COMPULSIVE PLAYING OF ONLINE VIDEO GAMES BY URBAN ADULTS

Ashish Ramjeet Yadav, Srabani Bhattacharya* and Sundaram Kartikeyan

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 133 urban adult respondents: 51 females (38.34%) and 82 males (61.66%), to determine the effects of compulsive playing of video games. A pre-tested and pre-validated online questionnaire was administered to male and female urban adults, who self-reported that they compulsively played online video games on a daily basis for at least one year preceding the study. The mean daily duration of playing online video games for females and males was 3.88 +/- 1.29 hours per day and 3.52 +/- 1.38 hours per day, respectively, without significant gender difference (Z=1.523; p= 0.127). On an average, female respondents played online video games since 4.08 +/- 2.71 years, while their male counterparts did so since 3.40 +/- 2.26 years, without significant gender difference (Z=1.497; p=0.134). A significant male preponderance was observed in the proportion of males who felt energetic after playing online games (Z=2.901; p=0.003) and indulged in gaming when under stress (Z=2.110; p=0.034). A significantly higher proportion of females preferred online gaming over social interactions (Z=2.167; p=0.030); had tried to quit the habit of gaming (Z=2.801; p=0.005) and reported eye strain (Z=2.869; p=0.004) after gaming.

Keywords: Compulsive playing, Internet gaming disorder, Video games.