The Association Between Internet Gaming Disorder and Impulsivity: A Systematic Review of Literature

Abstract

Research examining Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has increased substantially over the past decade. One of the risk factors for IGD includes poor impulse control. The present study comprises the first ever systematic review of studies examining the relationship between IGD and impusivity utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A literature search was conducted via EBSCO (which included the following academic databases: Academic Search Complete, PsycARTICLES, and PsycINFO), PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Wiley Online Library. The inclusion criteria were (i) publication date between 2000 and 2019, (ii) being an empirical study that collected primary data, (iii) written in English and Turkish languages (the two languages spoken by the authors), (iv) published in a scholarly peer-reviewed journal, and (v) conducted an objective assessment of both IGD and impulsivity. Following these procedures, 33 eligible empirical studies remained for evaluation in the present review comprising 18,128 participants in total. Results demonstrated that despite many methodological weaknesses, 32 studies reported a positive association between impulsivity and IGD. Possible explanations for this consistent finding appear to indicate that altered neurobiological structures detected in participants with impulsivity may explain some of the relationships between impulsivity and internet gaming disorder.