Alexithymia in gaming addiction and engagement

BLINKA, Lukas, Anna FALTÝNKOVÁ and Karel REČKA. Alexithymia in gaming addiction and engagement. Journal of Affective Disorders. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2024, vol. 354, June, p. 104-109. ISSN 0165-0327. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.060.

Basic information

• Original name: Alexithymia in gaming addiction and engagement
• Authors: BLINKA, Lukas (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Anna FALTÝNKOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Karel REČKA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Journal of Affective Disorders, Amsterdam, Elsevier, 2024, 0165-0327.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50101 Psychology
• Country of publisher: Netherlands
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 6.600 in 2022
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.060
• UT WoS: 999
• Keywords in English: Gaming disorder; Gaming addiction; Gaming engagement; Non-problematic gaming; Alexithymia; Emotional dysregulation
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Background:
It has been suggested that alexithymia plays a significant role in substance and behavioral addictions. However, only a handful of studies investigated this construct in relation to gaming addiction, and no study analyzed its differential effect on gaming engagement and addiction.
Methods:
A total of u adult gamers (Mage = 26.04, SD = 5.78, 94 % male) completed a questionnaire that included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (and its subscales of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking), the Addiction-Engagement Questionnaire, and additional questions about gender, age, and time spent gaming. Structural equation modeling was used as the main analytical strategy.
Results:
Difficulty identifying feelings (β = 0.28) and externally oriented thinking (β = 0.19) showed a significant positive effect on gaming addiction. Contrary to addiction, externally oriented thinking showed a significant negative effect (β = −0.21) on gaming engagement. No other alexithymia subscales were significant. The model with alexithymia explained 32.7 % of the variance in gaming addiction while only 10.4 % of gaming engagement.
Conclusions:
Alexithymia is a strong predictor of gaming addiction. Gaming engagement seems to be a qualitatively different phenomenon that shows an opposite association with alexithymia than gaming addiction. However, both are related to increased time spent gaming. This suggests a need to distinguish between problematic vs. non-problematic excessive gaming as they have different associations with affect dysregulation.

Links

• GA21-30769S, research and development project: Name: Závislost na hraní počítačových her v longitudinální a psychodynamické perspektivě

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Gaming disorder from longitudinal and psychodynamic perspectives