This study provides novel insights into the reciprocal within-person associations between school refusal and IGD among adolescents. By accounting for stable between-person differences, the model clarifies how within-person fluctuations in one behavior relate to subsequent changes in the other. Sex-specific patterns were observed: school refusal predicted subsequent IGD among females, whereas IGD predicted later school refusal more strongly among males. These findings highlight the dynamic interplay between school disengagement and problematic gaming and underscore the importance of sex-sensitive intervention strategies.
Zheng et al. (2026) studied this question.