A Stress-Coping Model of Problem Online Video Game Use

Abstract

It is argued that problem video game use (PVGU) has similarities with behavioral addictions such as problem gambling. Unlike other addictions, the predictors of online PVGU have not been studied extensively. We applied a stress-coping model, previously developed for electronic gambling addiction, to PVGU. In this model, stressors lead to excessive behavior via maladaptive coping strategies involving the behavior. Video game players (N = 2261) completed an online questionnaire about their gaming habits, and self-report measures of depression, loneliness, social anxiety, and escapism and social interaction motives for gaming. Consistent with the stress-coping model, depression, loneliness, and social anxiety predicted levels of PVGU, these effects being partially mediated by escapism and social interaction motives for gaming. The pattern of mediation differed by gamers’ preferred game genre in a way that suggested “First Person Shooter” games provide an escape from aversive states, while, in addition to providing escape, massively multiplayer online role playing games, which emphasize collaborative play, may also be supplementing or substituting for face-to-face social interactions.