Negative Affect, Life Satisfaction, and Internet Gaming Disorder: Exploring the Mediating Effect of Coping and the Moderating Effect of Passion

Abstract

No research has examined whether the effect of high negative affect and poor life satisfaction on Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is explained by gaming to cope or is dependent upon users’ passion for video gaming. An online sample of adults (N = 969 adults; 60.5% male) reported their passion for video games, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and IGD severity. A latent profile analysis on the passion subscales yielded four subgroups: (1) minimally passionate; (2) moderately passionate; (3) harmoniously passionate (HP); and (4) Obsessively Passionate (OP) video game users. Although negative affect was directly and indirectly associated with greater IGD through gaming to cope in the overall sample, a follow-up moderated-mediation model revealed that gaming to cope did not mediate the association between negative affect and IGD for OP users, but did for HP users. The implications for future research on the mechanisms of IGD are discussed.