Gamers in Real Life: Internet Gamer Typologies and Their Association With Problematic Gaming and Health Outcomes

Abstract

Internet gaming is a popular pastime, which has surged in popularity in light of COVID-19. While positive outcomes are common, some gamers experience problems associated with their gaming. For this reason, understanding how factors can influence healthy versus unhealthy internet gaming outcomes is crucial. This study developed gamer typologies based on boredom proneness, escapism, and coping style. Typologies were compared on problematic gaming outcomes, gaming behaviours, engagement, and health and wellbeing–related variables. Cluster analysis of a diverse international sample (N = 913) identified three distinct profiles: immersed, balanced, and detached gamers. Detached gamers reported the highest boredom proneness, escapism, and disengaged coping. They also had worse health and wellbeing–related outcomes than other clusters, despite engaging in similar gaming behaviours to immersed gamers. These novel findings emphasise the importance of an engaged coping style and highlight the risk of using solely addiction-based measures to identify problematic internet gaming, which may overlook potentially adaptive behaviours.