Comparing the Associations of Internet Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder with Psychopathological Symptoms: Cross-sectional Study of Three Independent Adolescent Samples (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Both Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and Internet Addiction (IA) have been associated with diverse psychopathologies, but how the two conditions relate to each other, and which is associate with more severe psychopathologies is unclear. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to compare the association between IGD and IA and with several types of psychopathology symptoms. METHODS This cross-sectional study surveyed three independent samples: 8125 first-year undergraduates at a large university, 1720 high school students, and 492 inpatients 13-19 years old at two tertiary mental health centers. IGD was defined as a score > 21 on the IGDScale-9 Short Form (IGDS9-SF), while IA was defined as a score ≥ 50 on Young's 20-item IA Test (IAT-20). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychoticism, paranoid ideation and attention deficit-hyperactivity were assessed using internationally validated surveys. RESULTS Across the three samples, the frequency of IGD ranged from 4.8 to 32.3%, while the frequency of IA ranged from 7.3 to 45.9%. Scores on the IGDS9-SF and IAT-20 correlated moderately with each other (r = 0.51-0.55) and with severity of most types of psychopathological symptoms in all three samples, with IAT-20 scores linked to more severe symptoms. In all three samples, psychopathological symptoms were significantly more severe in individuals with IA, either alone or comorbid with IGD, compared to those with IGD only. CONCLUSIONS IGD and IA appear to be distinct disorders that correlate with each other. Both are associated with diverse psychopathological symptoms, IA is generally more severe in the case of addiction. These findings may facilitate diagnosis and treatment of these and potentially other disorders related to online entertainment.