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15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Learning objective.

Read an example of the cause-and-effect rhetorical mode.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The influence of online game behaviors on the emotional state and executive function of college students in china.

$\nWei Zhao&#x;$

School of Mental Health, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China

Background and Objective: Since the classification of gaming disorder (GD) by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “mental disorder caused by addictive behaviors,” there has been controversy regarding whether online game behaviors can lead to mental disorder. This study aims to clarify the correlation between the online game behaviors of college students and anxiety, depression, and executive function of college students in China, from a questionnaire-based investigation.

Methods: Based on the whole class random sampling method, a questionnaire survey was conducted among college students in Northern Anhui, China from March 7 to March 27, 2020. The questionnaires included the Internet Game Addiction (IGA) Scale, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (Adult Version, BRIEF-A), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire Scale (PHQ-9).

Results: A total of 850 participants completed the survey, including 353 males (41.53%) and 497 females (58.47%). The primary age group was 18–27 years (91.53%), and the educational background was a bachelor's degree (94.7%). The study found that the online behavior of 17.76% of college students was online game behavior. This study did not identify any students who met the criteria for IGA, and 3% met the criteria for indulgent behavior. A dual role of online games was identified; moderate online game activities can improve the emotional state and executive function of college students, while excessive online game behaviors that may not reach the degree of addiction can also harm emotional state and executive function.

Conclusions: This study suggests that although IGA has been regarded as a mental disease, online game behavior should be treated differently. Online game activities should not be entirely denied, but mental disorders caused by excessive gaming activities deserve attention. In particular, the emotional state and executive function of students with excessive online game behaviors should be monitored and intervened in advance to avoid game behaviors turning into indulgent behaviors or addiction. As a cognitive control process, executive function may play a key role in regulating IGA and emotional state.

Introduction

With the rapid growth of the online game market, many young men indulge in online games, which has resulted in lots of negative social effects. Problems related to IGA have become increasingly concerning. Previous research reported that the prevalence of IGA has been estimated to be 0.5–6% ( 1 , 2 ). Long et al. ( 3 ) analyzed 36 representative investigations and found that the prevalence of problematic IGA was 3.5–17%. King et al. investigated more than 3,000 subjects and found that the prevalence of IGA was 0.3–4.9% ( 4 ). In addition, the above studies have found that young people are the high incidence population of IGA. The individual susceptibility constituted by genetic, physio genesis and personality characteristics may predispose young people to addictive tendencies and indicates that IGA disorder of young people is a real problem that needs attention.

IGA has been considered as a clinical phenomenon that requires further study, per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, 2013 (DSM-5) ( 5 ). In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) regarded gaming disorder as a mental disease and classified it in the category of the disorders caused by addictive behaviors ( 6 ). The introduction of two new standards has guided the primary direction for research in this field ( 7 ), but has also generated significant controversy. Clinical studies have found that IGA has the characteristic similar to those of behavioral addiction, such as excessive attention-seeking, compulsive, lack of control and impulsive behavior ( 8 ). Related research has indicated that IGA may decrease sleep quality and has a strong correlation with different degrees of anxiety, depression and other psychological distress ( 9 , 10 ). However, some researchers have suggested that IGA should not be classified as a mental disease ( 11 ). It has been reported that online games bring happiness to players, reduce anxiety, depression ( 12 ) and improve cognitive function ( 13 ). In addition, most online gamers are not exposed to addiction, suggesting the presence of factors mitigating against IGA. Previous studies highlighted that executive function plays a key role in the regulation of addictive behaviors and emotional status ( 14 ). Executive function includes decision-making, planning, inhibition and behavioral shift ( 15 ). Moreover, executive function can prevent the development of addiction by inhibiting impulsive and controlling behaviors, whilst degradation of executive function leads to an increase in impulsive behaviors and addiction development ( 16 ). Meanwhile, excessive online gaming could be detrimental to executive function, consequently spiraling without control and leading to impulsive behaviors ( 17 ). In essence, executive function plays a key role in IGA mitigation and mental health.

This study focused on the roles of executive function, anxiety and depression on the development of IGA, based on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (Adult Version, BRIEF-A), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire Scale (PHQ-9). Since online gamer demographics are predominantly individuals in the younger age-bracket, college students were selected for becoming participants of this study. This investigation sheds further light on the correlation of IGA and emotional disorder with executive function disorder, thus providing references to IGA mitigation within clinical practice.

Research Subjects

Based on the whole class random sampling method, a questionnaire survey was conducted on college students in Northern Anhui Province, China from March 7 to March 27, 2020. An online questionnaire survey method was used for the study and more than two classes were randomly selected from each grade of each school. With the help of school counselors, questionnaire links were distributed in a QQ group or WeChat group, and only one questionnaire could be completed per IP address. Questionnaires that were completed too quickly were eliminated and 850 valid questionnaires were finally considered for the study. Bengbu Medical College Institutional Review Board authorized this study (approval number: 2019-199). All experiments were performed in compliance with the regulatory approval.

Research Tools

Currently, there are few measurement tools for the diagnosis and evaluation of IGA which are based on DSM-5 and ICD-11. However, there are several inconsistencies between the two criteria used for determining the prevalence of IGA ( 7 ), which in turn, leads to a significant difference in determining the incidence of IGA. The development of measurement tools needs to be validated in cross-cultural clinical samples for effectiveness and reliability. Better results would be obtained if objective indicators including autonomic nervous system response, and electrophysiological parameters can be measured ( 5 , 18 , 19 ). Based on the above reasons, the IGA scale was used in this study. The IGA scale was compiled by Chinese scholars, which used Chinese college students as samples and adopted an event-related brain potential method to identify objective electrophysiological indexes that could distinguish IGA users from other Internet users. The reliability and stability of the scale for Chinese young people have been proven by reliability and validity tests ( 20 , 21 ).

IGA scale with 11 questions and a Likert 5-point scoring method were used for the study. From being “highly consistent” to “very inconsistent,” the consistency between the actual situation of the subjects and the questionnaire items were correspondingly scored from “4 points” to “0 points,” respectively. Subjects with higher scores were more likely to develop IGA. A score < 20 was regarded as normal online game behavior, a score ≥ 20 but <30 was regarded as online game indulgent and a score ≥ 30 was considered as IGA. In this study, the Internal consistency Cronbach's α of the questionnaire was 0.856, and the KMO test coefficient (Bartlett's test, P < 0.05) was 0.828, indicating that the scale had good reliability and validity.

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) was previously translated into Chinese and validated by researchers in China ( 22 ). GAD-7 is a quantitative evaluation standard recommended by DSM-5 published by the American Psychiatric Association. It is an effective tool to identify possible cases with generalized anxiety disorder and has shown good reliability and validity in previous studies. The score is divided into four levels: 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, and 15–21, corresponding to no, mild, moderate and severe anxiety, respectively ( 23 ). In this study, the Cronbach's α of the standardized item of the scale was 0.922, and the KMO test coefficient (Bartlett's test, P < 0.05) was 0.920, indicating that the scale had good reliability and validity.

Patient Health Questionnaire Scale

The Patient Health Questionnaire Scale (PHQ-9) was previously translated into Chinese and validated by researchers in China ( 24 , 25 ). PHQ-9 is based on nine criteria of depression as stated in DSM-5 and is highly sensitive to depressive symptoms. The score is divided into five levels: 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, 15–19, and 20–27 corresponding to no, mild, moderate, moderately-severe and severe anxiety, respectively ( 26 ). In this study, the Cronbach's α of the standardized item of the scale was 0.905, and the KMO test coefficient (Bartlett's test, P < 0.05) was 0.930, indicating that the scale had good reliability and validity.

Executive Function Scale

Executive function was measured with the Chinese version Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) developed by Roth and Gioia ( 27 ), It contains 75-items that yield an overall score, the Global Executive Composite(GEC), which is derived from two index scores [Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognitive Index (MI)]. The BRI is comprised of four clinical scales: Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control and Self-Monitor. The MI is comprised of five clinical scales: Initiate, Working Memory, Plan or Organize, Task Monitor and Organization of Materials. A 1–3 level scoring system was adopted, with a score of 1 for “never,” a score of 2 for “sometimes” and a score of 3 for “often.” The higher the total score, the more serious the impairment of executive function. In this study, the internal consistency Cronbach's α of this scale was 0.976, and the KMO test coefficient (Bartlett's test, P < 0.05) was 0.966, indicating that the scale had good reliability and validity.

Statistical Analysis

The SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis in this study. The measured data were expressed as (M ± SD), and the independent sample t -test was used to compare two groups of measured data. The measured data for multiple groups were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, and multiple comparisons were made. Also, correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions were used to identify the relationships between the IGA score and anxiety, depression, and executive function, with a test level α of 0.05.

General Demographic Data of Subjects

A total of 850 participants completed the survey, including 353 males (41.53%) and 497 females (58.47%). The overall age distribution was between 18 and 27 years (91.53%). The educational background of the subjects mostly comprised a bachelor's degree (94.7%). Other general demographic data are shown in Table 1 .

Table 1 . General demographic data of subjects ( n = 850).

Network Usage of Subjects

Primary internet behaviors of subjects over the past 12-month period.

The 850 participants of the study were divided into two groups according to their primary Internet behaviors over the past 12 months. There were 151 (17.76%) participants in the Game group and the primary Internet behavior was playing online games. There were 699 (82.24%) participants in the Non-game group and the primary Internet behaviors included watching cinematographic and television programs, short videos, reading online novels, and shopping ( Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . The primary network behaviors and grouping of participants ( n = 850) over the past 12 months.

Basic Information of the Game and Non-game Groups

There were significant differences in gender, grade, and online time between the Game and Non-game groups ( Table 2 ).

Table 2 . Basic information of the game group and the Non-game group.

Relationships Between IGA Scores and Anxiety, Depression, and Executive Function Scores

Differences in anxiety and depression levels among groups.

Based on the IGA score, the Game group was further divided into a 0–9 score group (6.68 ± 2.16), a 10–19 score group (14.84 ± 2.24), and a 20–29 score group (22.65 ± 1.98). The results showed that subjects without depression or anxiety accounted for the most significant proportion of the 0–9 score group, and subjects with more than moderate anxiety or depression accounted for the most significant proportion of the 20–29 score group ( Figure 2 ).

Figure 2 . Different anxiety levels (GAD-7) and depression levels (PHQ-9) among groups without depression or anxiety accounted for the most significant proportion in the 0-9 score group, and subjects with more than moderate anxiety or depression accounted for the most significant proportion in the 20–29 score group. 0–9, 10–19, 20–29, respectively represents group whose scores of Internet Game Addiction Scale were 0–9, 10–19, 20–29.

Scores of Anxiety and Depression, the Executive Function Total Scores, and the Executive Function Score of Each Factor Among Groups

The results showed that students in the 0–9 score group (based on the IGA score) had lower scores on the anxiety, depression, and executive function scales than those in the Non-game group, 10–19 score group, and 20–29 score group ( P < 0.05). However, students who were in the 20–29 score group had higher scores on the anxiety, depression, and executive function scales than those in other groups ( P < 0.05) (see Table 3 ). These trends are shown in Figure 3 .

Table 3 . Scores of anxiety and depression, total scores, and the executive function scores of each factor among groups (M ± SD).

Figure 3 . Trends of anxiety, depression, and total scores of executive function among groups. 0–9, 10–19, 20–29, respectively represents group whose scores of Internet Game Addiction Scale were 0–9, 10–19, 20–29; * P < 0.05: vs. 0–9 Game group, ** P < 0.01: vs. 0–9 Game group, *** P < 0.001: vs. 0–9 Game group.

Correlation Analysis of IGA Scores With Gender, Age, Anxiety, Depression, and Executive Function

Table 4 shows the correlation between IGA scores and gender, age, anxiety, depression, and executive function. The results showed that IGA scores were positively correlated with age, anxiety, depression, executive function, and executive function subscale factors (see Table 4 ).

Table 4 . Correlation analysis between online game scale scores and gender, age, anxiety, depression, and executive function ( n = 151).

Multiple Linear Regression Analysis of IGA Scores With Age, Anxiety, Depression, and the Total Score of Executive Function ( n = 151)

The IGA score was treated as the dependent variable, and age, anxiety, depression, and executive function scores were treated as independent variables for multiple linear regression analysis. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) for the predictor variables ranged from 1.027 to 4.768, which is acceptable as being below the threshold of 10; likewise, Tolerance levels for each predictor ranged from 0.210 to 0.974, which is also a satisfactory range. The results indicated that age, anxiety, and the total score of executive function were independent influencing factors of online game behavior (see Table 5 ).

Table 5 . Multivariate regression analysis ( n = 151).

This study investigated the differences in anxiety, depression, and executive function scores among the Non-game group and the Game group (the Game group was divided into the 0–9, 10–19, 20–29 score groups according to the IGA scale score). The results showed that the scores for anxiety, depression, and executive function of subjects in the 0–9 score group were lower than those in the Non-game group, 10–19 score group, and 20–29 score group. It indicated that compared with other online entertainment behaviors, moderate online games might help alleviate anxiety and depression, and improve executive function. This confirms prior research findings that moderate online games can improve players' cognitive executive ability ( 28 , 29 ) and alleviate or even reduce players' anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions ( 30 , 31 ). A brain electrophysiology study on games also showed that moderate games activate brain areas related to emotion processing and that the frontal lobe areas related to attention are also more activated ( 32 ).

However, this study found that the scores for anxiety, depression, and executive function of subjects with higher online game scores (20–29 scores) were significantly higher than those in the 0–9, and 10–19 score groups, and in the Non-game group. Further correlation and regression analyses for the Game group revealed that anxiety, depression, and executive function were significantly positively correlated with the IGA score. The above conclusions showed that although excessive online game behavior (20–29 scores) did not reach the degree of addiction (online game scores were 30 and above), it still had a certain degree of negative impact on the emotions and executive functions of players.

This study showed the correlation of emotion and addiction with executive function. As a key subcortical brain area (e.g., nucleus accumbent, amygdala, cingulum gyrus, hypothalamus), the limbic system is closely related to addiction development ( 33 ). Appropriate online gaming leads to increased release of dopamine within the limbic system, resulting in pleasure. Consequently, such gamers feel calm, with anxiety and depression being mitigated ( 34 ). Therefore, moderate gaming can maintain emotional volatility in balance, while IGA causes emotional imbalance. In order to pursue pleasure through online games, gaming addicts are unable to extricate themselves from playing, resulting in impulsive and uncontrollable behaviors. Abrupt gaming halts trigger negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and anger ( 35 ). At this stage, the purpose of online gaming addicts to compulsively play is not only a method for pleasure-seeking, also a means to offset negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression ( 36 ). This also describes why this study found that online gaming abusers have more serious anxiety and depression behavioral traits. Previous studies have found that IGA was significantly associated with anxiety, depression, and alexithymia ( 37 ).

Being one of the functions of the frontal cortex ( 15 ), executive function is also involved in addiction regulation ( 38 ). Indeed, executive function does include advanced brain functions, including planning, inhibiting, control, shift and decision-making ( 39 ). Executive function mitigates addiction by inhibiting impulse behaviors; normal executive function can maintain online gamer behavior in a moderate state and abate/stabilize emotional volatility. Impaired executive function leads to limbic system dysregulation, thus aggravating impulsive behavior and causing IGA ( 40 ). In addition, IGA can consequently aggravate executive function damage. For instance, executive function disorder is observed in online gaming addicts ( 41 ) and Studies of brain potentials ( 42 ) and functional magnetic resonance ( 43 ) have found that IGA causes executive dysfunction through frontal lobe injury.

This is consistent with the conclusion that gaming abusers are exposed to poor executive function. Hence, executive function may play a key role in the mitigation of IGA and regulation of emotional status.

It has been found that age has an inverted U-shaped relationship with GD, the risk peaks in puberty and decreases at ~30 years of age ( 44 ). In fact, while the limbic system undergoes remarkable remodeling during puberty, prefrontal areas development is not complete until near the age of 25 ( 45 ). In this study, though 96% of the participants in this study were over 18 years old, the number of people aged 18–25 accounts for nearly 80% of the total population. According to the neurobiological model of addiction, neurodevelopmental changes occurring during young people lead to an imbalance between emotional (reward motivation) and executive control ( 46 , 47 ). This neurobiological fragility may contribute in young people to a higher risk of developing addictive behaviors ( 48 ).

This study also found that in the online game group, the proportion of males was significantly higher than that of females ( P < 0.001), which is consistent with previous research ( 49 , 50 ). The differences in user needs between males and females could be the possible reason. Researchers have indicated that males prefer to get novel, stimulating, and exciting game experiences through online games, while females tend to maintain a real relationship through online social chat ( 51 ).

According to the standards of the original scale, those with scores of 30 and above are considered to be IGA subjects. However, there were no subjects with scores of 30 and above in this study. The reason for this might be that the subjects selected focus only on college students. Well-educated college students have better self-management abilities and hence lower rates of addiction. Some studies have found that even among the general population, only 0.3–1.0% of people meet the diagnostic criteria of IGA ( 11 ). On the other hand, the sample size of this study was not adequately large.

We investigated college students in Northern Anhui, China, the sample size of this study was not adequately large and the research subjects were only college students. Therefore, the results of this study need to be verified with a larger sample size and an expanded scope of research. This study only used questionnaire survey, and the results might be partially subject to subjectivity. Further research that includes brain imaging and neurophysiology is also necessary to corroborate the results of this study.

Conclusions

This study identified a dual role of online games. Moderate online game activities could improve the emotional state and executive function of college students. However, excessive online game behavior that does not reach the degree of addiction can also negatively affect emotional state and executive function. The imbalance between reward motivation and executive control might contribute to IGA. This study suggests that online game activities should not be completely denied, but the emotional state and executive function of those who indulge in online games should be monitored. Pre-intervention can prevent game behavior turning into an addiction.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of Bengbu Medical College. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants' legal guardian/next of kin. Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s), and minor(s)' legal guardian/next of kin, for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author Contributions

WZ and TW wrote the first draft of the manuscript. DJ and RZ provided critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors have materially participated in the manuscript preparation and gave input to the manuscript text and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Project supported by the provincial Natural Science Foundation of Anhui (1908085MH278), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders Open Grant (13dz2260500), Innovative training Program for Chinese College students (11910510067), Innovative training Program for Chinese Graduate students (Byycx20008), Bengbu City - Bengbu Medical College Joint Science and Technology Project (BYLK201822), Bengbu Medical College key Laboratory of Addiction Medicine, Innovative training Program for Chinese Graduate students (Byycx21025), Science and Technology Development Fund of Bengbu Medical College (BYKF1818), and Key projects of Natural Science in Bengbu Medical College (2020byzd022).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: Internet Game Addiction, executive function, anxiety, depression, college students

Citation: Zhao W, Wei T, Zhou R, Wang Y, Wang Y, Ren Z, Shao W, Luo H, Zhou Y, Chen N, Lu Q, Song X, Zhang Z, Fang Y, Zhang X and Jiao D (2021) The Influence of Online Game Behaviors on the Emotional State and Executive Function of College Students in China. Front. Psychiatry 12:713364. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.713364

Received: 22 May 2021; Accepted: 22 September 2021; Published: 20 October 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Zhao, Wei, Zhou, Wang, Wang, Ren, Shao, Luo, Zhou, Chen, Lu, Song, Zhang, Fang, Zhang and Jiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Dongliang Jiao, jdl3925697@163.com

† These authors have contributed equally to this work

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Video Game Addiction Essay Topics

If you need to write a video game addiction essay, this article can help get you started. Of course, aside from writing a video game addiction essay, you might also be asked to tackle different issues related to gaming, such as its role in education, society, and what the future holds in regards to online gaming. No matter which path you game, the most important thing is to choose a topic that the reader will find interesting. This will provide you with motivation to get started. You should also take care to write the paper carefully, using proper grammar, structure and word choices. Since you will likely be asked to do some research, you should ensure that the sources you use are credible. Any opinions that you state should be supported with facts. With this in mind, here is a comprehensive list of video game addiction essay topics along with other ideas.

Topics on Social Issues

If you are a college student, the topic of video games will no doubt come up in many of the classes you are taking no matter your major. The effects of playing video games - especially violent ones - are often discussed in courses related to psychology, education, sociology, journalism, and even public health. Here are some ideas that are applicable to almost all classes.

Persuasive Essay Ideas

Are there any harmful effects to playing video games?
Children understand that video games are just fiction. Support this statement.
Parents alone should determine whether their children can play violent games.
Are video game manufacturers made out to be scapegoats for problems in society?

Narrative Essay Suggestions

Think about when you were a child playing video games. Did you find any of them to be too violent?
Discuss an experience in which you witnessed cyberbullying during an online game session.
Discuss how playing video games effects romantic relationships
If you have ever been addicted to video games, discuss how it made you feel.

Expository Essay Prompts

Discuss what the research says about video games and mental health.
In the long term, how does exposure to video games impact childhood development?
How do kids who never or rarely play violent video games behave in school versus those who play for hours on end?

General Essay Ideas Related to Gaming

Should there be more video games geared towards girls?
Do children who play video games have better or worse relationships with their parents?
Should sex be banned from video games?
What steps should the video game industry take to combat cyberbullying?

Video Game Essay Topics New Technology

If you love playing video games, there is a good chance that you are knowledgeable about the current trends and features of contemporary gaming. For those who have a passion for programming, you might have even tested new software and games. Here are some essay ideas that will excite you:

Persuasive Essays about the Future of Gaming

How will VR change the way video games are played?
Will physical video game consoles eventually be replaced with video game streaming?
Streaming will replace consoles, yes or no?

Expository Essay Ideas about the Future of Gaming

Discuss an intriguing future technology that is currently in the works.
How will video games be different 10 years down the road?

Topics about Educational Games

Persuasive essays on video games in education.

Should video games play an expanded role in education?
How young is too young to play video games?
Would an education that incorporated videogames be beneficial for less engaged students?

Expository Essay Ideas for Video Games in Education

Can video games enhance special education classes?
Compare and contrast video games intended for entertainment versus education
How are teachers utilizing gaming in the classroom?

Essay Topic Ideas for Avid Gamers

If none of those above suggestions float your boat, do not worry. There are still plenty of other approaches you can take when you have been given a video game essay. Perhaps you are somebody who likes to write about your own personal experiences and express your opinions about video games. If that is the case, you might consider these topics:

Recall the first time you ever played a video game and reflect on how it made you feel
What does the future hold for online gaming?
Share an amusing story about something that happened to you while playing an online video game
List 5 things that you like about online game and 5 things you dislike
How has the PlayStation console evolved over time?
Present your own original video game idea

Writing a good video game essay is not just about expressing your enjoyment of the technology, but also requires you to create a coherent paper that the reader will understand. You should do some research and properly cite all sources. If you need help with this, we offer custom writing services that allow you to hire a professional writer to complete your assignments!

Video Game Addiction Paper Sample

The occurrence of video addictions starts as a common practice of relaxing and boredom killing. This effect has been mainly observed among the youth and the younger generation who tend to occupy most of their time in workstations and other areas of video game playing. This paper illustrates the modes and instances of addiction to video games and emphasizes on time as the factor with the continued use of the video or computer in playing games. The psychological factors of the addiction are clearly given with the effect of dopamine being illustrated. The signs and symptoms are clearly described in the report and also the harmful effects of video and computer games addictions. The best remedy in treating the addiction is where the best solution is not total withdrawal but offering psychological help to assist in reduction of the overdependence on video gaming.

Introduction

A habit is a disease. Many people nowadays have had the opportunity to access a computer or Video. Many parents have been involved in spending huge sums of money as a way of keeping their children busy at home. This has led to them spending a lot of time on the screen just watching TV or playing video games. The once intended video games turn to be destructive especially where the children get addicted. Not only children get addicted but also adolescent youth and adults who start playing the games more often as a way of relaxation. The major sign of addiction is the excessive use or overuse, daily or compulsive use or evading duties just to play games. Many guardians see this as a way of preventing the youth from bad behavior or peer influence or better still, a way of keeping children indoors; however it turns out to be destructive and addictive to say the least.

This paper illustrates the addiction to video games playing. It illustrates how one is addicted with time, and brings the psychological factors of the addiction. The signs and symptoms are also listed and the harms of video and computer games addictions are clearly described. The best treatment where the best solution is not total withdrawal but offering psychological help to assist reduce the dependency of video gaming is given.

Addiction

For a long time, addiction has normally been linked to substances like alcohol or drugs, but video games can too be addictive. According to psychiatrists addiction can be described as the need for more of a practice, behavior, or substance to keep a person normally going, and if the individual does not get more of the behavior, practice, or substance then he gets irritated and miserable in life at that moment. Many children or adults who are addicted to video games start playing it as a way to pass time or as a way of avoiding boredom.

Other children are left at home with no other option but to play games in order to relax and have fun. The actual addiction comes in where users compulsively play computer or video games, start isolating from social contacts and concentrate entirely on computer or video games thus forgetting the social life. There have been many proposals to include video game addiction in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders which is seen as a psychological addiction. If the games are withdrawn, withdrawal symptoms such as anger, violence, depression, or lone ranging may be experienced especially in cases of serious addictions. The children for example may refuse to eat, or sleep, cry, and stay alone.

The Psychological Factor

According to Clark, the biological aspect of addiction brought by video games is uncertain. Research indicates that gambling increases dopamine in the brain, but there is more than meets the eye than brain chemistry. The release of dopamine in the brain reinforces brain maps; they are the paths of neurons that accumulate when an activity is repeated time and again. As one plays more games the brain configures itself to be perfect in the game but the worst thing is that its starts to expect that you must play them. The individuals try to change the way they feel by using something outside of themselves which gives them a fantasy that makes them feel better.

The games make them assume the role of a fictional character and make them able to feel psychologically free and able to interact with other players in a world which is not real but virtual. This makes them become engrossed in the game and visualize the virtual world as better, appealing, and enjoyable than the real world. They live in a world of illusions and never want to be in a real world hence they are psychologically affected.

The Harmful Effects

Initially, video gaming seems to be harmless and many people just have fun and illusions. However, the harm comes in when the overuse is detected. Too much of anything is poisonous and as Clark says, addiction can ruin lives. Many children will play for long hours hence having no time for social life, completing their school assignments, or even physical activities like playing sports. This will have adverse effects on their normal social developments. Several attributes of normal life like addressing people, talking to opposite sex members, and knowledge of the surrounding features will be skipped since most of the time is spend in non interactive conditions of playing games.

Having no physical activities or exercising the body, they might tend to accumulate weight and subject themselves to the risk of developing health complications such as obesity. This will have impacts when one gets old especially considering that he/she will still be behaving as a child. For adults, addiction can lead to neglecting jobs, duties, or relationships. Adults may even put away meals or sleep just to play video games.

Signs and Symptoms of Addiction

Not all who play games for long periods of time are addicts since people can practice safe game playing. As cited in Clark, the Center for Online Addiction gives addiction signs as; playing for increasing amounts of time, thinking about video gaming while performing other activities, engaging in video gaming so as to escape from real life problems, anxiety, or depression, giving lies to trusted individuals e.g. family and friends in order to hide gaming, and feelings of irritation, or anger when video games are eliminated. Also addicts are mostly isolated from their social networks and assume or ignore other hobbies they have in order to engage in video or computer games.

Clark indicates that most video game addicts are males under the age of thirty. Mainly children with low self-esteem and social misfit problems are affected. In order for guardians to ascertain the addiction then they must keep track of the child’s behavior such as; when the child plays for long hours, the problems that result or be aroused by the gaming and the child’s reaction to time limits.

Detoxification or Treatment of Addiction

Video gaming addiction can be treated same as other addictions, but there is one major important difference. You do not need to withdraw the computer or video. This emphasizes the responsible use of the equipments. This can be done by limiting the time and complete withdrawal from playing games. Many video games addicts never admit to be in trouble, hence they rebel against any treatments procedures. No medicines are involved but just psychological counseling which will change the gaming hours and dependency.

Gaming can be fun and enjoyable for many people especially children but special care should be taken when it is being practiced so as not to be overused. Guardians have the role of protecting their adolescent children from such harm and encourage social behaviors so as to build a better society in future. Video and computer games can be played online to enhance the experience of the game but the best player should also take into consideration, his normal life, duties, and responsibility. The best remedy for computer and video games addiction is to have a successfully balance between playing video games and school activities, grades, friends, and family obligations.

Video Game Addiction

The argument against video game addiction, many researchers are skeptical that video games are truly "addictive.".

Updated July 3, 2023 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

What Is Video Game Addiction?
Find a therapist near me
Video games have many benefits for gamers.
Research on gaming disorder—aka video game addiction—is flawed and not sufficiently conclusive.
Because video games are less socially acceptable, they may be unfairly targeted.
There are other explanations for many reports of video game addiction, including autism, ADHD, and depression.

This is half of a pair of articles that highlight the evidence for and against the existence of video game addiction . Read the counter-argument here .

For decades, psychologists, parents, and gamers have asserted that video games can be addictive. Although video games seem to influence enthusiasts differently from those of other hobbies, there is insufficient empirical evidence to designate them as an actual addiction . Further, video games are a fun and socially beneficial activity for many, so labeling them as addictive would prevent many from accessing these benefits.

For example, video games connect lonely or introverted people with one another , relieve stress , and even help people explore their own identities . Some therefore argue that, because of video games’ benefits and popularity, gaming addiction should not be considered an official diagnosis until overwhelming evidence supports this assertion.

Flawed Research

Several studies have concluded that gaming disorder qualifies as an addiction. Because addictions share several characteristics, researchers created theoretical criteria that a gamer must meet to have the diagnosis. For example, people with addictions suffer consequences in various aspects of their life and struggle to quit without help. This is true regardless of the substance.

Based on the assumption that people with video game addiction must be affected similarly, researchers have surveyed gamers on similar criteria to determine what percent have an addiction. These include questions such as, “How often do you find it difficult to stop gaming?” and “Have you deceived a family member, significant other, employer, or therapist regarding the amount of time spent engaging in gaming activities?”

Although questions like these may reasonably assess someone’s behavior, researchers use too many different questionnaires to be compared cleanly. Even when researchers use the same survey, they sometimes interpret the results differently.

In other words, someone would need to answer “Yes” to six of the eleven Gaming Addiction Screening questions to be considered addicted. They would need to respond “Sometimes” or “Often” to five or more of the ten questions in the Ten Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test to qualify. If the same person took both surveys, one survey might conclude that they had an addiction and the other might not. Further, some studies only measure how many hours per week a person spends gaming instead of targeting the effect games have on their functioning.

This has resulted in wildly different estimates of gaming addiction’s prevalence. It is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from these data until researchers use standardized measures.

It is also very difficult to estimate one’s actual screen time each week. One meta-analysis of the research found that in 95 percent of studies, participants did not accurately report how much time they spend on screens . This calls into question all studies which rely on participants’ subjective estimates of how they use their time because they have based their conclusions on a statistic that is likely inaccurate.

Why Not Other Hobbies?

Other critics of the diagnosis point out that gaming has been unfairly targeted and pathologized. A person who plays golf instead of spending time with family is inconsiderate. A person who plays video games instead of spending time with family is addicted.

This demonstrates a clear bias . Society considers video games a waste of time, so an enthusiastic gamer is criticized more harshly than someone with a more acceptable hobby.

What Else Might Account for Excessive Gaming

Many of my clients report that they feel addicted to technology. When I continue the assessment process, many report that they were previously diagnosed with autism or ADHD . This complicates the diagnostic process because many people with these disorders already struggle to stop scrolling through social media or playing video games.

Most of us have looked up from our phones and realized that half an hour or more had suddenly passed. The hypnotic “flow” which we experienced blinded us to the passage of time. Autistic people* and those with ADHD are especially susceptible to this phenomenon. So if, for example, a person with ADHD finds it particularly difficult to turn off a game, does that person have an addiction or is it simply how this kind of stimulus affects those with ADHD?

Some research has found that heavy gamers have reduced gray matter in areas of the brain associated with attention , impulse control. However, these studies do not sufficiently demonstrate that gaming caused the differences, only that they are associated. Correlation is not causation. Some studies even show that brain scans for people with ADHD look remarkably similar to scans of those with gaming disorder , even after treatment.

One researcher pointed out this conundrum by relating it to depression . “We would not diagnose depressed individuals with hypersomnia with a comorbid ‘bed addiction.’” In other words, someone with depression might stay in bed for days, but this does not mean that they are addicted to the bed. In the same way, an autistic person or someone with depression or ADHD might appear to be addicted to video games even when they are not. In short, many diagnosed with gaming disorder may simply be autistic or have ADHD.

It is possible that video games are addictive. However, the current body of research is too flawed to state decisively that the negative consequences outweigh the benefits the games afford players. It is premature to consider gaming disorder to be an official addiction.

*Although many refer to autistic people as “people with autism” or “people with autism spectrum disorders,” almost 90 percent of autistic adults prefer “autistic person.” This language is used here to respect that preference.

Bean, A. M., Nielsen, R. K. L., van Rooij, A. J., & Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Video game addiction: The push to pathologize video games. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 48 (5). Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-29288-001

Diament, M. (2022, December 2). 'Autistic' or 'person with autism'? It depends. Disability Scoop. https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2022/12/02/autistic-or-person-with-auti…

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Fishman, A. (2022, November 7). Why it's so hard to walk away from a video game. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/video-game-health/202211/why-it…

Fishman, A. (2023, February 20). How gamers use video games to explore their gender identity. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/video-game-health/202302/how-…

Gentile, D. (n.d.) Gaming Addiction Screening. University of California, Santa Cruz. https://caps.ucsc.edu/pdf/gaming-addiction-screening.pdf

Han, D.H., Bae, S., Hong, J., Kim, S.M., Son, Y.D., & Renshaw, P. (2019). Resting-state fMRI study of ADHD and Internet Gaming Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders, 25 (8). Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1087054719883022

Király, O., Bőthe, B., Ramos-Díaz, J., Rahimi-Movaghar, A., Lukavska, K., Hrabec, O., Miovsky, M., Billieux, J., Deleuze, J., Nuyens, F., Karila, L.M., Griffiths, M.D., Nagygyörgy, K., Urbán, R., Potenza, M., King, D.L., Rumpf, H., Carragher, N., Lilly, E., & Demetrovics, Z. (2019). Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10): Measurement invariance and cross-cultural validation across seven language-based samples. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 33 (1). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328615597_Ten-Item_Internet_Ga…

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van Rooij, A.J., Ferguson, C., Carras, M.C. Kardefelt-Winther, D., Shi, J., Aarseth, E., Bean, A., Bergmark, K.H., Brus, A., Coulson, M., Deleuze, J., Dullur, P., Dunkels, E., Edman, J., Elson, M., Etchells, P.J., Fiskaali, A., Granic, I., Jansz, J...& Przybylski, A.K. (2018). A weak scientific basis for gaming disorder: Let us err on the side of caution. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7 (1) Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323542721_A_weak_scientific_ba…

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Andrew Fishman is a licensed social worker in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a lifelong gamer who works with clients to understand the impact video games have had on their mental health.

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Dependence on Technology — The Issue of Video Games Addiction

The Issue of Video Games Addiction

Categories: Dependence on Technology Negative Impact of Technology

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Published: Dec 5, 2018

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Video Game Addiction and Emotional States: Possible Confusion Between Pleasure and Happiness?

1 Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

2 Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

Nicolas Debue

Jonathan lete, cécile van de leemput, associated data.

All datasets generated for this study are included in the article/supplementary material.

Internet gaming disorder is characterized by a severely reduced control over gaming, resulting in an increasing gaming time and leading to negative consequences in many aspects of the individual life: personal, family, social, occupational and other relevant areas of functioning (World Health Organization). In the last years, the significant boom in using video games has been raising health issues that remain insufficiently understood. The extent of this phenomenon (the estimated prevalence is between 1.7 and 10% of the general population) has led the mentioned Organization to include gaming disorders in the list of mental health conditions (2018). Several studies show converging findings that highlight the common brain activities between substance use disorders and behavioral addictions (i.e., gaming disorders). Addiction specialists observed that addict subjects tend to confuse pleasure with happiness when linking emotional states to their addictive activities. As far as we know, beyond the mentioned observations, distinguishing the perception of these two emotional states in the frame of an addiction has not been yet the object of formal research. This study aims at examining the possible confusion between pleasure and happiness within the addiction sphere. Video game addiction has been chosen to explore the possible occurrence of this perceptional distortion. A mixed design lab-based study was carried out to compare between video games addicts and non-addicts (between-subjects), and video games-related activities and neutral activities (within-subject). Emotional reactions were gauged by self-reported scales and physiological data acquired through a range of biosensors: Relaxation and Hearth Rate. From a therapeutic standpoint, this research intends to explore alternatives to deal with this sort of disorders. More specifically, at the cognitive level, the idea is elaborating guidelines to develop patients’ insights into these emotional states and thus increasing their ability to handle them. Overall, several indices resulting from this study constitute a bundle of arguments that argue in favor of the confusion between pleasure and happiness made by addict users when associating their affective states to video gaming. Furthermore, this approach illustrates how reappraising emotions may contribute to reducing the perceptional distortion of these emotional states.

Introduction

In the last years, the significant boom in using video games (VG) has been raising health issues that remain insufficiently understood ( Khazaal et al., 2016 ). The World Health Organization [WHO] (2018) has recently included “gaming disorders” in the list of mental health conditions. According to WHO this affliction is a “persistent or recurrent behavior pattern of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

The fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) considers the ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ as a potential new diagnosis that requires further research ( Petry et al., 2015 ). The prevalence of problematic gaming is estimated to range from 1.7% to over 10% among general population ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Compared to the core topics of research in neuroscience such as stress, depression, etc., the chronic use of VG is a rather recent field of investigation. Yet, a growing number of studies have been produced in this field in the last two decades ( Andreassen et al., 2016 ). Indeed, several research projects have been exploring VG addiction from a behavioral, emotional, brain circuits and genetic perspectives ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ; Dong et al., 2017 ).

There seems to be converging findings that highlight the common brain activities between VG disorders (belonging to the cluster of behavioral addictions) and substance use disorders (SUD). It has been shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbital frontal cortex, para-hippocampal gyrus and thalamus were activated in both disorders ( Han et al., 2011 ). The limbic structures appear to be the key circuits linked with reward and addiction ( Cooper et al., 2017 ). In subjects suffering from these disorders, cues associated with SUD and with behavioral addiction can trigger craving, which is connected with the dopamine reward system ( Ko et al., 2009 ; Han et al., 2011 ). In addition, it has been observed that the level of dopamine released in the ventral striatum when playing a competition like video game is comparable to that provoked by psycho-stimulant drugs ( Koepp et al., 1998 ; Yau et al., 2012 ). Few studies have been carried out on the genetic aspects of this topic. Some of them indicate that there would be genetic background similarities between these two disorders. For example, the homozygous short allelic variant of the 5HTTLPR gene (encoding the serotonin transporter) is more prevalent among the excessive Internet user, which is also linked with increased drug consumption ( Serretti et al., 2006 , as cited in Yau et al., 2012 ; Lee et al., 2008 , as cited in Yau et al., 2012 ).

As described later, studying the confusion between pleasure and happiness in the frame of addiction requires as clear a demarcation as possible between these two emotional states. Although a consensus among scientists on how to define and distinguish pleasure and happiness remains to be reached (see next section Pleasure and Happiness ), in this research we have adopted the following distinctive traits to describe and to work with these two emotional states: pleasure relates to a transient emotional state resulting from the satisfaction of a desire, a craving, and happiness refers to a lasting emotional state of contentment, euthymia ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

According to Lustig (2017) , addictions together with depression are two rampant afflictions in the last decades and constitute the harmful extremes of pleasure (associated with the dopaminergic system) and happiness (associated with the serotoninergic system) respectively ( Üstün et al., 2004 ; Lepine and Briley, 2011 ; Szalavitz, 2011 ; Whiteford et al., 2013 ; Gowing et al., 2015 ; Keyes et al., 2015 ). Based on his long practice on addiction issues, this author argues that confusing pleasure (in the sense of longing, craving, strongly driven by a short term reward) with happiness is linked with SUD and with behavioral addictions (i.e., gambling, eating disorders, excessive use of technology like for example social media and VG, etc.), which could lead to depression ( Lawrence et al., 2014 ). According to the author, confusing pleasure with happiness is related to the growth rate of this disorder insofar as it would encourage seeking immediate gratifications perceived as sources of happiness, which in turn triggers the reward system with the risk to sink into the vicious circle of addiction ( Pollard, 2003 ). Besides, the significant industrial development, through its commercial campaigns, probably tended to lead individuals to equate consumption with happiness ( Schmidt, 2016 ; Lustig, 2017 ). From a physiological standpoint, the author highlights that an over excited reward system engenders an excess of dopamine (DA) release from the ventral tegmental area, which in return decreases serotonin (5HT) level (associated with depression) ( Pollard, 2003 ; MacNicol, 2016 ).

Moreover, Lustig underlines that DA and 5HT amino acids (needed for the production of DA and 5HT) share the amino acid transporters, which poses a problem in case of DA amino acid over presence: that is to say, the more amino acids for DA, the less amino acids transporters are available for 5HT amino acids. In short, this DA-5HT unbalance illustrates one of the facets of the DA-5HT interaction in which the low 5HT level, associated with depression, prevents the serotoninergic system to exert its inhibitory role to imped the over drive of the dopaminergic system ( Esposito et al., 2008 ).

Chronic stress and anxiety may further aggravate this problem by increasing the cortisol level and thus creating a loop with dopamine activating the sympathetic nerve system and reinforcing the reward seeking behavior while down-regulating 5HT -1a receptor, which decreases the serotonin signaling and increases the depression likelihood ( Lustig, 2017 ). These findings are in line with studies that associate stress, anxiety and depression with Internet gaming disorders ( Wenzel et al., 2009 ; Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Fundamentally, from a phylogenetic standpoint, it is likely that pleasure has contributed more than happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ), which could explain the stronger drive of the short term gratifications over the quest for medium and long term euthymia. In sum, this suggests that identifying the possible confusion between the mentioned emotional states associated with the addictive activities may contribute to deepen the understanding of this sort of disorders and consequently to explore new therapeutic options.

The emotional states (and their consequences) associated with VG as felt and perceived by chronic users led to thorough interrogations of health professionals. Several studies intended to explore this issue by focusing on the individual characteristics of addict players. For instance, the general level of happiness appears to be a firm candidate to predict addiction to VG playing ( Hull et al., 2013 ). In effect, it has been shown that gaming disorders are positively correlated with depression and loneliness and negatively correlated with well-being ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ). These two studies relied on a eudaimonic notion of well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, a life well lived). Thus, based on the mentioned definitions of pleasure and happiness, on the semantic net (see Annex ) and on the analysis made in the next section (Pleasure and Happiness), in this research well-being is assimilated to happiness due to the considerable common ground shared between these two concepts. In line with these findings, another study highlights the association between high frequency of online gaming with depression and social phobia ( Wei et al., 2012 ). Similar results were found in a study in which, compared with no addict Internet user, Internet addict subjects used to play online games reported significantly more depressive symptoms ( Geisel et al., 2015 ).

From a psychological symptoms standpoint, it has also been observed that when playing VG, addict gamers have a sense of well being or euphoria while playing VG, inability to stop the activity, craving more time at playing VG, feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not playing VG, with all the pernicious consequences these symptoms have on the private, social and professional life ( Griffiths, 2008 ). At glance, the coexistence of well being and craving might come across as paradoxical, although the mentioned work ( Lustig, 2017 ) on this issue provides some elements of answer to this finding.

Using a video game clip as a stimulation trial, it has been studied ( Kim et al., 2018 ) the craving state of chronic users when playing VG through measures resulting from addiction questionnaires and several bio signals such as eye blinking, eye saccadic movements, skin conductance and respiratory rate. The results of this work showed that during the stimulation trial video game there was a decrease of eye blinking rate, eye saccadic movement rate and mean amplitude of the skin conductance response whereas there was a significant increase of the mean respiratory rate.

Another study ( Lu et al., 2010 ; as cited in Kim et al., 2018 ) focused on a group of individuals with high risks of developing Internet gaming disorders (IGD) and their sympathetic nervous system responses. When using Internet in this experiment, increases were observed in blood volume, body temperature and respiratory rate. Heart rate (HR) has also been used as a reliable indicator of craving in subjects with SUD ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ).

Pleasure and Happiness

The psychophysiological and brain mechanisms of pleasure and happiness are quite complex and probably more research is required to better discerning these processes. Some studies have underlined that the hedonic system includes wanting and liking and each of these two emotional states may operate in a conscious and unconscious mode ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Studies indicate that unconscious wanting would function as a conditioned desire involving the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, hypothalamus and dopamine; on the other hand the unconscious liking would relate to a sensory hedonic dimension associated with the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, periaqueductal gray, amygdala, opioids and cannabinoids ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ). The same studies show that conscious wanting would relate to cognitive incentives, subjective desires and dopamine whereas conscious liking would be linked with subjective pleasures, opioids and cannabinoids; both would involve the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and insular.

It has been shown that the level of activation of some of the mentioned areas would be altered in subjects with Internet gaming disorders: sensing craving for gaming is associated with an increased activation of the left orbitofrontal cortex (correlated with desire for VG play) and with a decreased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (probably linked with the reduced capacity to inhibit craving for gaming) ( Wang et al., 2017 ).

There might be a relation between the complexity of these brain circuits linked to these emotional states and the polysemy of these two terms, happiness and pleasure , which may contribute to the possible confusion between them. Indeed, the intense interrelation between them finds expression in subtle distinctive features and in some connotations with vague borders, to the extent that these words might be regarded as almost synonyms. The semantic analysis of these two terms produced in this research intends to show their core meanings, their nuances and the possible intersections between them ( Procter, 1985 ). Trying to unravel and to understand these two emotional states is not a recent endeavor. For instance, Greek thinkers approached the notion of happiness as a state constituted by two components: Hedonia (pleasure) and Eudaimonia (a life well lived) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ).

Due to its nature, defining and studying happiness is a quite uneasy task. Although progress has been made on this rather recent area of study, there is still a lack of consensus when it comes to defining this concept. Some authors distinguish fluctuating happiness (self centered) from durable, authentic happiness (self-transcendent) ( Dambrun et al., 2012 ). Another study uses the value-arousal model on emotions to define it, according to which happiness results from a positive valence, high arousal and engaged and satisfied in life ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ). Lustig (2017) emphasizes the time perspective as one of the distinguishing traits between these two emotional states by opposing the short-term logic of pleasure to the longer-term characteristics of happiness .

These last two studies are quite illustrative of the differences with regard to defining happiness , in particular when it comes to including or not pleasure in it. Whilst there seems to be a consensus on “life satisfaction,” “connecting with others” and “contentment” as the main traits of happiness , it is less clear whether pleasure is part of it. Usually, in the literature there are two understandings to articulate these emotional states: either both ( happiness and pleasure) are seen as inseparable concepts or happiness is regarded as a state free from distress (‘liking’ without ‘wanting’) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2010 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ; Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ; Lustig, 2017 ). Whether or not pleasure is included in the definition of happiness , to the best of our knowledge there is no study that includes craving (intense desire, longing) as a trait of happiness .

Thus, based on the mentioned definitions and on the association between craving and arousal ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ), craving for playing VG may subscribe itself within the realm of pleasure , but stands outside of the happiness’ sphere.

Within the frame of this research, Pleasure refers to the hedonic reward processes driven by a desire to obtain a gratification that can lead to craving in certain circumstances ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Pleasure has been associated with the dopaminergic circuit which can, in certain circumstances, function in an addictive mode and can affect also habits, conditioning, motivation and executives functions such as decision making, inhibitory control, etc. ( Volkow et al., 2011 ).

Happiness is understood as contentment and euthymic state, in line with a happy emotional state defined by a positive valence and low arousal ( Jatupaiboon et al., 2013 ). Physiologically, this state implies a reposed mind; akin to the relaxation state measured through the brain electrical activity ( Teplan and Krakovskà, 2009 ). In the literature this mood is related to the serotoninergic circuit ( Lustig, 2017 ).

To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing questionnaire focusing on the association between VG and pleasure/happiness. Thus, our study required a preliminary phase to design such self-report tool whose aim is to explore the perceived emotional states (pleasure/happiness) associated with VG play.

As far as we know, distinguishing the perception of these two emotional states in the frame of an addiction has not been yet the object of formal research, hence the reduced literature on this specific issue, in particular the experimental one.

Consequently this research may be seen as a preliminary study, which aims at examining the possible confusion between pleasure and happiness within the addiction sphere. VG addiction has been chosen to explore the possible occurrence of this perceptional distortion. Emotional reactions of VG addicts and VG non-addicts were gauged via self-report scales and physiological data (Heart rate and Relaxation state) acquired by a range of biosensors.

Resulting from the mentioned background, it is hypothesized that addict VG users:

Are likely to confuse the notions of pleasure with that of happiness when associating their emotional states to VG play.

The results of this study are expected to show that addict VG users associate happiness with VG activities while feeling craving for playing accompanied by an increased HR and a low relaxation level. Given the shortage of previous researches on the specific issue related to the confusion between pleasure and happiness in VG addiction, the outcome of this study is approached in an exploratory manner.

From a therapy standpoint, this project intends to explore alternatives to deal with this kind of scenarios. More specifically, at the cognitive level, the idea is finding means to develop patients’ insights into these emotional states and thus increasing their ability to handle them.

Materials and Methods

Preliminary phase: design of the “pleasure and/or happiness and vg” questionnaire, participants.

In total 105 VG players participated in this survey, out of which 61 filled all the questionnaires required for the design of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The mean age of these 61 participants was 24.28 and the standard deviation 5.48. There were 33 males (54.1%) and 28 females (45.9%). The mean of playtime during working days was 4.49 h and the standard deviation 6.82, and during holidays and weekends 4.68 h and the standard deviation 3.13.

An online survey was run via video game forum and Reddit site (network of communities with common interests). The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the internal coherence of our self-report tool (Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG) relative to two validated questionnaires (on Hedonic tone and Happiness). Thus the survey consisted in filling the three questionnaires. Participants completed anonymously and voluntarily the questionnaires through their online gamers groups.

Two validated and known questionnaires were used to construct the ‘ Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG’ questionnaire through which the emotional states associated with VG activities were evaluated: the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) ( Snaith et al., 1995 ), an assessment tool of hedonic tone, and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) ( Hills and Argyle, 2002 ). The French version of these two questionnaires was used ( Loas et al., 1997 ; Bruchon-Schweitzer and Boujut, 2014 ).

The abbreviated SHAPS is composed of 14 items to assess the hedonic tone and the absence of it. The answer scale for each item offers four possible options ranging from ‘Definitely agree’ to ‘Strongly disagree.’ The OHQ is extensively used to evaluate the individual level of happiness. For each of its 29 items, the answer scale has 6 options going from ‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree.’

Several items of the SHAPS and the OHQ are quite adapted to the VG paradigm and lend themselves to be contextualized. For example, the first item of the SHAPS questionnaire is formulated as: “I would enjoy my favorite television or radio program.” In this case “television or radio program” is replaced by “video game.” An example of OHQ concerns the item “I am very happy,” which became “I am very happy when playing VG.” So, these kinds of items constitute the questionnaire whose aim is identifying the emotional states that users associate with VG. Initially, eight items were adapted to VG from these two questionnaires: four items from SHAPS and four items from OHQ. The answer scale provides with six possible options ranging from ‘fully disagree’ to ‘fully agree.’

Statistical Analysis

In order to ensure the usefulness of the designed self-report tool, an Alpha Cronbach test was run on the results of this survey to measure the internal coherence between the ‘VG and Pleasure/Happiness’ and the two other questionnaires (SHAPS and OHQ). Moreover, it has been examined whether there is a correlation between VG play frequency and the two areas explored in this survey: the general happiness level (OHQ) and the emotional states associated with VG (‘Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG’).

The Experiment

The study was announced through the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) scientific social media as well as via leaflets available in public cyber games centers in Brussels. Gamers interested to participate in this study had to answer an on-line survey ( N = 163), in which the following data was gathered: age, play frequency, name of VG played and a validated test to assess the gaming addiction level (Gaming Addiction Scale, Lemmens et al., 2009 ). The French version of this scale was used ( Gaetan et al., 2014 ). Being used to play to at least one of these five popular VG (Fornite, Overwatch, League of Legends, Counter-Strike or Rocket League) and an age ranging from 18 to 70 years old were the inclusion criteria. Competing against another team and playing in groups are the common characteristics of these VG. The exclusion criteria were having vision impairments and neurological problems.

Two groups of gamers were invited to participate in this study: addict users (AU) and non-addict users (NAU). None of the invitees met the exclusion criteria. The selection and recruitment were based on the score obtained in the test on gaming addiction, resulting in: AU ( N = 12) and NAU ( N = 17) (7 females and 22 males, ranging from 19 to 29 years old). They were all French speakers Belgian residents. The mean age was 23 and the standard deviation of 3. The difference between sexes in terms of VG addiction is not statistically significant (3/7 AU females and 9/22 AU males, U 45.5, p = 0.130).

This experiment took place within the frame in the usability laboratory of the Research Centre of Work and Consumer Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Before the experiment all the procedures were explained to participants and their consent was asked on formal basis. They were informed that:

– This experiment aims at better understanding the video game phenomenon (without mentioning the issue relative to the emotional states and VG).
– They have to fill several questionnaires (in French).
– Some non-invasive artifacts are set to gather measurements on physiological signals while they watch video clips.
– The Ethical Committee of ULB approved this study in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

The participants were welcome into the testing room of the laboratory by the examiner. They were seated and given an informed consent form. Once the form was read and signed, the study procedure was explained. Then, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset was placed onto the participant’s head and an impedance check was run.

Before the beginning of the experiment, each participant chose his/her favorite VG he/she uses to play among the five initially proposed. During the experiment, the examiner observed the participant through a one-way-glass, avoiding interference.

Finally, participants were thanked for their participation, compensated and given information on obtaining the results of the study. The whole experimental run took around 1 h.

Prior to starting the operational phases of the experiment, all devices are set to initiate the baseline recording of all the physiological signals.

Six phases compose this experiment ( Figure 1 ). In each phase of the experiment the emotional states associated with VG were examined either through self-report questionnaires or via physiological measures. The physiological measures were recorded during the visioning of two sorts of video clips: VG clips whose aim was to induce craving and neutral video clips (documentaries on nature) intending to reduce craving.

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Synthetic view of the experimental phases.

The six experimental phases:

(1) “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (six items): Participants were invited to fill the self-report questionnaire designed in the preliminary phase.
(2) Watching a neutral clip during 2 min while recording physiological signals related the mentioned two emotional states. This phase intends to decrease craving in participants.
(3) Craving score: Participants were asked to express their craving state to play their favorite VG via a one item self-report questionnaire.
(4) Watching a VG clip during 2 min while recording the same physiological signals as in phase two related to the mentioned emotional states. The objective of this phase is to increase craving in participants.
(5) Craving score: the same procedure and self-report tool as in phase 3 were applied.
(6.1) “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (Three bipolar items).
(6.2) “Key words and VG”: participants were invited to associate a list of words to VG activities.
(6.3) “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” (one bipolar item): participants were asked to associate one of the two emotional states to VG play.

The cycle from the 2nd phase to the 5th phase was repeated five times for each participant. In each of these five cycles, different episodes of video clips (the chosen VG and the neutral clip) were shown randomly so as to avoid the habituation phenomenon and minimize the influence that the order of the sequence of episodes could have on participants’ responses.

– Experimental groups: AU and NAU

The Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS) ( Lemmens et al., 2009 ; Gaetan et al., 2014 ) was used to constitute these groups. As a tool to measure game addiction, GAS possesses significant assets. Lemmens et al. (2009) showed the validity of this scale from a cross population point of view and its one-dimensional characteristic resulting from the factorial analysis. In addition, in the same study it has been shown the concurrent validity of GAS insofar as this scale is associated with play frequency as well as with psychological features related with game addiction, namely decreased level of social competence and of well being, and high level of aggression and of loneliness. Moreover, high scores in GAS are also linked with attentional deficiencies in response inhibition when perceiving game cues ( van Holst et al., 2012 ; in Khazaal et al., 2016 ), which converges with results produced by other researches associating impulsivity and cue reactivity with other addictive behaviors ( Billieux et al., 2011 ; Khazaal et al., 2012 ; Torres et al., 2013 ). Relative to other game addiction measurements, GAS has the most complete covering of the Internet gaming disorder criteria of the DSM-5 ( Petry et al., 2014 ). Although it was initially designed for adolescents, there are substantial evidences to state that GAS is applicable for young adults too ( Khazaal et al., 2016 ).

Each of the seven items of this scale starts with the question “How often in the last 6 months…?” to explore the impact of video gaming on different aspects of the subject’s life. The possible answers are: never, rarely, sometimes, often and very often. The first two answers score 0, the last three answers score 1. If the total sum of these scores is 4 or higher, the subject is considered an AU according to this scale.

– The experiment

In the first phase, participants were asked to fill the “ Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire composed by six items: three items that tie Pleasure (P) and VG, three items that tie Happiness (H) and VG (six-items in total).

The answer scale for each item was composed of six options ranging from ‘Fully disagree’ to ‘fully agree.’ Each of these six items is answered separately, thus the overall possible results of this questionnaire can be: (1) P and VG > H and VG or (2) H and VG < P and VG or, (3) P and VG = H and VG.

In the second phase (Neutral video clip), two physiological signals related to Pleasure and Happiness were recorded. Based on the correlates found between HR and craving, this physiological signal is used as an indicator of arousal ( Kennedy et al., 2015 ).

Despite the difficulty in defining and in measuring happiness , the brain electrical activity is recorded (Electroencephalogram, EEG) mainly to detect the relaxation state. This state appears close to the notion of happiness; in the literature it is accepted that the increase of alpha waves is correlated with mental and physical rest ( Teplan and Krakovskà, 2009 ).

In the third phase, participants were asked to express their craving state to play his/her favorite VG. The statement employed in this self-report tool was: “State your present craving for gaming.” Participants have to choose the answer that best fitted their self-assessment among six possible answers offered by the scale ranging from “I do not feel any craving for gaming” to “I feel a very strong craving for gaming.”

In the fourth phase (VG clip), the same physiological signals as in the second phase were measured.

In the fifth phase, the same procedure to assess craving for gaming as in the third phase was employed.

In the sixth phase, three other self-report questionnaires were submitted to participants and used to evaluate the association between the mentioned emotional states and VG:

– “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” (three bipolar items). The same six items of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire used in phase 1 were presented in a bipolar structure: three items opposing “Pleasure and VG” vs. “Happiness and VG.” For example, if in the six items questionnaire the items “I would enjoy my favorite VG” (Pleasure/VG) and “I am happy when playing VG” (Happiness/VG) are presented separately, in this questionnaire they are part of the same item: “I would enjoy my favorite VG” vs. “I am happy when playing VG.” By doing so, participants are encouraged to choose which of their emotional states (Pleasure, Happiness) is associated with VG playing. That said, the scale has an uneven number of options (five) between the two extremes, the central option representing the equal association of Pleasure and Happiness with VG play. Thus, the overall possible results are identical as in phase 1.
– “Key words and VG”. Participants were asked to choose three words (out of ten) that they associate most with their VG activities. These 10 key words come from the semantic mapping elaborated in this research of the terms used in the formal statements defining pleasure and happiness in this study. For example, some words from the happiness sphere are contentment and well being , whereas desire and joy relate to pleasure . Besides, they are in line with both definitions Lustig’s (2017) . Only the ten words (French version) were shown to participants. Although the possible results are similar to those of six-item “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire and three-bipolar item “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire, this time the same association (emotional states and VG) is tackled via key words directly linked to the two studied emotional states ( Pleasure, Happiness ) but without mentioning them. This self-report format intends to gain accuracy in the identification of gamers’ emotional states associated with VG.
– “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG”. The written definitions of both pleasure and happiness , based on work Lustig’s (2017) , were shown to participants. Then they were asked to read carefully these definitions and to take them into account when answering one bi-polar item that opposes “Pleasure and VG” vs. “Happiness and VG.” Unlike in the three-bipolar items questionnaire, the answer scale between these this bipolar item has an even number of options (six). This time is an “either/or” choice they are faced with, therefore the possible results are: P and VG < H and VG or P and VG > H and VG. Basically this questionnaire intends to strengthen consistency in participants’ insights into this issue by inviting them to confront their perception of their emotional states associated with VG play with the mentioned formal definitions, comparable to an emotions reappraisal process ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ).

In short, four self-report questionnaires (see Annex ) aim at exploring this dependent variable (association between these two emotional states and VG play) by looking at the consistency of participants’ answers to the different formats of questions. The questions’ formats are:

– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated with VG (six independent items);
– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated to VG (three bipolar items);
– Pleasure and/or happiness can be associated to VG through key words defining the two emotional states (without mentioning the words pleasure and happiness );
– Pleasure or happiness can be associated to VG (written explicit definitions of pleasure and happiness are given to participants).

This approach aims at exploring the coherence between the self-reported answers and the physiological signals, as a means to objectivize the perceived emotional states associated with VG play by the two mentioned groups of participants (addict gamers and non-addict gamers).

The previously mentioned theoretical framework indicates that the notion of craving relates to an arousal state that could lead to an addictive pattern and consequently stands out of the realm of happiness.

Expected Results

Based on the analysis made on this issue previously as well as on the hypothesis of this study, the expected results could be synthesized as shown in Table 1 .

Summary of the expected results.

– Self-Report Questionnaires

For the self-report questionnaires, it is expected that, compared to NAU, the AU group:

– In “Pleasure and/or happiness associated with VG” (six independent items) associates more happiness than pleasure with VG play.
– Reports more craving for playing after watching VG clip.
– In “ Pleasure and/or happiness associated to VG” (three bipolar items) associates more happiness than pleasure with VG play.
– Associates VG play with key words more related to happiness category than to those of pleasure .
– In “ Pleasure or happiness associated to VG” associates VG play with pleasure (like NAU).
– Physiological Signals

It is expected to observe an interaction between the groups (AU, NAU) and the conditions (VG clip, Neutral clip). Namely, it is assumed that visioning the VG clips has an effect on AU increasing HR while decreasing Relaxation.

After verifying the normality of distributions (Kolmogorov–Smirnov), the means comparison between the two groups (NAU, AU) was calculated for self-report questionnaires measuring the association between VG and Pleasure/Happiness (Mann–Whitney U ) for the six-items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG,” the three-bipolar items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” and the one-bipolar item “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG.” The Chi square was used for “Key words and VG.” In order to determine whether there are differences between independent groups over time and to identify possible interactions between the two independent variables on the dependent variables, a two-way mixed ANOVA (within and between subjects) was used for the craving scores and the physiological signals recorded ( Table 2 ).

Synthetic view of independent and dependent variables.

The experiment was run on a desktop computer with an Intel Core i7 quad processor and 8 GB RAM, running Windows 10. Stimuli were displayed on a 22-inch monitor and resolution was set to 1680 × 1050. Participants used standard mouse and keyboard as input devices. EEG measurement includes detecting the fluctuation of voltage potential generated by large group of neurons in the brain. The EEG signal was obtained through the use of EPOC headset. This device allows to remotely getting data of brain activity using a wireless set of fourteen electrodes (AF3, AF4, F3, F4, F7, F8, FC5, FC6, T7, T8, P7, P8, O1, O2) sampled at 128 hertz.

The relaxation state was measured by one of the composite metrics of the Emotiv software. HR was measured by using Schimer 3 (Photoplethysmography). The I. Motions software version 7.1 (Imotions Inc. 2018) was used to recording the mentioned data and presenting stimuli to participants. The statistical analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS statistics v.25.

Design of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Questionnaire

The Cronbach’s alpha (0.859) showed a high internal coherence between the SHAPS and three items (out of four) of the “Pleasure and VG” within the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The fourth item has been disregarded; its presence would have dropped the Cronbach’s alpha to 0.685. The internal coherence obtained between the OHQ and the “Happiness and VG” items within the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire was quite high for the four items concerned (alpha 0.901). However, the internal coherence between these four items was too weak due to one item (alpha 0.407). The exclusion of this item raised the alpha significantly (0.836). Consequently, only the consistent items have been kept (six out of the initial eight items: three on “Pleasure and VG,” and three on “Happiness and VG,” see Annex ).

Moreover, it has been examined whether there is an association between VG play frequency and the two areas explored in this survey: the general happiness level (OHQ) and the emotional states associated with VG via the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaire. The constitution of the group of frequent gamers and that of non-frequent gamers was determined by calculated median (18 h per week). In line with several studies linking problematic gaming and well-being and life satisfaction, a moderate negative correlation ( R = −0.249; p = 0.056) was found between VG high play frequency and the OHQ scores ( Griffiths, 2008 ; Lemmens et al., 2011 ). In addition, there is a marginal significant difference [ T (58) = 1.923; p = 0.059] between frequent VG users and non-frequent VG users relative to the OHQ scores.

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Six-Items Questionnaire

The Kolmogorov–Smirnov outcome indicates the need for using a non-parametric test to compare the two groups. The Mann–Whitney test shows that there was no significant difference observed between the AU and NAU relative to association between VG play and pleasure (item 1. U = 78, p = 0.30; item 3. U = 75, p = 0.24 and item 5 U = 86, p = 0.49) ( Table 3 ).

Descriptive statistics of “Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG” (6-items): [Pleasure (P), Happiness (H) associated with VG].

In contrast, there is a significant statistical difference in the three items where AU associate VG play with happiness (item 2. U = 40, p = 0.005; item 4. U = 54, p = 0.034 and item 6. U = 34, p = 0.002) more than NAU.

Craving Scores

Results in craving ( Table 4 and Figure 2 ) show a statistically significant interaction F (1,25) = 4.78 ( p = 0.038). Indeed, relative to the neutral clip, the VG clip condition has significantly amplified the reported craving difference between the two groups (AU craving score > NAU craving scores).

Descriptive statistics for self-report Craving.

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Self-report craving (groups: AU, NAU; conditions: Neutral clips, VG clips).

Physiological Signals Measurements

The AU’s relaxation is significantly lower [ F (1,24) = 8.616; p = 0.007] than NAU’s in both conditions (Between-Subjects Effects). The relaxation level decreases in both groups during the VG clip. On the other hand, conditions do not influence the relaxation difference between the two groups [ F (1,24) = 0.001; p = 0.98] ( Table 5 and Figure 3 ). Furthermore, there is a significant statistical gender difference in both conditions (Neutral clip: Male 17.36, Female 7.57. U = 25, p = 0.008 – VG clip: Male 17.09, Female 8.43. U = 31, p = 0.019).

Descriptive statistics: Relaxation index (EEG EPOC, Emotiv software).

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Relaxation [groups: AU, NAU; Conditions: (1) Neutral clips, (2) VG clips].

Concerning the other physiological variable (HR) ( Table 6 and Figure 4 ), there is an effect of VG clips on both groups [ F (1,15) = 20.802; p < 0.001]. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant interaction [ F (1,15) = 0.028; p = 0.86], nor an effect of addiction on VG clip condition [ F (1,15) = 0.083; p = 0.777]. It is important noting that due to corrupted data the number of valid subjects taken into account was 17 (8 AU and 9 NAU).

Descriptive statistics: Heart Rate (HR).

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Heart Rate [groups: AU, NAU; Conditions: Neutral clips (1), VG clips (2)].

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Three-Bipolar Items Questionnaire

The descriptive statistics of this three-bipolar items questionnaire ( Table 7 ), indicate that the AU group linked VG activities more with happiness than the NAU group. The Mann–Whitney test shows a significant difference between these two associations ( U = 47; p = 0.013).

Descriptive Statistics: Pleasure/VG vs. Happiness/VG (3 bipolar items).

Key Words and VG

Results state the absence of significant difference between AU and NAU in associating the key words from the Pleasure cluster with VG play, and words from the Happiness cluster with VG (Chi square, p = 0.942) ( Table 8 ). When taking words separately, the biggest gap between the two groups relates to the word well-being (belonging to the happiness cluster) associated to VG play (AU: 25%, NAU: 0%).

Descriptive statistics: number of words per category (Pleasure, Happiness) associated to VG play chosen by NAU and AU.

“Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” (One Bipolar Item Questionnaire With Written Definitions)

The outcome of this questionnaire indicates that there is no significant difference between AU and NAU ( U = 102, p = 1). Both groups have clearly associated VG play with pleasure ( Table 9 ).

Descriptive statistics: Happiness/VG or Pleasure/VG (1 bipolar item, with Definitions of Pleasure and Happiness shown to subjects).

The following scheme summarizes the outcomes of the self-report tools used to evaluate the association between the emotional states (Pleasure and Happiness) with VG play ( Table 10 ).

Synthetic view of self-report results (Emotional states associated with VG play).

The following table indicates the mean, standard deviation and Skewness and Kurtosis values of the self-report craving, the HR and the relaxation level for both groups in the two conditions ( Table 11 ).

Descriptive statistics for self-report Craving, Relaxation, Heart Rate.

Overall, the results of this study show that AU associate happiness to VG while reporting craving for VG play and having a low relaxation level. These outcomes observed in this experiment constitute a bundle of arguments that argue in favor of the hypothesis of this study ( Lustig, 2017 ). Indeed, in AU, the high self-report craving score and low Relaxation level during VG clips visioning do contrast with their association of VG more with happiness than with pleasure in the mentioned “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” questionnaires (six-items and three-bipolar-items) relative to NAU. Consistent with previous findings in this area, these four measurements highlight the coexistence of the perception of happiness linked with VG play combined with elements related to pleasure such as craving ( strong desire, wanting ) ( Pollard, 2003 ; Griffiths, 2008 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ). Since craving and low Relaxation are rather incompatible with the mentioned notion of happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ), these indices may raise the question as to how accurate are AU’s insights into their emotional states associated to VG play and may support the idea that AU’s perception of their emotional states is somewhat distorted. In the literature, VG addiction would be linked with impairment in the self-regulation process, this finding may be linked with the difficulties AU have to observe and evaluate their own behavior ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ). Besides, the mentioned results suggest that VG clip effect on self-report craving would depend on the addiction level.

Considering that sensing happiness and craving are probably experienced as positive emotions by AU, and that usually negative and positive emotional events are reported to last longer and shorter respectively ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ; Tian et al., 2018 ), the arousal triggered by motivating stimuli, may modify the time perception and could mediate the effect of emotions on behavior ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ). In other words, the level of excitement produced by VG play could make AU underestimate the time spent at this activity, which may be perceived as an alleviating evasion free from stressors and possibly assimilated with the notion of happiness . This hypothetic mechanism would match one of the possible motives for online gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). In this sort of precognitive process, several studies mentioned the involvement of the amygdala in interaction with the thalamus together with the dopaminergic system and a poor inhibitory control ( Gil and Droit-Volet, 2012 ; Petry et al., 2015 ).

It is noteworthy underlining that the bipolar structure of the three-items questionnaire increases the relevance of this outcome. In effect, although participants were incited to choose between the two emotional states opposing each other (VG and pleasure vs. VG and happiness), like in the six-items questionnaire, AU again did choose happiness as the main emotional state linked with VG play. This outcome would further state the difference between these two groups when it comes to associating the two emotional states to VG play. Besides, this would reveal to an important extent that the possibility whereby pleasure and happiness were regarded as synonyms could be overcome. In other words, this outcome shows that the similarity of meanings of these two concepts did not prevent these groups to make a clear choice. Finally, the similar scores obtained in the two questionnaires (six-items and three-bipolar items “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG”), in spite of the different disposition of the same items in these two instances, strengthen the value of the designed scale (“Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG play”).

The absence of interaction between the two independent variables on HR may be explained by the fact that a higher arousal would take place in AU when playing VG rather than when watching at VG clips. Moreover, the reduced number of valid subjects when measuring this physiological parameter (due to technical recording problems) could have contributed to this outcome too. The fact that the independent variables did not produce the expected different HR effects on AU and NAU could also be linked with one of the limitations of this study: the difficulty in integrating in this research the interaction between HR and depression (as mentioned, VG addiction is positively correlated with depression) ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ) that may lead to HR index modifications ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ). In sum, this issue illustrates that the difficulty to circumscribe the notion of happiness is also reflected in the complexity to establish physiological correlates so as to objectify this emotional state ( Cipresso et al., 2014 ).

Associating the clusters of key words with VG did not produce the expected results. Since AU linked VG with both pleasure and happiness , may be these words played a clarification role and facilitated Au’s insights into their emotional states when playing VG. It could also suggest the inadequacy of this self-report tool. However, it is probably worthwhile mentioning an index related our hypothesis: when taking words separately, the word “well-being” associated with VG play was chosen by 25% of AU and by 0% of NAU.

The outcome of the binary question in the “Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” one-item questionnaire with the definitions of pleasure and happiness ( Pollard, 2003 ; Deci and Ryan, 2008 ; Waterman et al., 2008 ; Kashdan et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ) shows that AU ceased associating happiness to VG play and instead, like NAU, clearly linked pleasure to their cyber activity. Caution is required in the analysis of these results because the validity of this questionnaire remains to be demonstrated. Having instructed participants to answer the bipolar question by taking into account the written definitions of the two measured emotional states, did modify the result of AU group relative to both questionnaires (“Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” six-items and three bipolar items). Within the framework of this careful approach, it could be hypothesized that explicit definitions of the two emotional states induced AU to adopting an introspection mode through a more pronounced involvement of cortical brain structures, akin to a therapeutic process in which the appropriate verbalization of pleasure and happiness facilitates the clarification of one own feeling as a prerequisite to elaborate more adaptive behavior in spite of the constraining psychological characteristics usually associated with VG addicts ( Kim et al., 2007 ; Kashdan et al., 2008 ; Wenzel et al., 2009 ).

This may be regarded as an example of emotions reappraisal which would increase accuracy of insights into one-self, reduce distorted perception of emotions and assess the adequacy of the behavioral response to a given stimulus ( Compare et al., 2014 ). In other words, it could be posited that the mentioned explicit definitions have somewhat constrained AU to use a cognitive approach to examine their emotional states related to VG play rather than merely relying on the sensory information as it tends to occur when sensing craving for video gaming ( Wang et al., 2017 ).

Moreover, the result of this one-item binary questionnaire would further support the hypothesis. In effect, the studied interrelation between hedonia and eudaimonia suggests that a highly rated hedonic activity (VG play in this case) is usually related with low rating in eudaimonia ( Waterman et al., 2008 ). This interpretation would fit with the resounding association between depression and gaming disorders ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ; Hull et al., 2013 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ) together with the confusion between pleasure and happiness occurring in addictive activities (AU associated VG with happiness in the first two self-report questionnaires and ended linking pleasure with VG in the last one-item questionnaire) ( Pollard, 2003 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

Overall, the more explicit the definition of pleasure and happiness and the narrower the choice offered by the self-report questionnaires, the less confusion of emotional states associated with VG occurred in AU group members whereas NAU invariably associated pleasure to VG as illustrated in Figure 5 .

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Shift of AU perception of their emotional states associated with VG according to the self-report tools.

Based on these results, it could be postulated that the tendency of AU to perceive happiness when feeling craving and pleasure linked to VG play, might be moderated by a clarifying cognitive process on the meaning of these studied emotional sates, which would interfere with the behavioral habits linked to the urge of gaming ( Ko et al., 2009 ).

The findings resulting from “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” six-items questionnaire could be regarded as an illustration of the confusion that AU might have when linking the studied emotional states with VG play. Unlike NAU, the significantly higher association between VG play and happiness expressed by AU matches the perceived level of well being reported by individuals with Internet gaming disorders ( Griffiths, 2008 ). On the other hand, apart from well-being , the same author cites euphoria as the other main emotional state that addict gamers may report when playing VG. Whilst happiness and well-being rely on each other to define themselves, euphoria would convey the notion of intense excitement, which would rather stand in the pleasure sphere. Moreover, in medical terms, euphoria refers to a feeling of great elation, not necessarily founded (especially when resulting from substances consumption). Since AU also associated VG with pleasure although they did it to a lesser extent than with happiness, it could hypothesized that the feeling of intense excitement derives, at least partially, from satisfying the craving for VG play, which in turn could engender relieve experienced as a sense of well-being ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ).

The impact of VG clips on AU craving and relaxation scores underlines relevant aspects of this study, which support the hypothesis of this research. First of all, it highlights the incongruent perception of AU’s emotional states whereby both craving and happiness coexist as emotional states associated with VG play. Thus, this finding constitutes a relevant component of the confusion that consists in placing a short-term pleasure (VG play) within the sphere of happiness. Besides, the low relaxation state of AU would correspond with their self-reported craving and, therefore, further highlights the contrast between the perceived happiness associated with VG play and the indicators measured during the VG clip visioning (high craving level and low relaxation state level). Finally, it is noteworthy mentioning that relaxation was the only measure in this study where gender differences were observed. The lower relaxation level in female gamers in both conditions might be related to the gender expectation about playing VG in society at large and in the gamers’ community in particular ( Shen et al., 2016 ). Indeed, since female gamers are a minority in these sorts of VG ( Shen et al., 2016 ) (in line with our sample: 7 females, 22 males), it could be posited that they feel under scrutiny in an activity regarded as male oriented.

Putative Reasons of Distorted Perceptions of Emotional States Associated With VG Addiction

The social dimension of popular VG has been identified as one of the factors that may explain the addiction pattern ( Hull et al., 2013 ). In this kind of competitive games, improving the required abilities and obtaining better results would be part of the key motives for VG play ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ), that usually generates the appreciation and the acceptance of the other group players. Getting this sort of feedback from others can be motivating indeed, especially when taking into account the correlation between IGD and social isolation, low self-esteem, traumatic experiences, depression and low life satisfaction ( Petry et al., 2015 ; Schimmenti et al., 2017 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In turn, these psychosocial characteristics are probably related also with the high impulsivity level in VG addicts ( Billieux et al., 2011 ), which has been found to be associated with difficulties in interpersonal relationships ( Ryu et al., 2018 ). Thus, it would seem that VG activities are, at least partially, sating the mentioned social and psychological deficiencies. This suggests that AU’s emotional states related to VG play may be quite contrasting, in which components of happiness (i.e., interacting with others, fellowship and belonging to a group) are intertwined with those of short-term pleasure (i.e., craving for getting quick results, praise from others, etc.) ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ). Now, craving for undertaking these cyber activities to respond to the mentioned social isolation issues places this emotional state much closer to the ‘pleasure governed by desire’ than to ‘atmosphere of good fellowship’ (Happiness) ( Lawrence et al., 2014 ; Lustig, 2017 ).

The flow, defined as the emotional state embracing perception distortion and enjoyment produced by VG activities, is another element that can create confusion in gamers’ insights into their emotional states ( Chou and Ting, 2003 ; Hull et al., 2013 ). As described in the mentioned study, experiencing flow implies not only losing the notion of time but also merging oneself with the VG actions. In these conditions, the gamer’s senses and attention are in the here and now , with little or no awareness about sources of stress relative to past, present or future events. In this line, the motivation to experience immersion has been associated with problematic gaming ( Billieux et al., 2011 ). Considering the fact that loneliness and depression have been identified as predictors of VG addiction and of Internet Gaming Disorders ( Hull et al., 2013 ; Sarda et al., 2016 ), it is understandable why in gamers’ mind experiencing flow could equate this feeling with a relieving emotional state ( Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ). This sense of alleviation could match the notion of happiness as free from distress ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2010 ; Loonen and Ivanova, 2016 ) if it resulted from the quality of real life being lived. Instead, in AU, this relieving and enjoyable emotional state would be engendered by a virtual activity (VG), possibly used as a means to escape from stress and to forget tensions ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In the literature, the escaping strategy is a way to find relieve from stressors through the engagement in a pleasant activity, which may end up representing a space of happiness ( Seay and Kraut, 2007 ).

In sum, the incongruence lies in the coexistence of regarding VG as a space of happiness while using VG to get quick pleasures and relief. Individuals suffering from this disorder tend to pursuit short-term pleasures rather than long-term gains ( Dong and Potenza, 2015 ). Being driven by short-term gratifications rather belongs to the reward-seeking realm ( Waterman et al., 2008 ; Lustig, 2017 ). Thus, this pleasant emotional state could be associated with the arousal linked to a reward seeking behavior through which quick and positive results are obtained, which in turn reinforce the mentioned behavior. Probably, this intense arousal situates itself within the sphere of pleasure as a dysfunction in the rewarding system ( Pollard, 2003 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ; Lustig, 2017 ) and not in that of happiness in spite of the relieving benefits it provides.

Another possible reading on why the emotional states generated by these cyber activities are linked with happiness may be related to the way in interpreting the experienced sensations. This representation is probably shaped by the individual background, experiences, culture, etc. From a brain mechanism stand point, conscious liking does not limit it self to a sensory outcome, it is also translated into a subjective liking through the recruitment of cognitive processes ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ). Indeed, these authors state that conscious pleasure rating is sometimes detached from affective reactions as people can elaborate reasons to themselves for how they should feel. Therefore, associating VG with happiness may be the result of a rationalization process to reduce the cognitive dissonance. In other words, the unwished consequences of the VG addiction pattern (increased stress, problems at working, studying, socializing, etc.) ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ) probably produce an increasing amount of pressure (due to the difficulty to reduce gaming time, guilt, etc.) that can become overwhelming if it lasts too long. Consequently, if the affected individuals are unable to master the yearning for VG, perceiving VG activities as a source of well being may reduce the mentioned pressures insofar as the notion of happiness usually suggests a socially acceptable mood, a legitimate aim and a safe emotional state. In this perspective, equating happiness with satisfying craving and with short-term pleasure might contribute to feed the addictive pattern ( Lustig, 2017 ).

In a broader perspective, the rationalization process described in the previous paragraph may be also related with coping strategies to deal with adversity. For instance, it has been observed that problematic gamers may use VG play as a means to cope with stressors and to enhance mood ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). An association has been found between stressful life events and addiction to Internet activities ( Schimmenti et al., 2017 ), with the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction and the moderating role of coping styles ( Dongping et al., 2016 ). Several theories and studies support this approach that strives for a more holistic understanding of this issue. The self-determination theory postulates that humans share three universal psychological needs ( Deci and Ryan, 2000 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ): autonomy (i.e., feeling of being self-determining in one’s behavior), relatedness (i.e., the feeling of connectedness to others) and competence (i.e., the feeling of dealing with issues in a competent manner). Besides, individuals can adopt different strategies to cope with adversity ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ). According to Zheng et al. (2012 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ), the positive coping approach is the set of strategies aiming at problem solving, support seeking and cognitive restructuring to address the stressors. On the other hand, according to the same authors, the negative coping consists in strategies such as blaming, social withdrawing, denial and disengagement so as to avoid the stressful situations. Now, a parallel can be established between these two coping styles and the brain activities involved in the goal-directed learning and the habit learning.

The goal-directed learning would correspond to the positive coping style insofar as it focuses on the relationship between an action and the motivational value of the outcome, and is associated with the activation of the prefrontal cortex, the dorsomedial striatum and the dorsomedial thalamus ( Ballaine and Dickinson, 1998 ; in Schwabe et al., 2012 ). On the other hand, habit learning, would be linked with the avoidant coping style. This learning process encodes the relationship between a response and preceding stimuli without taking into account the outcome caused by the response and is related to the activation of the dorsolateral striatum ( Yin et al., 2004 ; Tricomi et al., 2009 ; in Schwabe et al., 2012 ). According to Schwabe et al. (2012) , stressful situations may modulate the processes involved in instrumental learning in a way that may produce the shift from goal-directed learning to habitual learning.

In line with these findings, it has been observed that, like cocaine cues, psychological stress induction can generate the same craving response in a cocaine abusers population ( Bradley et al., 1989 ; Wallace, 1989 ; in Sinha et al., 2000 ). The relevance of these observations lies in the fact that both SUD and behavioral addictions (including gaming disorders, Han et al., 2011 ) recruit to an important extent common brain regions and produce similar physiological patterns, as quoted in the introduction of this document.

Considering the association between unhappiness and VG disorders mentioned earlier, it could be posited that the gamers concerned could not overcome the causes of their unhappiness. Indeed, studies suggest that subjects with Internet gaming disorders embark in VG play more to deal with negative affect than to achieve a good performance in the game ( Schimmenti and Caretti, 2010 ; Billieux et al., 2013 ; both in Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ). In this scenario, based on the mentioned studies, a low level of happiness would imply that psychological needs are somewhat unmet and associated with the avoidant coping style together with the habit learning. Furthermore, this pattern is supported by compensatory Internet use theory, which postulates that adversity can operate as a stimulus to seek psychological comfort (i.e., satisfying the psychological needs via the cyberspace) ( Kardefelt-Winther, 2014 ; in Dongping et al., 2016 ).

In other words, the psychological comfort engendered by the VG activities in this population of gamers, combined with the characteristics of the avoidant coping style (denial, social withdrawal, avoiding stressful situation, etc.) and with the traits of the habitual learning (actions’ outcomes are disregarded, with little or no awareness of actions’ consequences), might explain, at least partially, the biased perception of the emotional states in AU ( happiness associated to VG) and of their causes of craving for VG. This assumption suggests that online gaming might not be the cause of VG addiction, but rather that VG excessive use could be a compensatory strategy to deal with pre-existing psychological characteristics and deleterious social context ( Kowert et al., 2015 ). For instance, some studies suggest that traumatic experiences, poor emotions regulation, elements of impulsivity and the motivation to experience immersion in a virtual world would increase the likelihood of IGD and Internet addiction ( Billieux et al., 2011 ; Schimmenti et al., 2017 ).

In sum, it would seem as if for AU the mentioned behavioral pattern is a manner to mitigate the difficulties to deal with stressors. This interpretation would be in line with the motives for play in problematic gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ). Through a massive survey these authors observed seven dimensions that would cover the entire spectrum of motives for VG play in all sort of on line games: escape (from reality), cope (with stressors, playing as a way to improve mood), fantasy (trying new identities/things in a virtual world), skills development (improving concentration, coordination, new skills) recreation (relaxing aspects of gaming), competing (sense of achievement), and social (knowing/being/playing with others). This study suggests that there would be positive and beneficial motives for playing (entertaining gaming) as well as harmful ones (problematic gaming). The correlations between these factors appear to shed light on the positive and negative aspects of gaming. Whilst the weakest correlation is between escape and recreation (also low correlation was found between escape and both, skills development and competition), the strongest correlations were observed between escape and cope and fantasy. These results would indicate that escape and coping are motives associated with problematic gaming, however, the authors argue that escapism would facilitate the coping efforts to deal with stressors and negative moods. Moreover, it is noteworthy underlining that escapism had the lowest mean score in this study among the seven dimensions, which would match with the prevalence level of problematic gaming mentioned previously ( Griffiths et al., 2012 ).

Probably, regarding AU, the accuracy in perceiving emotional states, the ability to deal with stressors and the quality of insights into oneself are dimensions that deserve much attention in the therapeutic processes.

Therapeutic Implications

A cognitive-behavioral approach may contribute to the recovery process by enabling problematic gamers to explore the motives that lead them to abuse of VG play ( Orzack et al., 2006 ; in Griffiths, 2008 ). Developing strategies to tackle stressors appears to be a therapeutic priority for treating this disorder. Consequently, this axis of work includes the understanding of the environmental demands that are perceived as exceeding the individual abilities to handle them. In this line, ensuring the accuracy of the individual’s insights into the emotional states linked to the sources of stress as well as to the game habit could increase the awareness of the underlying issues to be addressed. In particular, deciphering the conditioned desires (unconscious wanting) and the hedonic dimension (unconscious liking) ( Kringelbach and Berridge, 2009 ; Berridge and Kringelbach, 2013 ) linked to VG play may produce added value information for understanding and overcoming the problematic gaming pattern. Within this frame, it could be hypothesized that distinguishing between happiness and feeling alleviated could be beneficial to the therapeutic process, although it remains to be demonstrated.

Overall, this sort of therapeutic approach may contribute to reduce the alexithymia, usually associated with this kind of disorders ( Kandri et al., 2014 ).

In problematic internet/gaming several studies have explored and highlighted to role of alexithymia and its links with other therapeutic issues. For instance, it has been shown that alexithymic individuals are more associated with Internet addiction than non-alexthymic ones ( Baysan-Arslan et al., 2016 ). In this research, the authors consider that the difficulty in identifying and differentiating emotions that characterizes alexithymia may lead individuals with this affliction to regulate their emotional states via their addictive activities.

Another study showed that IGD would be related with alexithymia, anxiety and depression ( Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ).

Schimmenti et al. (2017) observed that traumatic experiences (mainly in males) and traits of alexithymia (mainly in females) were associated with Internet addiction symptoms, which may enable a tailored prevention and treatment approach. Besides, Internet addiction (including online role-playing) would be correlated with alexithymia, dissociation (protecting one-self in a more pleasant created reality as a means to deal with traumatic experiences) and insecure attachment ( Craparo, 2011 ).

However, the causal link in the association between alexithymia and Internet addiction would still need to be verified, as indicated by Mahapatra and Sharma (2018) . Moreover, discerning the nature of alexithymia remains an uneasy task: this emotional identification and differentiation disorder might be regarded as a stable personality trait that could increase risks of mental disorder development, and also may be seen as a defense mechanism to cope with psychological stressors ( Mikolajczak and Luminet, 2006 ; in Mahapatra and Sharma, 2018 ).

Apart from alexithymia and traumatic memories, high urgency (a dimension of impulsivity defined by the proneness to have strong reactions usually tied with negative affect) and being motivated to experience immersion in a virtual world would be psychological predictors of problematic multiplayer online games ( Billieux et al., 2011 ). These findings led the authors to posit that individuals with the two mentioned traits are more likely to use the immersion in the virtual world as a means to avoiding facing real life adverse issues. According to the authors, this behavior will lead to a deleterious outcome (culpability and embarrassment as a result of feeling unable to deal with problems), which in turn is experienced as a pernicious condition likely to activate behaviors related to high urgency and immersion.

Like the previously mentioned clinical issues, this vicious loop reinforcing escapism also appears to be a therapeutic target.

Considering the possible association between alexithymia and problematic gaming as a manner to regulate emotions ( Baysan-Arslan et al., 2016 ; Bonnaire and Baptista, 2019 ), the Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) might strengthen the therapeutic process. The aim being that the observed difficulties in Internet (including VG) addicts to identifying emotions and regulating affects ( Caretti et al., 2010 ; in Craparo, 2011 ) could be, at least partially, overcome through the ERT process. In effect, Compare et al. (2014) , show that ERT operates as a means to reappraise emotions that trigger actions leading to negative consequences. Reappraising emotions is associated with the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex, which attenuates the amygdala activation and, thus, reduces the intensity of negative affect; these two areas being coordinated by the orbitofrontal cortex ( Compare et al., 2014 ). Since AU would be prone to associate happiness with VG play, ERT might facilitate the perceptional change enabling to link VG play with pleasure [ Caretti and Craparo, 2009 ; in Craparo (2011) consider Internet addiction (including VG) “as a syndromic condition characterized by a recurrent and reiterated search for pleasure derived from dependence behavior, associated with abuse, craving , clinically significant stress, and compulsive dependence actions despite the possible negative consequences”]. Within this approach, it may be postulated that enabling problematic gamers to familiarize with and to see the self-transcendent notion of happiness could favor the distinction between pleasure and happiness and would render them less vulnerable from impulses and from environmental circumstances ( Dambrun et al., 2012 ). The idea is to facilitate the shift from wanting more than liking (or even without liking) toward liking with little or without wanting ( Berridge and Kringelbach, 2011 ). Furthermore, regarding motives for playing, it could be posited that helping problematic gamers to identify and distinguish the emotions tied to escaping/coping from those related to recreational gaming ( Demetrovics et al., 2011 ), would be a necessary condition to orient effectively the ERT toward the escaping issues and targeted emotional states requiring therapeutic input. In this line, based on the previously mentioned studies in this section, it might be useful exploring the possible link that the excessive time spent in cyber activity could have with past traumatic experiences, insecure attachment, impulsivity, anxiety and depression.

In conclusion, this study suggests that the mentioned confusion of emotional states (pleasure and happiness) associated with addiction ( Lustig, 2017 ), could take place in subjects with VG addiction, and potentially in the entire spectrum of addictions. Moreover, from a cognitive therapeutic perspective, it shows the potential benefits of reappraising emotions as a means to contribute to the emotional distortion reduction.

Limitations

The small sample of this study demands cautiousness when making generalizations from its results. Besides, watching VG clips rather than actually playing VG might be less stimulating for chronic gamers and could have influenced the physiological values recorded during the clip visioning phases. That said, many gamers do attend to public competitions to watch other gamers playing VG. Although, to the best of our knowledge, there is no information available to affirm that there are VG addicts in these audiences.

We also faced the usual paradox when assessing craving via self-report tools. Indeed, participants were asked to judge their craving intensity for VG play whereas sensing craving often may imply a compromised self-awareness level and thus a self-assessment whose value needs to be interpreted carefully.

Although the GAS is a validated tool, which has shown its usefulness in screening addict gamers, having complemented this measurement with thorough diagnostic-driven interviews run by specialists when choosing participants to form the AU and the NAU groups would have strengthened the selection process.

The participants’ selection was centered on the gamer status (gaming addiction/non-addiction and names of games usually played) rather than on the cultural and/or educational background of the persons. Future researches could complete this approach by assessing the possible cultural and educational bias in perceiving the studied emotional states.

Moreover, including more physiological parameters related to pleasure and happiness could further complete the self-reported information and may enable reaching more robust results.

Prospective Research

Further research is required to better understand the relationship between the studied emotional states and this addiction. For instance, since VG addiction decreases with age ( Wittek et al., 2016 ) a longitudinal study could reveal the factors (psychophysiological, environmental, etc.) that operate that change. Moreover, VG addiction is only one area of the spectrum of addictions. Undertaking similar researches on other addictions and with larger samples could also contribute to deepening the comprehension of this issue. Finally, keep enhancing the scales that measure pleasure and happiness may provide with more accurate information about the range of nuances intrinsic to these two emotional states.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Université Libre de Bruxelles Ethical Committee. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

LG developed the proposal and the conception of the original project research, searched and articulated the theoretical background, participated in the study and protocol design, elaborated the results interpretation, assembled all the chapters of the study, and in charge of the manuscript writing. ND was involved in the scientific and publication management, participated – as the Research Center Manager – in the study and protocol design, and in charge of the configuration and writing of the physiological measures. JL, as a member of the Research Center, was involved in the study and protocol design, also involved in the configuration of physiological measures, managed the experimental phases in the laboratory, and elaborated the data analysis. CL, as a full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Director of the Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology, assured the scientific and publication management, participated in the study and protocol design, in charge of making the critical reviews of the manuscript along the process, and involved in the manuscript writing.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Maastricht University (Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology) as well as Université Libre de Bruxelles (Faculty of Psychological Sciences and of Education – Research Center for Work and Consumer Psychology). This work was performed as a partial fulfillment toward the International Master in Affective Neuroscience of Maastricht University and the University of Florence.

Abbreviations

Self-report questionnaires.

– Six items Questionnaire: Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG play (Items 7 and 8 were suppressed after the preliminary phase)

(1) I enjoy playing video games.
(2) I am happy when I play video games.
(3) I would find pleasure in my video game activities.
(4) I find video games amusing.
(5) I enjoy playing my favorite video game.
(6) I often experience joy and exaltation when playing video games.
(7) I would feel pleasure when I receive praise from other people on my capacity to play video games.
(8) I don’t have fun when playing video games with other people.

fully disagree disagree slightly disagree slightly agree agree fully agree

<———I——————I——————I————————I——————I—————I———>

– Questionnaire on Craving for playing VG

– After having watched this clip I feel craving for playing video games.

– Three bipolar items Questionnaire: Pleasure and/or Happiness associated with VG play

Bipolar items.

(1) I enjoy playing video games I am happy when I play video games

I——————I——————I——————I—————I

(2) I would find pleasure in I find video games amusing my video game activities

(3) I enjoy playing my favorite I often experience joy and exaltation video game when playing video games

– Ten key words [resulting from the semantic mapping of pleasure (P) and happiness (H)]: 3/10 words to be associated with VG play

– Joy
– Craving
– Well-being
– Impulsivity
– Fellowship
– Desire
– Fun
– Contentment
– Gratification
– Serenity

Pleasure cluster: joy, craving, impulsivity, desire, fun, gratification.

Happiness cluster: well-being, fellowship, contentment, serenity.

– One bipolar item Questionnaire: Pleasure or Happiness associated with VG play (with explicit definitions)

Happiness : emotional state of lasting contentment.

Pleasure : transient emotional state when satisfying a desire, a craving.

A bipolar item

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is fpsyg-10-02894-i001.jpg

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Essay on Online Games Addiction

Students are often asked to write an essay on Online Games Addiction in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Online Games Addiction

Understanding online games addiction.

Online games addiction means playing games on the internet too much. This happens when someone spends more time playing games than doing other important things. This can cause problems like poor grades in school, less time with friends and family, and even health issues.

Reasons for Addiction

There are many reasons why people get addicted to online games. Some people play to escape from real-world problems. Others find the games exciting and challenging. Some people even play to feel a sense of achievement.

Effects of Addiction

Playing games too much can cause many problems. It can lead to poor performance in school or at work. It can also cause health problems like eye strain and lack of sleep. It can even hurt relationships with friends and family.

Overcoming Addiction

Overcoming online games addiction can be tough, but it’s possible. It’s important to set limits on how much time you spend playing games. It can also help to find other hobbies or activities to do instead of playing games. It might also be helpful to talk to a counselor or therapist.

Online games can be fun, but it’s important not to let them take over your life. If you think you might be addicted, it’s important to seek help. Remember, there’s a lot more to life than just playing games!

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Speech on Online Games Addiction

250 Words Essay on Online Games Addiction

What is online games addiction.

Online games addiction is when a person cannot stop playing games on the internet. They spend too much time playing these games and ignore other important things in life. This can harm their studies, health, and relationships.

Why Do People Get Addicted?

People get addicted to online games for many reasons. Some find these games fun and exciting. They enjoy the challenges and rewards that these games offer. Others use these games to escape from stress or problems in real life.

Effects of Online Games Addiction

Online games addiction can have many bad effects. It can cause poor grades in school because students spend too much time playing games instead of studying. It can also lead to health problems like eye strain and lack of sleep. Moreover, it can harm relationships with family and friends because the person is always busy with the games.

How to Overcome Online Games Addiction

Overcoming online games addiction is not easy, but it is possible. One way is to set a limit on how much time you can spend on games each day. Another way is to find other fun activities to do, like playing sports or reading books. It can also help to talk to a trusted adult about the problem.

In conclusion, online games addiction is a serious issue. It can harm a person’s studies, health, and relationships. But with the right help and effort, it can be overcome. It is important to balance online gaming with other activities and responsibilities in life.

500 Words Essay on Online Games Addiction

Online games addiction is when a person spends too much time playing games on the internet and finds it hard to stop. This can lead to problems in other parts of life like school, work, or relationships. It’s a bit like when someone can’t stop eating sweets, even though they know it’s bad for them. They might want to stop, but they find it very hard to do so.

There are many reasons why people get addicted to online games. Some people play games to escape from real-life problems or to feel good about themselves. Games can make people feel like they’re winning or achieving something, which can be very satisfying. Other people might get addicted because the games are so much fun and they lose track of time. Sometimes, people get addicted because they’re trying to be the best at the game and can’t stop until they are.

The Impact of Online Games Addiction

Online games addiction can cause many problems. Firstly, it can lead to poor performance in school or work. This is because people who are addicted to games often spend so much time playing that they don’t have time for anything else. They might also lose sleep because they stay up late to play games.

Secondly, addiction can harm relationships. If a person spends too much time playing games, they might not spend enough time with their friends and family. This can make people feel lonely and isolated.

Lastly, spending too much time playing games can also be bad for health. It can lead to problems like poor posture, eye strain, and lack of physical activity.

How to Prevent and Overcome Online Games Addiction

Preventing online games addiction starts with setting limits. It’s fine to play games, but it’s important to have a balance. This means making time for other activities like studying, playing sports, or spending time with friends and family.

If someone is already addicted to online games, it might be hard for them to stop on their own. In this case, it can be helpful to seek help from a professional, like a counselor or a psychologist. They can provide guidance and support to help the person overcome their addiction.

In conclusion, online games addiction is a serious problem that can affect a person’s school, work, relationships, and health. It’s important to balance time spent on gaming with other activities and seek professional help if needed. Remember, games are meant to be fun, not something that takes over your life.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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239 Addiction Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best addiction topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on addiction, 📌 simple & easy addiction essay titles, 💡 most interesting addiction topics to write about, 📑 good research topics about addiction, ✍️ addiction essay topics for college.

Problems of Everyday Addictions in Society The paper narrows the scope to the issue of drug abuse and addiction since this is arguably the basic source of information for the other forms of addictions as well.
Video Games Addiction: Is It Real? Addiction is associated with the need of substance while in some cases a behaviour which someone finds hard to move on without it, where the unavailability to a way out leads to abnormality. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
Where Does the Path to Smoking Addiction Start? What is causing even further worries is that the addiction is reported in the teenagers too, contrary to the common assumption that smoking addiction is evident in the adults.
Comparison of Theories of Addiction: The Biological Model and the Genetic Model Genetic and biological models aim at disclosing the essence of addiction as something natural and irreversible and the methods which are supported by neurobiology and physiology and become more appropriate for using and controlling human […]
Drug Addiction and Its Effects The main cause of drug addiction is, obviously, the use of drugs but there are specific predictors making some people engage in drug abuse. Another sign of addiction is the need to use drugs in […]
Sex Addiction as a Psychological Disorder It is in the final stage that a person comes to the realization that the addiction is more painful than pleasurable, but due to the addiction he or she cannot stop.
Internet Addiction in Modern Society Good internet connectivity coupled with the fact that the cost of using the internet is very cheap make people to spent countless hours in the internet.
Fast Food, Quick Problem Emergence, Rapid Addiction and Slow Recovery Process Because of the growing popularity of the fast food products, the concern for the effect that the fast food meals have on the population is growing increasingly big, yet the solutions for the problems and […]
Internet Addiction Among College Students It is definitely advisable that the schedule include at least a few hours to login to Facebook because at the end of the day the aim is not to put the person in total isolation.
Addiction Severity Index On the other hand if it is for clinical purpose, it should be explained at the initial step to the client so that it can form the basis of understanding for both the subject and […]
Analyzing Love and Love Addiction in Relationships Given that, the book focuses primarily on raising awareness on when love crosses into the realm of obsession, the characters in the book exhibit an intense and obsessive attraction for their partners, to the detriment […]
Is Drug (Legal or Illegal) Addiction and or Abuse Individual Responsibility or Societies Responsibility? In this case, the effects of drug addiction and drug use can be grouped into two classes: impact of drug use and/or abuse on an individual, and the impact of individual drug use and/or abuse […]
Facebook Addiction in the Modern Society As a result of these occurrences, it has been proposed that Facebook is addictive since people appear to be hooked to the site and cannot keep away from it even considering the negative consequences.
Substance Abuse, Addiction and Dependency Among Adolescents The abuse of drugs and alcohol among the adolescent is a major problem in the United States and other developed nations.
Understanding Drug & Alcohol Addiction The chemicals present in the drugs disrupt the functioning of the brain in two ways mainly through imitating the natural functioning of the brain and overworking the circuit of the brain.
Smartphone Addiction Problem Statement Uncontrolled use of smartphone requires users to review the need to respond to smartphone alerts, deactivate the alerts, and consult their colleagues rather than the phone because such actions can reduce anxiety. Smartphone addiction is […]
“Cocaine: Abuse and Addiction” by National Institute on Drug Abuse The literature provides us with a report of a research that has been conducted in the US regarding the topic of cocaine and drug abuse.
Addiction of Digital Media in Society Currently, this rapid formation and the transformation of the landscape of digital news bring about a divide in the American community regarding the influences of digital news.
Jim Carroll’s Drug Addiction in the Movie “The Basketball Diaries” by Leonardo Dicaprio After the bursting of Jim and apprehending of his friends, using drugs red handed by the couch, disintegration starts taking place in the group and most of the boys lose their essence for being thrown […]
Pharmaceutical Drug Addiction Among African American Male Adolescents Among African American adolescents, there is high prevalence of abuse and addiction with regard to pharmaceutical drugs. There are numerous research undertakings with regard to the issue of abuse and addiction to pharmaceutical drugs.
Problems of Internet Addiction Disorder Another possible cause of a reduction in the brain capabilities is the kind of the materials that one is exposed to on the Internet.
Addiction of Whitney Houston This paper looks at the causes of addiction, hindrances to recovery, and the causes of relapse or successful recovery using the life of Whitney Houston as a model.
Online Gambling Addiction Gambling is an addiction as one becomes dependent on the activity; he cannot do without it, it becomes a necessity to him. Online gambling is more of an addiction than a game to the players.
Computer Addiction in Modern Society Maressa’s definition that, computer addiction is an accurate description of what goes on when people spend large amount of time working on computers or online is true, timely, and ‘accurate’ and the writer of this […]
The Qualitative and Quantitative Research Strategies: Drug Addiction This is why another purpose of this paper is to evaluate what kind of research strategy is more effective and better in regards to the topic of drug addiction.
Definition of Alcohol Misuse (Alcohol Abuse and Addiction) in Youth Population Age 18-29 Analyzing the article of Jiang, it is possible to define the alcohol misuse simply as the excessive consumption of alcohol where a number of the young drinkers is higher than any other group of age […]
Problems of Pornography Addiction This paper provides you with a deep insight into the issues related to pornography including the factors leading to wide spread of this, the various perspective and attitudes towards the matter, and lastly, discuss its […]
Effects of Internet Addiction on Family Relationships Among Teenagers In the modern society, cyber bullying refers to the instances where the individual uses the internet to interfere with the rights and freedoms of others.
Literature Review and Research Methodology Draft: Effects of Internet Addiction on Family Relationships Among Teenagers The focus of the literature review will be to find information on effects of the internet on family members and also to determine the current state of research as regards to the effects of the […]
Problem of Hydrocodone Addiction in US To gain a better understanding on hydrocodone abuse and the implications of compulsive behaviors resulting from addiction in an individual, a closer evaluation of historical and contemporary cases with particular interest on prevention and treatment […]
The Role of Spirituality in Overcoming Addictions The faith and trust that we have in God is able to redeem and save one from the jaws of addiction.
Addiction to an Experience It is important to understand the aspects of drug abuse and addiction in order to contribute substantially in the prevention programs formulated to curb the vice.
Theories of Addiction: General Counseling Methods The two methods chosen are useful in the addiction treatment due to their applicability, convenience, relevancy, and conventionality in counseling and addressing the provisions of drug addiction. This relates to the aspects of addiction mentioned […]
Link Between Environment and Addiction Environment is a critical contributor to the aspects of drug abuse and the alleged addiction. This indicates that the ultimate effect of a given drug is not the only contributor to drug abuse and addiction.
The Concept of Addiction The recent developments in psychology, as well as intensive studies in the concept of addiction, has drawn considerable debates and concerns on the issue of relationships between the legal system and addiction.
Peculiarities of the Addiction Treatments The purpose to reduce the stigma of addition can be found in the stereotype of the addicted people who are different than normal people and can be dangerous.
Case Management: Drug Addiction While accepting that it is difficult to concisely define case management, Moore suggested that the definition of the term case management was social science that was individually adapted to meet the specific needs of a […]
Attachment Dimensions and Adolescence Drug Addiction in Relation to School Counseling A meta-analysis of numerous studies relating to attachment and parental rearing behaviors have revealed that the quality of rapport between children and their caregivers is of intrinsic importance to the children’s development, and some studies, […]
Drug Addictions Counseling: Assessment and Diagnosing Therefore, denial should be seen as “…a reflection of the interpersonal relationship between the counselor and the client”. In this respect, the task of a counselor is to develop the clients’ intrinsic motivation and enhance […]
Biblical Word Study: Counseling and Addiction Categories In the bible, the word counsel is the Aramaic translation of wouldethabar’ in the Old Testament and the Greek word ‘bouleutes’ in the New Testament.
Methamphetamine Addiction and Prevention In the discussion of the paper, addiction implies problematic utilization of methamphetamine despite the partial or full awareness of its negative implications on the health of its abusers.
Adolescent Risk: Substance and Addiction Despite the various consequences related to substance use and addiction, drug and alcohol use continues to be a problematic practice to a large number of American teenagers.
“Breaking the Chains of Cocaine: Black Male Addiction and Recovery” Book The book “Breaking the Chains of Cocaine: Black Male Addiction and Recovery” provides well researched insights into the problem of cocaine addiction among African American men, and offer a multiplicity of tenable alternatives that could […]
Gambling Addiction Research Approaches Therefore, it is possible to claim that the disease model is quite a comprehensive approach which covers several possible factors which lead to the development of the disorder.
Theories of Substance Addiction The risk is confounded when these factors occur in combination; thus, the more the risk factors, the higher the probability that the use of substances can result into addiction.
Addiction Counseling and Psychosocial Crisis in Elderly For Marie, she is at the onset of the elderly stage, and this is the most appropriate time to guide her on how to live a healthy elderly life.
Breaking the Chains of Cocaine Addiction The greatest inducement is the mere believe that cocaine increases energy and productivity but the worst mistake is forgetting the negative effects attached to it. Cocaine converts the user to the control of its use […]
Social Issues: Alcoholism as a Mode of Addiction Every single case of alcoholic dependence described in the lecture is perfectly consistent with the existing model, each piece of evidence falling into its place and, therefore, allowing the audience to have an entire picture […]
Drug Addiction History in Urban Areas Since the 1970s In the 1980s, large quantities of cocaine from the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic were shipped to the United States. The involvement of the CIA and the government led to the imprisonment of many people […]
Gender Identity and Addiction Treatment Attributable to the greater impact of addiction in females when compared to males, many studies and caregivers propose the application of women-only programs in treatment.
Cognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Addiction Withdrawal The clients’ irrational mindsets can be recuperated relying on three major concepts, which are the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, the ABCDE Model, and the Dysfunctional Thought Record.
Caffeine: Carriers, Addiction and Diseases When caffeine is taken in, the body absorbs and then gets rid of it fast. But, generally, it creates no threat to the physical and social aspects of health, like the addictive drugs do, though […]
Martyrdom as Addiction to Offset the Injustice Addiction might sometimes be thought of as an end in itself and a practice that is engaged in by certain people just for the sake of it.
The Theme of Addiction in Tennessee Williams’ Plays Apart from that, one can mention that addiction is depicted as a force that ruins the family of the characters. This is one of the points that should be distinguished.
Gambling and Addiction’s Effects on Neuroplasticity It was established further that blood flow from other parts of the body to the brain is changes whenever an individual engages in gambling, which is similar to the intake of cocaine.
Addiction: Methods and Approaches First and foremost it must be noted that the main difference between the methadone maintenance approach and the therapeutic community approach is that the former believes in illegal substance abstinence through the use of substitute […]
College Students: Internet Addiction The authors also note that the use and access of the internet have increased in the past decades. Additionally, the authors argue that conflicts between parents and young individuals are likely to result in internet […]
Addiction’s Etiology: Models and Theories An example of such a model is the 12-step approach that appeared in 1935 and emphasized the necessity of the “spiritual awakening” of the addicts.
Disease Harm Reduction Addiction Treatment Model The harm reduction model implies the ability of the addicted patient to control and govern the undesired personal behavior while the disease model excludes the self-control aspect from the treatment methods and offers to consider […]
Alcohol Addiction and Its Societal Influence The results of the discussion coincide with the given statement and in conclusion the necessity of the further investigation of this issue is given.
Drug Addiction Issues in The Corner Miniseries Probably the main reason why The Corner does deserve to be considered utterly insightful, in the sense of how it treats the theme of drug-addiction, is that it exposes the fallaciousness of the assumption that […]
Social Work and Addiction in Family Settings The patient experiences urges to use drugs regardless of the apparent negative consequences of this practice. Therapists and clients consider this stage to be the most difficult.
Second Life Games Addiction and Its Reasons The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the nature of user’s addiction to Second Life game in terms of cultural, social, and psychological aspects.
The Intervention of Positive Coping and Drug Addiction The intervention in question is based on the three domains that are referred to as “the pleasant life”, “the engaged life” and “the meaningful life”.
Video Game Addiction and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs As to me, I was interested in video games when I was a child because this industry was at its beginning and almost every pupil was involved in it.
Addictions in Free Markets As a result of the lack of communication with the rest of the community members, people that experience stress as a result of dislocation may try to fill the void with developing an addiction.
Social Cognitive Theory Against Addiction All the sources are closely related to the problem of alcohol addiction and, therefore, are included in the research. The study aimed to investigate the effect of the social cognitive theory implementation on people willing […]
Addiction Occurrence and Reduction in Adolescence This implies that the earlier the start of the use of drugs, the higher the chances of the risk of becoming addicted.
Addiction Prevention Programs in Miami-Dade County According to the county’s official website, the estimated population in 2016 was 2,712,945, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States.
Addictions: Treatment and Prevention On the other hand, addiction is the inability to stop practicing a harmful habit despite its negative consequences, as it is connected to the physical or psychological pleasures.
Nicotine Addiction Research and Assessment The present paper offers a review of measures to assess nicotine dependence and provides five questions that are crucial to ask and five questions to avoid during the intake process Nicotine addiction is historically associated […]
Addiction History and Concepts When the colonization of the Americas started, the consumption of alcohol was common practice in Europe, and it spread across the New World following the development of American society.
Primary Care Providers Treating Opiate Addiction The current evidence presents several ways to stratify and minimize patient risk of opioid addiction, among which one may enumerate utilization of primary care providers, patient-centered delivery of opioid pain therapy, continuous monitoring, education, and […]
Opioids Addiction in the United States The growing addiction, abuse, and overdose of opioids in the United States are some of the main concerns among the federal agencies involved in safeguarding public health.
Stop Heroin Addiction: Service Delivery Program The overall mission of the program is to make sure that participants overcome the problem of heroin abuse through having information and tools necessary for dealing with the issue. The cultural variable should be at […]
Heroin Addiction Educational and Preventive Program The mission of the chosen program is to educate people about the threats of heroin. The participants of this program have to get access to the information about heroin addiction globally and recognize the suggestions […]
Substance Addiction Treatment in Students The purpose of this paper is to investigate the etiology, the signs, and the design strategies to deal with addictions, as well as analyze and reflect on a case study of a student experiencing substance […]
Addiction Recovery and Its Ethical Risks The purpose of the given confidentiality policy is to guarantee that all workers of the project and its participants correctly realize the existing requirements to the disclosure of personal data and confidential information.
Addictions in Cultural Groups: Study Challenges One of the ways to solve this problem is by accepting that people with substance abuse issues can function normally. Consequently, people with substance misuse issues will become part of the research team because they […]
The Opioid Crisis: Preventing Addiction Therefore, the main goal of healthcare professionals is to prevent addiction by appointing appropriate treatment and varying the time of opioid drug consumption according to the psychological characteristics of a patient.
Addiction Counseling and Certification in Arizona I have also defined the roles of the counselor in my area of specialization, that is, addiction counseling described the characteristics of an effective professional counselor in my field of specialization, and identified the licensing […]
Drug and Alcohol Addiction: Athletes and Student Leaders It is possible to see individuals who have health problems because of drugs and those who still do not understand the danger.
Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery In other words, the organization came to the realization that most rehabilitation and recovery programs for drug-related cases are not viable enough to change the whole menace brought about by the abuse of alcohol and […]
Conditioning in Phobias and Addictions In classical conditioning, Extinction of a behavior is induced by use of a positive reinforcement to the organism which escalates a response.
The Psychology of Addiction and Addictive Behaviors On the other hand, the psychology of addiction relates to how the mind is affected by the usage of substances like drugs.
Alcohol Addiction and Psychological Assistance Smith is a supporter of the Democratic Party like most people in her family and among her friends and colleagues. Smith was asked what goals she wanted to achieve in the course of her treatment.
Drug Addiction Diagnostics and Therapy Prescription Poverty and lack of social support are some of the main factors that have made it difficult for Rosa Lee to overcome her drug addiction. Rosa Lee and her children are forced to live with […]
Alcohol Addiction as a Learned Behavior Alcohol addiction is generally considered a disease of the brain since alcohol addiction alters the biochemistry and physiology of the brain.
Addiction in Adolescences: Factors and Treatments It is crucial to study dependence in adolescences in a variety of its forms to identify the decisive tools and methods of influence to provide treatment interventions.
Drug Addiction in Australia and Management Methods It becomes a critical task of the healthcare sector as the reconsideration of the attitude to addictive substances is one of the factors needed to improve the quality of people’s lives and guarantee their well-being.
The Crisis of Opiate Addiction The purpose of this paper is to analyze the opiate addiction problem, describe the contributing factors, and suggest ways of resolving the issue.
Heroin Addiction and Its Biological Aspect Regarding the shift of priorities towards the cultivation of the improved quality of peoples lives and promotion of the appropriate lifestyle, the health of the nation becomes the central concern for the government and diverse […]
Addiction as Moral Defect From Cultural Perspective In short, I believe that addictions can be viewed as a moral defect since the person failed to resist the initial addictive act, which led to the development of automatic behaviors.
Food Addiction: How to Overcome It? To overcome food addiction, you should understand the cause of the problem and develop a plan of action to fight it.
Likecoholic: Social Media Addiction Modern scholars have started likening the addiction to the use of social media to smoking, stating that companies such as Facebook must be regulated “exactly the same way you regulated the cigarette industry,” in which […]
Ethical Codes and Principles in Addictions Assessment Therefore, it may be stated that the addictions professional is aware of the ethics code and makes a lot of effort to adhere to it.
Ethical Codes and Principles in Addictions: Implications of Labeling According to Szwejka, images of addicts are negative, and being associated with the word may lead to the development of stigma.
Models of Addiction and the Assessment Process The present paper offers an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the medical model and its implication to addiction assessment and treatment.
Clinical and Addictions Assessment Tools According to Samet et al, addiction assessment tools are reliable and effective only for the cases of addictions, while the clinical screening may be used only as a supplementary measure for the diagnosis of comorbid […]
Hallucinogens: Addiction and Treatment In the majority of cases, the structure of hallucinogens is similar to serotonin, a well-known human neurotransmitter. The desire and a burning need to repeat the same actions are the characteristics of addiction.
How Does Addiction Affect Families The sober fact is that the health of all members of the family is a key aspect of the improvement of relations between all individuals belonging to it and the evolution of this institution.
Relevant Therapy Approaches: Probationers With Alcohol Addiction In the case of substance abuse, this type of therapy can help to pinpoint the root cause of a habit and substitute it with a healthier pattern.
Alcohol Addiction: Opting for a Correct Referral Method The psychological content of codependency is evidence of the uniqueness of health disorders and personal functioning of a family member as compared with alcohol-related disorders.
Addiction Assessment Tool Evaluation The purpose of the present paper is to conduct a review of the 10-item yes/no Drug Abuse Screening Test to evaluate its benefits and limitations.
Addiction Assessment Tools Terrance is to use two assessment tools: the Drug Abuse Screening Test and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. In short, Terrance is recommended to use these two tools for a quick and low-cost assessment […]
Addictions Assessment Process The first four stages are designed to assist in making the correct diagnosis and determining the level of care to ensure further rehabilitation of the client. The psychiatrist attended to the PTSD and mental issues […]
Methamphetamine and Cocaine Addiction Treatment In fact, by doing so, people subconsciously try to prove that aggressiveness, anxiety, and panic attacks are not implications of drug dependence but the states they medicate with the help of methamphetamine.
Opium Addiction: Cause and Effect The traffic of opium became unlawful only at the beginning of the 20th century when the scientists discovered the real properties of this drug and found out that it causes addiction.
Advanced Addiction Psychology Contemporary Perspectives The aptest critique of the test is provided by the discussion that Cox has provided when they suggest that the test should be considered along with the connectionist model.
The Reality TV Shows Addiction: Cause-Effect The viewers feel like the actors are just in the same scenario as them and every development is a success to both the actor and his viewer.
Women’s Addiction in All Its Manifestations Analysis In the Substance Addiction category, women usually indulge in Food, Alcohol, and Drugs in that order of priority; however, addiction of women to alcohol and drugs is more prevalent in Western countries {albeit to a […]
Alcohol Addiction Issue in USA In order to do well in the group of Alcoholics Anonymous, it is better if the individual is talkative and open to conversations, as the main way of psychological therapy is telling stories about their […]
Sexual Addiction, Compulsivity, or Problematic Behavior Sex, in general, is most common among the male, they are the ones who can have many ladies just to have sex with them, and they will never think of sex as being sacred or […]
Antidepressant Addiction and Abuse Depressed addicts need to have a proper examination of their addictive behavior to be able to abstain from processes and substances for altering moods fully.
Drug Addiction: A General View of New Concepts Users who are weak-minded or peer adulating, tend to imitate others and use the drug not because they really want to, but in order to appear ‘cool’ and ‘one of the group.’ This is a […]
Online Gaming Addiction Analysis For example, in World of Warcraft, there are 10 million players around the world who pay about $15 a month to blitz around the world of Azeroth.
Caffeine Addiction as a Mental Disorder And it is a rather pragmatic question stipulated by the professionals need to debate about, but not by the addiction nature itself.
Computer Addiction: Side Effects and Possible Solutions Since that time humanity started to speak of different signs of “computer addiction” the term stands to emphasize the seriousness of the problem and implies the possibility of drastic consequences that computer mania might have.
Behavioral Change: Drugs and Addiction The reasons for such usage could vary according to the substance used and to the life rhythm of the addicted person.
The Problem of Gambling in the Modern Society as the Type of Addiction Old people and adolescents, rich and poor, all of them may become the prisoners of this addiction and the only way out may be the treatment, serious psychological treatment, as gambling addiction is the disease […]
Addiction: Is It a Disease or Moral Failing? According to the journal article of clinical and research news, a disease can be defined as a complicated relationship existing between the environment of an individual and the general genetic makeup that combines together resulting […]
Online Video Games Addiction The changes are far-reaching: the definition of online video game; the nature of the information ‘commons’ for the citizen; the right of privacy in communicated expressions; the regulation of information infrastructures; the definition of information […]
Drug Addiction Treatment: Variety of the Methods Basing on the importance of the learning process in the development of drug addiction practice, CBT makes use of the learning process, firstly, in helping the patients to recognize the conditions which stimulate them to […]
The Addiction From Cocaine Main Aspects The impact of the cocaine on the human brain can be explained by the chemical dopamine and its variations in the brain of the drug addict, as well as by three main areas of the […]
Addictions and Emotions in Biopsychology The impulse sent to the brain in response to the stimuli is sent to two different parts of the brain: cortex and thalamus.
The Development of Phobias and Addictions On the other hand, addictions are the behavioral pattern that is characterized by either psychological or physical reliance on substances abuse which is known to have negative impacts on the health and the life of […]
Psychoactive Substances and Addiction Substances that could easily lead to addiction are the elements that directly motivate the dopaminergic system such as marijuana, cocaine, nicotine, and heroin.
Facebook: The Latest Addiction Most delegates had laptops in the room connected to the internet and my surprise a good number of them were misusing the privileges of the internet provided by the UN by accessing Facebook and other […]
Facebook Addiction Problem Overview This paper is an in-depth analysis of the risks that Facebook poses to children and the steps that parents should take to ensure that their children do not become victims of Facebook use.
Drug Abuse and Addiction Holimon has succeeded in reviving some of her family relations, and she is still putting a lot of effort to get ahead in this area to the fullest extent possible.
Shopping Addiction: Personal Experiences She realized that she had wasted most of her life and she was heading to destruction. She began thinking of taking a positive turn in her life; although she knew it would not be easy […]
Food Addiction and Obesity in Children and Teens Many turn to comfort eating to cope with this stress, to the point where it takes on the characteristics of an addiction. Overeating and obesity can also become a vicious cycle: children would eat to […]
Alcoholic Anonymous Organization Fighting Addiction By accepting the problem and causes, a participant can try to resolve. In the program, participants have to admit their past wrongs and errors to a group and receive support to change.
Social Media Addiction in Society The person takes the substance, or in case of social media, keeps checking and updating online status or website on and on.
Adolescent Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Dependence And while overall statistics show a decrease in the number of unique and persistent cases of substance abuse in Western countries in general and in the US in particular, this problem is still extremely urgent.
Addiction Treatment: Challenges in Case Management Settings Case management has a vital role in addiction treatment as it helps to adopt a holistic approach and empower the client. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, 2004), “substance abusers have better treatment outcomes if their other problems are addressed concurrently” (pp.1-2). Case management aims at planning and coordinating health […]
Anxiety Among Us: How and Why, Drug Addiction As the effects of the drug are not long-lasting, people who take phenobarbital tend to use the medicine more often than it is allowed in the drug prescription.
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Video Game Addiction: History and Future Implications

Introduction.

Video games are arguably the most popular form of entertainment among the youth today. Generally, males play more than females, although this trend has been shifting in the last decade (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). The video game industry is an interesting topic to study since it is filled with extensive inventions and changes. However, the main reason why I am interested in the field of video game addiction is because of the huge knowledge gap that exits between what is known and what should be known. Today many stakeholders have contradictory opinions about the future of video games and their impacts on those already addicted. Literature shows that a few minorities of the players are negatively impacted by prolonged play. Studies are yet to be done on the effects of the game played, the future of video gaming addiction, and the best prescriptions for those affected. This study will describe the history of video games and video game addiction, including the current state, use that knowledge to predict the future of the problem, and prescribe the best way to handle the issue.

Literature Review

Video game addiction has become a common topic of discussion in popular culture and has drawn the attention of many researchers. Over the last two decades, there have been a lot of empirical studies comparing gaming addiction and overall habits of people compared to preceding decades, i.e. (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). This has resulted in many books, articles, and scholarly research articles being written about the topic. Some significant fields on video game addiction that scholars have had a deep interest in are as to if video game addiction is a disorder, treatment of video game addiction, and differences between online video games and regular games. The association between video game addiction and other forms of addiction, such as pornography and drug use, has also been studied widely. Some authors have also been critical of using the term addiction when describing the excessive consumption of video games.

History of Video Games and Video Games Addiction

Before the 1970s.

Video games have a short history, from the early 1950s when computer scientists began to write simple codes to do simple simulations. One of the earliest video games to be created were Bertie the Brain, Nimrod, and Tennis for two (Carpenter, 2022). Spacewar, the first video game to gain a worldwide audience, was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the early 1960s. Video games failed to achieve the desired popularity in the 1960s because of the inadequacy of programmers and mainly scarcity of computer resources. However, in the following decade of the 1970s, the situation changed drastically with the development of high-level programming languages such as BASIC and C (Chatley et al., 2019). A look at the history of programming reveals that students could also share their programs with other students and developers because of the availability of a standard programming environment developed by Bell Labs. This resulted in video games being available and developed in a manner that could attract clients.

During the 1970s

Video game popularity and addiction were not the only factors in improved tools development in the 1970s. IT had evolved, and more people had access to computers people used to play games. Indeed, studies reveal that computers were ten times better in features, speed, complexity, and design at the beginning of 1970 than at the beginning of the 1960s, i.e. (Staff, 2020). This made them attract a wide usage among video gamers who spend much time using them for entertainment. The development of two popular gaming consoles, Atari and Pong, was a significant defining moment for video games. The consoles were the first to raise an alarm that some people were spending too much time gaming. This opened up an extensive market for video games, and the number of companies producing video game consoles increased from 5 to 77 between 1975 and 1977 (Wills, 2019). These manufacturers marketed and advertised themselves by promising to transport the gamers into a new world, a promise they seemed to have achieved as more people continued to be hooked.

During the 1980s

Video games continued to grow in the 1980s and have surpassed pop music as the preferred form of entertainment in the country. According to “Gaming Alexandria” (2021), the game’s revenues from video game sales tippled from $ 300 million to $900 between 1979 and 1980. Therefore, it is no surprise that the first video game case appeared in psychological and psychiatric literature in this decade. Early scholars like Soper and Miller noted that video game addiction was like any other addiction since it exhibited the same behavioral characteristics. The cognitive behavior theory treatment was advocated for treating those affected with symptoms like lack of sleep, lack of interest in activities, and low social association with peers due to video games (Curwen et al., 2018). Studies done in the 1980s have a weakness since the focus is mainly on a narrow demographic of teenage boys at the time.

During the 1990s

The ’90s saw the transition of video games from two-dimensional raster graphics to 3D graphics, thanks to continuous innovation in graphics design. This shift led to the decline of gaming arcades which were popular before, with computer games and fifth-generation gaming consoles taking over. Software applications that could handle game programming were also manufactured during this period, including DirectX, which was later integrated into Microsoft windows. Researchers in this decade studied addictive behaviors by issuing self-reported studies, and the conclusions were weak since they used the same criteria used to analyze gambling for video games. Later studies have concluded that studies carried out during this period could have analyzed video game preoccupation rather than addiction.

The 2000s witnessed increased competition for dominance in the gaming industry, with Sonny’s PlayStation 2 being the market leader. Other competitors tried to push Sony out of the industry but, to date, remains the biggest seller of gaming consoles, with over 155 million consoles sold worldwide. A reason for the dominance was the PlayStation captivating games put in their system, including Grand Theft Auto and Fantasy X. Nintendo dominated handheld games before falling out after mobile game applications started to gain popularity in the mid-2000s. In this decade, studies revealed that video gaming addiction was not limited to male teenage boys alone, as games to fit other age groups and females were designed (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). Given the weaknesses of studies done prior to 2000, it is hard to compare the effects of video game addiction before and after; therefore, only articles published in this decade and after could be used.

Many studies on the effects of video games were conducted in the period between 2010 and 2020. Irrespective of whether the person is addicted to the video games or not, studies in this period reveal that for a tiny minority who are hooked to video games, there are inevitable negative consequences, i.e. (Mathews et al., 2019; Nielsen & Kardefelt-Winther 2018). Stockdale and Coyne (2018) discovered common side effects of excessive video game addiction as suicidal thoughts, sexual idealization, rape mentality, anti-social behavior, poor overall health, and pornography addiction. Over 50 studies done during the 2010s found a likelihood for a person who is a game addict to have an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, dementia, school disorder, and attention deficit disorder. The clinical intervention was found to have a mitigating effect on the negative impacts caused by video game addiction (Stockdale & Coyne, 2018). However, going into 2020, the studies had not yet revealed the percentage of regular video game players who exhibited negative symptoms.

Present State of Video Game Addiction

Recent technological advancement has made video games the most preferred leisure activity, especially among teens. Farchakh et al. (2020), in their study, concluded that children spend an average of eight hours playing video games. One main reason why video games have become very popular is that, like drugs, they release dopamine, the feel-good hormone, when a person beats a particular level. Mathews et al. (2019) compare video game addiction to gambling addiction, saying that the two bring the same behavioral effects to the person addicted. Despite the topic attracting massive attention from both popular culture and scholars, many are still yet to agree whether video gaming addiction can be classified as a disorder or not. Indeed, two central bodies entrusted with doing such classification, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the World Health Organization, disagree on the issue. The World Health Organization intended to add video gaming disorder to its list of diseases (Mylona et al., 2020). However, APA is yet to classify video game addiction as a disorder, issuing a guideline that the field requires further study.

This Studies Original Contribution

Prediction of the future state of video game addiction.

The history and current state of video game addiction gives a clear idea where things will be in the coming years. The video game industry is expected to grow and become more sophisticated in the coming years. Newzoo’s Global Market Report (2021) predicts that the video gaming industry revenue is likely to hit $ 218.7 billion by 2024, with a sustained annual increase of 8%. If this projection is true, then the number of people addicted to video games will be higher. This will open up opportunities for data-driven studies as the data to choose from will be adequate. It will also offer scholars a chance to conduct more detailed studies to confirm if there is true video game addiction or if people are just addicted. If there is addiction, research will also have to be done to find the causes of this addiction. Psychiatrists will also have to be trained to handle people experiencing unique challenges associated with video game addiction. This study predicts that more scholars will discover video game addiction as a disorder and propose a mitigation procedure for those affected.

Prescription for Video Game Addiction

The literature and history of video games could be used to derive actual set of actions for stakeholders to use which is the main purpose of this study. A look at the history, current, and future state of video game addiction brings several insights that the stakeholders must know and apply. First, data has revealed that record keeping is essential in knowing and understanding the problem. As part of an ethical community, manufacturers of video games should be encouraged to monitor the number of hours a user spends playing, have a daily time limit and share the anonymous data of the players. Secondly, clinical experts must do robust, honest assessments of those affected and not confuse Video Game addiction with gambling or drug addiction. Third, relevant stakeholders should focus on lay emphasis on prevention and prevention treatment research. The responsibility for preventing video game addiction should not be left to manufacturers alone but should also include researchers and clinicians (Griffiths & Pontes, 2019). More studies on how to prevent video game addiction must be conducted to help the manufacturers.

The demographic most affected by video games are male children between 8 and 14 years. However, improvement to video game graphics and overall experience has made people of different ages and genders a part of the gaming community (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019). Initially, the parent’s role was mitigation measures toward controlling video game addiction. This method is now outdated, and scholars should seek to devise new mitigation measures to control addicts who are adults. Other effects associated with video game addiction are the objectification of people and increased violence displayed in the scenes. In the past, various regulative and legislative authorities have been keen to ensure these scenes are removed. However, popular games today still depict these scenes. Therefore, all people who game should be warned about not replicating the things they see in video games in their real lives. Lastly, video games, addicted or not, need to be informed that too much time on the gaming screens is harmful to their eyes, and this information should be made available to all.

Based on the history of video games and addiction in the past, one can conclude that video games continue to get better and more addictive to people, and thus mitigation measures are necessary. While many scholars have differing opinions as to what the effects of excessive video games are, it is clear that mitigations must be done even with limited knowledge. As literature has revealed, all gamers should be warned about the effects of gaming addiction. It is important for further study to be done to see if excessive video gaming could bring a positive impact on a person’s life.

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Essay on Video Games Addiction in English for Children and Students

Introduction

Video Games are fun to play when you are free. They bring interest and refresh our mind to get ready for work again. Their frequent use and that for a long time creates an addiction among the youth.

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Cause of Addiction

The video games entertain us. With every level, we pass the difficulty and the interest of the user increases together. Our interest increases to see the difficulty of each level. This interest later turns to be video game addiction.

Effect of Video Game Addiction

Video Game Addiction harms us physically and mentally. It weakens our vision, our body, and starts a pain in joints and fingers. It is also a reason for increasing depression, poor vision, high and low blood pressure, and also sometimes the case of paralysis. It may result in death too.

We can limit the use of Video Games. Play them only to refresh your mind, not to waste your time. Never stop your urgent work for playing video games, and decide duration for playing them.

Video Games are to entertain us, not to make us sick. Neither play them too much nor ask others to play. Social awareness is very important in this matter. It is not about our interest, but our health.

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IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS

15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Online Cause-and-Effective Essay Alternatives

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Introduction

Research Subjects

Research Tools

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale

Patient Health Questionnaire Scale

Executive Function Scale

Statistical Analysis

General Demographic Data of Subjects

Network Usage of Subjects

Basic Information of the Game and Non-game Groups

Relationships Between IGA Scores and Anxiety, Depression, and Executive Function Scores

Scores of Anxiety and Depression, the Executive Function Total Scores, and the Executive Function Score of Each Factor Among Groups

Correlation Analysis of IGA Scores With Gender, Age, Anxiety, Depression, and Executive Function

Multiple Linear Regression Analysis of IGA Scores With Age, Anxiety, Depression, and the Total Score of Executive Function ( n = 151)

Conclusions

Data Availability Statement

Ethics Statement

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Publisher's Note

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Video Game Addiction Paper Sample

Introduction

Addiction

The Psychological Factor

The Harmful Effects

Signs and Symptoms of Addiction

Detoxification or Treatment of Addiction

Video Game Addiction

Flawed Research

Why Not Other Hobbies?

What Else Might Account for Excessive Gaming

The Issue of Video Games Addiction

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Video Game Addiction and Emotional States: Possible Confusion Between Pleasure and Happiness?

Nicolas Debue

Introduction

Pleasure and Happiness

Materials and Methods

Statistical Analysis

The Experiment

Expected Results

Design of the “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Questionnaire

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Six-Items Questionnaire

Craving Scores

Physiological Signals Measurements

The “Pleasure and/or Happiness and VG” Three-Bipolar Items Questionnaire

Key Words and VG

“Pleasure and VG or Happiness and VG” (One Bipolar Item Questionnaire With Written Definitions)

Putative Reasons of Distorted Perceptions of Emotional States Associated With VG Addiction

Therapeutic Implications

Limitations

Prospective Research

Data Availability Statement

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Essay on Online Games Addiction