 611-633.
Richard, J., Temcheff, C.E. & Derevensky, J.L. (2020). Gaming disorder across the lifespan: A scoping review of longitudinal studies. Current Addiction Reports, 7, 561-587.
Steele, R.G., Hall, J.A., & Christofferson, J.L. (2020). Conceptualizing digital stress in adolescents and young adults: Toward the development of an empirically based model. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 23(1), 15-26.
Strasburger, V., Wilson, B., & Jordan, A. (2013). Children and adolescents: Unique audiences. In V. Strasburger, B. Wilson, & A. Jordan (Eds.), Children, adolescents, and the media (3th ed., pp. 1-46). Sage.
Sugaya, N., Shirasaka, T., Takahashi, K., & Kanda, H. (2019). Bio-psychosocial factors of children and adolescents with internet gaming disorder: A systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 13(3), 1-16.
Treese, T. (2020, April 7). WHO’s Play Apart Together campaign uses games to promote social distancing. Digital Trends. https://www.digitaltrends.com/ gaming/play-apart-together-covid-19-gaming/
Vanwynsberghe, H., Van Damme, K., Peeters H., D’Haeseleer, S., Schokkenbroek, J.M., Martens, M., Sevenhant, R., Vanden Abeele, M., Ponnet, K., Callens, J., Schreuer, C. (2024). Onderzoeksrapport Apenstaartjaren: de digitale leefwereld van kinderen en jongeren. Mediaraven.
Yee, N. (2006). Motivations for play in online games. Cyberpsychology Behavior, 9, 772-775.
Yuan, K., Qin, W., Yu, D., Bi, Y., Xing, L., Jin, C., & Tian, J. (2016). Core brain networks interactions and cognitive control in internet gaming disorder individuals in late adolescence/early adulthood. Brain Structure & Function, 221(3), 1427-1442.
Wang, H., & Cheng, C. (2022). The associations between gaming motivation and internet gaming disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis. JMIR Mental Health, 9(2).
WHO. (2022, February 11). ICD-11 2022 release. https://www.who.int/news/item/11- 02-2022-icd-11-2022-release
Zendle, D. (2020). Beyond loot boxes: A variety of gambling-like practices in video games are linked to both problem gambling and disordered gaming. PeerJ, 8.
