The Hierarchical Implications of Internet Gaming Disorder Criteria: Which Indicate more Severe Pathology?.
- Author:
Seung Yup LEE
1
;
Hae Kook LEE
;
Hyunsuk JEONG
;
Hyeon Woo YIM
;
Soo Young BHANG
;
Sun Jin JO
;
Kyung Young BAEK
;
Eunjin KIM
;
Min Seob KIM
;
Jung Seok CHOI
;
Yong Sil KWEON
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Internet gaming disorder; Diagnostic criteria; Severity; Hierarchy; Principal components analysis
- MeSH: Comorbidity; Humans; Immunoglobulin D; Internet*; Pathology*
- From:Psychiatry Investigation 2017;14(3):249-259
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To explore the structure of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) criteria and their distribution according to the different severity level of IGD. The associations of psychiatric comorbidities to each IGD symptom and to the IGD severity were also investigated. METHODS: Consecutively recruited 330 Korean middle school students underwent face-to-face diagnostic interviews to assess their gaming problems by clinicians. The psychiatric comorbidities were also evaluated with a semi-structured instrument. The data was analyzed using principal components analysis and the distribution of criteria among different severity groups was visualized by plotting univariate curves. RESULTS: Two principal components of ‘Compulsivity’ and ‘Tolerance’ were extracted. ‘Decrease in other activities’ and ‘Jeopardizing relationship/career’ may indicate a higher severity of IGD. While ‘Craving’ deserved more recognition in clinical utility, ‘Tolerance’ did not demonstrate much difference in distribution by the IGD severity. Internalizing and externalizing psychiatric disorders differed in distribution by the IGD severity. CONCLUSION: A hierarchic presentation of IGD criteria was revealed. ‘Decrease in other activities’ and ‘Jeopardizing relationship/career’ may represent a higher severity, thus indicating more clinical attention to such symptoms. However, ‘Tolerance’ was not found to be a valid diagnostic criterion.
