Evaluation of the Brief Internet Gaming Screen–8 in a U.S. Based Clinical Inpatient Sample

Abstract

International prevalence rates for gaming disorder range with approximately 3.05% of individuals meeting criteria. Despite the high potential for diagnosis, most clinicians in health care facilities who treat known comorbidities (e.g., anxiety or depression) do not assess clients at intake for gaming disorder. The present study aims to evaluate the Brief Internet Gaming Screen–8 (BIGS-8) as a self-assessment screening tool within a health care setting treating clients with comorbid disorders. The measure was administered to individuals in a U.S. treatment facility that specializes in treating gaming disorder and technology overuse (n = 128). The participant’s ages were 13–35. The majority (87.9%) of individual’s primary presenting behavior for which they sought treatment was due to impairment in psychosocial functioning associated with video gaming. To discover the factor structure of the BIGS-8, a parallel analysis scree plot and an exploratory factor analysis were conducted using half of the sample chosen at random (n = 64). A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the other randomly chosen half of participants (n = 64). Results indicated a one-factor solution. To explore convergent validity, the sum score of the BIGS-8 was significantly positively correlated with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21) Depression subscale and DASS-21 Anxiety subscale sum scores. Within a components-based addiction framework aligned with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition–Text Revision criteria, the BIGS-8 yielded an acceptable model fit. The BIGS-8 poses clinical utility of identifying behavioral addiction elements that align with common comorbidities within a clinical sample and may be useful as a preliminary screening tool prior to completing a more comprehensive clinical assessment.