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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1443091

High immersion/escapism motivation makes gaming disorder risk less dependent of playtime among highly engaged male gamers

Provisionally accepted
Patrycja Kiszka Patrycja Kiszka 1Agnieszka Strojny Agnieszka Strojny 2*Pawel M. Strojny Pawel M. Strojny 2
  • 1 Doctoral School in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
  • 2 Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In the realm of gaming-related concerns, the relationship between gaming time (GT) and gaming disorder (GD) remains an intriguing and complex subject. Although increased GT is not a reliable predictor of GD risk, the circumstances under which this relationship strengthens or weakens remain relatively unknown. This study explores the roles of immersion/escapism motive (IEM) and GT in the context of GD among highly engaged gamers (N = 294), each dedicating a minimum of 20 hours weekly to gaming. The findings confirm that IEM significantly moderates the relationship between GT and GD in the male sample. Specifically, low and moderate levels of IEM result in a stronger relationship between GT and GD. In the case of women, the effect was not significant. These findings suggest the importance of comprehensive assessments of gaming motivations when addressing gaming-related issues, particularly in GD research. Moreover, they emphasize the value of adopting a complex approach to comprehending the development of problematic gaming behaviors.

    Keywords: Gaming disorder, Gaming time, Escapism, Immersion, Gaming motivation

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kiszka, Strojny and Strojny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Agnieszka Strojny, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.