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Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming
Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387
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Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming Charlotta Hellström ⇑, Kent W. Nilsson, Jerzy Leppert, Cecilia Åslund Centre for Clinical Research, Uppsala University, Central Hospital, S-72189 Västerås, Sweden
a r t i c l e
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Article history: Available online 28 March 2012 Keywords: Adolescent Behaviour problems Computer games Consequences Motivation Videogames
a b s t r a c t In this study we examined the relation between gaming-time, motives to play, and negative consequences due to playing MMORPGs. A total of 7757 Swedish adolescents (3872 boys and 3885 girls) between 13 and 18 years of age completed a questionnaire during class hours. Results indicated that time spent on gaming was associated with negative consequences. This relation was further explained by motives to play. Gaming for fun and social motives were associated with a reduced risk whereas gaming to escape, to gain status, or due to demands from others were associated with an increased risk of negative consequences. Motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, even more than time spent gaming. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Computer use and computer gaming have become an ever increasing part of many adolescents’ daily lives (Anderson, Funk, & Griffiths, 2004; David-Ferdon & Hertz, 2007; Ko, Yen, Chen, Chen, & Yen, 2005). The debate as to whether computer games are good or bad for the individuals that play them has been ongoing since the early 1990s (Griffiths, 1993). According to Griffiths and Hunt, the most common initial reason for playing computer games is to play for fun followed by playing for challenge, because friends play, or because there is nothing else to do (Griffiths & Hunt, 1995). The reason for continuing to play is similar to the initial reason for starting. Furthermore, approximately one in ten claims to continue to play because they are unable to stop (Griffiths & Hunt, 1995). 1.1. Benefits and consequences from playing computer games Gaming also provides benefits such as development of educational, social, and spatial ability skills (Griffiths, 2008; Lager & Bremberg, 2005; Paraskeva, Mysirlaki, & Papagianni, 2010). However, the negative consequences due to gaming should be taken seriously when gaming has become the dominant activity in an adolescent’s life (Anderson et al., 2004; David-Ferdon & Hertz, 2007; Ko et al., 2005). Excessive gaming is more common among boys and men, who are also more likely to play computer games than girls and women (Chou & Tsai, 2007; Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh, 2004; Griffiths, 2005; Griffiths, Davies, & Chappell, ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 21174352; fax: +46 21173733. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Hellström), [email protected] (K.W. Nilsson), [email protected] (J. Leppert), [email protected] (C. Åslund). 0747-5632/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.02.023
2004; Ko et al., 2005; Schumacher & Morahan-Martin, 2001; Tanaka, Tamai, Terashima, Takenaka, & Tanaka, 2000; Uhlmann & Swanson, 2004). Computer gaming has, among other things, been associated with addictive-like behaviour (Griffiths, 2000, 2008; Griffiths et al., 2004; Grusser, Thalemann, & Griffiths, 2007; Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005), antisocial behaviour (Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Browne & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005), reduced sleep (Choi et al., 2009; Dworak, Schierl, Bruns, & Struder, 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Tazawa & Okada, 2001; Van den Bulck, 2004), daily tiredness (Choi et al., 2009; Dworak et al., 2007; Van den Bulck, 2004), somatic and physical complaints among adolescents (Tanaka et al., 2000; Torsheim et al., 2010), and both positive and negative effects on academic achievement (Choi et al., 2009; Chou & Tsai, 2007; Cummings & Vandewater, 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Yee, 2006a, 2006b). Moreover, adolescents are more likely than adult gamers to sacrifice their education or work to play (Griffiths et al., 2004). They also spend less time doing homework than non-gamers (Cummings & Vandewater, 2007). According to Griffiths et al. one-fifth of adolescents sacrifice sleep in order to play online games, which may have repercussions on productivity in other areas of their lives (Griffiths et al., 2004). 1.2. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) differ from traditional videogames in that they do not possess a definite end goal and the main purpose lies within the game’s tasks and the gamers’ achievements (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng &
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Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). The use of MMORPGs is increasing among adolescent computer gamers (Griffiths et al., 2004; Ko et al., 2005). The average MMORPG player spend about 20 h per week playing (Yee, 2006a, 2006b) and a majority of the players have on some occasion played continuously for 10 h or more (Griffiths, 2005). Playing computer games for 5 h or more each day may influence the health of adolescents (Griffiths, 2005). It is more common that male gamers play MMORPGs to pursue feelings of achievement and for social motives, whereas females mostly play for the purpose of passing time and for being entertained (Ko et al., 2005). Playing with an ‘‘obsessive passion’’ is a predictor for negative outcomes, while a ‘‘harmonious passion’’ for playing accounts for more positive outcomes (Lafrenière, Vallerand, Donahue, & Lavigne, 2009). Previous research has found that people’s needs, involvement and motives predict amount and outcomes of media and internet use (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000; Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Lager & Bremberg, 2005). 1.3. Videogame playing and gambling in adolescents There are evident relations between videogame playing and gambling in adolescents (Wood, Gupta, Derevensky, & Griffiths, 2004) and gambling for monetary reward is established as a public health problem (Rönnberg, 1999). Excessive gaming has many similarities with excessive gambling in relation to health (Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Johansson & Gotestam, 2004). It is suggested that playing games without monetary reward nevertheless meets the criteria of addiction (Grusser et al., 2007). Moreover, online gaming addictive like behaviour seems to share the same neurobiological mechanisms as substance use disorder (Ko et al., 2009; Thalemann, Wolfling, & Grusser, 2007). A Norwegian study of adolescents showed that three out of ten were engaged in ‘‘pathological playing’’ while every tenth engaged in ‘‘at-risk playing’’ (Johansson & Gotestam, 2004). Excessive gaming, however, does not necessarily mean that a person is addicted to gaming. It has been suggested that the negative impact on other areas of the gamer’s life, rather than the amount of time spent gaming, is the real issue when it comes to the potential consequences that follow (Griffiths, 2010; Liu & Peng, 2009). Wan and Chiou (2006) found that compulsive use of online games might come from the relief of dissatisfaction rather than the pursuit of satisfaction and that customer’s loyalty might be a motivation factor for playing online games, more than the feeling of flow within the gaming experience. People with lower self-esteem are more likely to become addicted to Internet and the addicts of online games are affected by the sense of dissatisfaction which might be the reason behind the excessive gaming (Wan & Chiou, 2006). In a study of World of Warcraft gamers, a number of social mechanisms that might be linked to problematic gaming were identified (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). However, the qualitative design with a small study population limits the possibilities to generalise the results to other populations (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). Moreover, generalised statements about both the negative consequences and the positive effects from gaming are often made without consideration to different gaming types or gamers’ different motives for playing, which may result in incorrect conclusions. As computer games are interwoven into most adolescents’ leisure activities it is important that researchers can understand what initiates different gaming behaviours in order to recognise and prevent problematic adolescent computer game use and its consequences (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Further research regarding how computer gaming interacts with the components of an adolescent’s everyday life, motives to play, and its positive and negative effects (specifically in relation to online gaming and sex differences) is therefore required. In the present study we were able to examine some of those required items.
1.4. Aims 1. To investigate the amount of time spent playing MMORPGs among boys and girls. 2. To investigate the motives to play MMORPGs among boys and girls. 3. To investigate the relation between time spent gaming, the motives to play MMORPGs, and experienced negative consequences among boys and girls. 2. Methods 2.1. Participants and procedures The present study was part of the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland 2008 (SALVe 2008), which is a survey distributed biannually by the County Council of Vestmanland in Sweden. Vestmanland is a medium-sized county with about 257,000 inhabitants. The target population consisted of all adolescents in the county in the 7th (13–14 years old) and 9th (15–16 years old) grades in compulsory school and the 2nd (17–18 years old) grade in upper secondary school. The students completed the questionnaire (SALVe 2008) during school time and answered questions on their demographic background, computer gaming habits and negative consequences due to gaming. The present study analysed fractions of data from the extensive SALVe 2008 questionnaire which included several questions that had no relation to gaming. The initial questions concerning negative consequences due to gaming were interwoven with questions about internet use. Thus, all participants that did not report playing MMORPGs were excluded from the analyses of the present study (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the study population. Administrative non-respondents refer to classes or schools that did not participate in SALVe 2008. External non-respondents refers to students that were absent on the day of the investigation and who did not return their questionnaire by mail. Internal non-respondents refer to those who did not state their sex and those who did not fill in the included questions for this present study.
C. Hellström et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387
Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The study followed the Swedish guidelines for studies of social science and humanities, in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. According to Swedish regulations, this kind of study does not need ethical approval by an ethical committee. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Sex Participants were asked whether they were a boy or a girl. 2.2.2. Computer use Participants were asked: ‘‘On average, how many hours a day do you use a computer during your leisure time (not at school)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not use a computer Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
2.2.3. Computer gaming habits Participants were asked: ‘‘How often do you play multi-player online computer games, for example World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Guild Wars, EverQuest, Starcraft, Battlefield or similar’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Never A few times a year Occasionally every month 2–4 times a month 2–3 days a week 4–5 days a week 6–7 days a week
The participants were asked: ‘‘If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary weekday (Monday to Friday)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not play Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
The participants were asked: ‘‘If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary day over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not play Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
2.2.4. Computer gaming motives The different variables used to describe the motives to play online computer games were extracted from a qualitative study (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). The motives described in this study were adjusted to fit as questions in a quantitative design. Fifteen affective measurement variables were used to assess aspects that predicted participants’ motives to play computer games. Participants were asked: ‘‘If you play online computer or
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other multiplayer games on the Internet, what are your reasons for doing so? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)
‘‘It is fun’’ ‘‘It is relaxing’’ ‘‘My friends play’’ ‘‘Demands from other players that I have to play’’ ‘‘It is exciting’’ ‘‘It is social’’ ‘‘I have many friends in the game’’ ‘‘I get away from all the problems in my ordinary life’’ ‘‘I have nothing more fun to do’’ ‘‘To earn money’’ ‘‘My ordinary life is so boring’’ ‘‘I gain status among other players’’ ‘‘I gain status among my friends in real life’’ ‘‘I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing’’ ‘‘I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life’’
Response alternatives were: (1) Strongly agree, (2) Agree to some extent, (3) Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Disagree to some extent, (5) Strongly disagree. Cronbach’s a for the 15 items was 0.880. We examined the relation between the variables for motives to play to identify groups of motives with factor analysis (varimax with Kaiser Normalisation). Three components with an eigenvalue over 1 emerged: factor one: Fun/Social including questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, factor loading = 0.701 0.794, Cronbach’s a = 0.817; factor two: Demands/Status including questions 4, 10, 12, 13, 14, factor loading = 0.570–0.744, Cronbach’s a = 0.811; factor three: Escape including questions 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, factor loading = 0.565 0.752, Cronbach’s a = 0.838. The three factors accounted for 65.9% of the total variance. Factor one (eigenvalue 6.764) accounted for 45.1% of the variance, factor two (eigenvalue 2.096) accounted for 14.0% of the variance and factor three (eigenvalue 1.024) accounted for 6.8% of the variance (Table 1). 2.2.5. Negative consequences of gaming Seven variables for problems were created, based upon the self-evaluated negative consequences described by Linderoth and Bennerstedt (2007). We asked: ‘‘Has your computer gaming/Internet use lead to any problems in your everyday life’’? Response alternatives were: (1) ‘‘Do not have time to spend with my friends’’ (2) ‘‘Do not have time/forget to eat’’ (3) ‘‘Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet’’ (4) ‘‘Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet’’ (5) ‘‘No time to do school assignments’’ (6) ‘‘Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights’’ (7) ‘‘Other consequences’’ Answer categories where: (0) Never, (1) Seldom, (2) Occasionally, (3) Often, (4) Almost always. We also created a negative consequences index as a summation of the seven questions with a range from 0 to 28, mean value = 11.99, median = 11.0, SD = 5.10, Q1–Q3 = 8.0–14.0. The Cronbach’s alpha for the seven questions was 0.844. The index was divided by standard deviations, where 1 SD was the cut-off point for few negative consequences,+1 SD was the cut-off point for many negative consequences, and the intermediate group was counted as a medium number of negative consequences. We then created a dichotomous variable, with few-medium negative consequences (0) and many negative consequences (1).
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Table 1 Factor analysis for the relations between the variables for motives to play computer games. Factors
1. Fun/social
5. It is exciting 1. It is fun 3. My friends play 7. I have many friends in the game 6. It is social 2. It is relaxing 13. I gain status among my friends in real life 10. To earn money 4. Demands from other players that I have to play 12. I gain status among other players 14. I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing 15. I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life 9. I have nothing more fun to do 11. My ordinary life is so boring 8. I get away from all the problems in my ordinary life Eigenvalue
.794 .790 .754 .746 .706 .701
E: 6.764
2.096
.565 .752 .738 .724 .665 1.024
Variance Factor 1: Eigen values 6.764, cumulative % 45.1 and 45.1% of variance Factor 2: Eigen values 2.096, cumulative % 59.1 and 14.0% of variance Factor 3: Eigen values 1.024, cumulative % 65,9 and 6.8% of variance
V: 45.1%
14.0%
6.8%
2.3. Statistical analyses The questions included in the present study were part of a questionnaire used in a larger project. Since internet use and other online gaming were included in the same questions as the use of MMORPGs we only included the participants who reported that they played MMORPGs in the statistical analyses. Sex differences, motives to play in relation to self-experienced consequences from playing MMORPGs, and amount of gaming time on weekdays and weekends in relation to self-experienced consequences were analysed by Pearson’s v2 test. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the relation between experienced negative consequences of playing MMORPGs and time spent gaming on weekdays and weekends among boys and girls, respectively. The binary logistic regression resulted in an odds ratio, i.e. a ratio between two odds, where the reference value is 1 (gaming time of up to 2 h a day was held as a reference group in the logistic regressions). Nagelkerke R2 was used to measure the explained variance in the regression models. Factor analysis (varimax with Kaiser normalisation) were used to examine the relation between the variables for motives to play and to identify components or higher order groups of motives. The statistically significant level was set at p < 0.05. The analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17.0) for Windows.
3. Results Every second student, mostly boys, played MMORPGs. It was more common to spend many hours gaming on weekends than on weekdays. Nearly every fourth boy and every tenth girl spent more than 5 h a day gaming on weekends (Table 2). Boys played MMORPGs more often than girls (p < 0.001) and boys also played for more hours during both weekdays (p < 0.001) and weekends (p < 0.001). The motives to play MMORPGs differed to some extent between boys and girls (Table 3). The most common motives to play among both sexes, however with a male preponderance, were to play for fun followed by ‘‘my friends play’’, ‘‘it is exciting’’ and ‘‘I have many friends in the game’’. Almost every second adolescent, both boys and girls, played because they did not have anything more fun to do, and more than every fourth adolescent, both boys and girls,
2. Demands/Status
.744 .707 .697 .683 .570
3. Escape
played to get away from other problems in their ordinary life or because they did not have to think about all the worries in their ordinary life. Furthermore, it was nearly twice as common among boys to play because they became restless and irritated when they did not play. Most of the adolescents who played MMORPGs reported that they had experienced negative consequences from their gaming habits (Table 3). The most common negative consequence from gaming was to get less sleep, and this did not differ between boys and girls. The second most common negative consequence was to not have the time to do school assignments and the third, which had a higher prevalence among girls, was conflicts with parents and/or siblings. Boys reported gaming-related consequences such as ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’, ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’, ‘‘no time to do school assignments’’, and ‘‘other problems’’ more often than girls. However, girls more often reported negative consequences such as ‘‘do not have time or forget to eat’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’ due to gaming. The binary logistic regressions of time spent playing MMORPGs on weekdays and weekends in relation to the different negative consequences are shown in Table 4. Among boys, more than 5 h of playing MMORPGs on weekdays elevated the odds for negative consequences between 4.9 to 17 times compared with less than 2 h of gaming. The highest odds ratios for boys were found for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ followed by ‘‘do not have time or forget to eat’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’. The same pattern was found among boys for online playing over weekends. However, the elevated odds on weekends were considerably lower compared with when playing on weekdays, especially for the outcome of ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’. Among girls, more than 5 h of online playing on weekdays elevated the odds for negative consequences between 4.5 to 29 times compared with less than 2 h of gaming. The highest odds ratios were found for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ followed by ‘‘other problems’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’. A similar pattern was found among girls regarding online playing over weekends, where ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’, gave the highest odds followed by ‘‘other problems’’ and ‘‘do not have time/forget to eat’’. The elevated odds were also considerably lower among girls compared with when playing on weekdays, especially for ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’. The explained variance was between R2 = 0.04–0.18 for boys and R2 = 0.02–0.49 for girls. Among boys,
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C. Hellström et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387 Table 2 Numbers and prevalence of playing MMORPGs among gaming boys and girls. Boys n (%)
Girls n (%)
Total n (%)
How often do you play multiplayer online games, for example World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Guild Wars, Everquest, Starcraft, Battlefield or similar? A few times a year 312 (11.3) 321 (45.8) 633 (18.3) Occasionally every month 288 (10.4) 134 (19.1) 422 (12.2) 2–4 times a month 270 (9.8) 92 (13.1) 362 (10.5) 2–3 days a week 437 (15.8) 70 (10.0) 507 (14.6) 4–5 days a week 500 (18.1) 35 (5.0) 535 (15.4) 6–7 days a week 956 (34.6) 49 (7.0) 1005 (29.0) Total
2763 (100)
701 (100)
3464 (100)
If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary weekday? Do not play 532 (19.5) 254 (36.7) Less than 1 h 514 (18.8) 169 (24.4) 1–2 h 628 (23.0) 135 (19.5) 2–5 h 693 (25.4) 99 (14.3) More than 5 h 361 (13.2) 36 (5.2)
786 683 763 792 397
Total
3421 (100)
2728 (100)
693 (100)
(23.0) (20.0) (22.3) (23.2) (11.6)
If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary day over the weekend? Do not play 182 (6.7) 120 (17.5) Less than 1 h 357 (13.1) 208 (30.3) 1–2 h 658 (24.2) 167 (24.3) 2–5 h 863 (31.8) 136 (19.8) More than 5 h 657 (24.2) 55 (8.0)
302 565 825 999 712
Total
3403 (100)
2717 (100)
686 (100)
(8.9) (16.6) (24.2) (29.4) (20.9)
Table 3 Numbers, percentages, p- and x2-values for sex differences in motives and self-experienced consequences from playing MMORPGs. Boys n (%)
Girls n (%)
Total n (%)
x2
p
If you play online or other multiplayer games on the Internet, what are your reasons for doing so? (Strongly agree/agree to some extent) It is fun It is relaxing My friends play Demands from other players that I have to play It is exciting It is social I have many friends in the game I get away from other problems in my ordinary life I have nothing more fun to do To earn money My ordinary life is so boring I gain status among other players I gain status among my friends in real life I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life
2360 (93.7) 1588 (63.5) 1890 (75.8) 321 (13.0) 1811 (72.8) 1313 (52.8) 1728 (69.4) 648 (26.1) 1037 (41.6) 282 (11.3) 332 (13.4) 836 (33.7) 580 (23.4) 440 (17.8) 669 (27.0)
437 (84.9) 209 (41.0) 211 (41.8) 43 (8.7) 267 (53.9) 173 (34.8) 183 (37.0) 133 (27.0) 203 (41.7) 29 (5.9) 78 (15.9) 70 (14.3) 53 (10.9) 53 (10.8) 142 (29.2)
2797 (92.2) 1797 (59.7) 2101 (70.1) 364 (12.2) 2078 (69.6) 1486 (49.8) 1911 (64.0) 781 (26.2) 1240 (41.6) 311 (10.4) 410 (13.8) 906 (30.5) 633 (21.3) 493 (16.6) 811 (27.4)
46.333 89.027 232.431 7.150 69.172 53.845 188.504 0.177 0.000 13.172 2.203 72.462 38.133 14.562 0.946
<0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.007 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.674 0.982 <0.001 0.138 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.331
Has your computer gaming/Internet use lead to any problems in your everyday life? (Often/Almost always) Do not have time to spend with my friends Do not have time/forget to eat Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet No time to do school assignments Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights Other consequences
233 (8.6) 128 (4.7) 219 (8.0) 96 (3.5) 291 (10.7) 414 (15.2) 115 (4.4)
57 (8.3) 48 (7.0) 72 (10.5) 14 (2.0) 70 (10.2) 110 (16.1) 33 (5.1)
290 176 291 110 361 524 148
0.045 5.662 4.200 3.916 0.157 0.307 0.514
0.831 0.017 0.040 0.048 0.692 0.579 0.437
the strongest models were for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ (R2 = 0.18) and ‘‘getting less sleep’’ (R2 = 0.18). Among girls, the strongest models were for ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’ (R2 = 0.49) and ‘‘no time to do school assignments’’ (R2 = 0.43). In univariate analyses of the relation between the higher order motives for gaming, discerned by factor analysis, and the dichotomized index of negative consequences (not shown in tables) gaming for fun and social motives were associated with a reduced
(8.5) (5.2) (8.5) (3.2) (10.6) (15.4) (4.5)
risk of negative consequences (OR = 0.734, CI = 0.658–0.820, p < 0.001). Gaming for demands from others or to gain status increased the risk for negative consequences (OR = 1.835, CI = 1.670–2.017, p < 0.001). Moreover, escape as a motive was an even stronger predictor of negative consequences due to gaming (OR = 2.100, CI = 1.904–2.316, p < 0.001). In a multivariate model, adjusted for time spent gaming, the initial relations were confirmed, with a Nagelkerke R2 of 26.5% (gaming for fun and social motives OR = 0.679, CI = 0.596–0.774,
Weekdays boys n (%) OR (95% CI)a,b
Girls n (%)
Weekends boys n (%) OR (95% CI)a,b
Girls n (%)
Do not have time to spend with my friends <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
140/2428 (5.8) 44/722 (6.1) 88/382 (23.0)
(ref) 1.06 (0.74–1.50) ns 4.89 (3.65–6.56)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
137/3254 (4.2) 17/180 (9.4) 21/69 (30.4)
(ref) 2.37 (1.40–4.02)⁄⁄⁄ 9.95 (5.80–17.09)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.49
107/1931 (5.5) 57/909 (6.3) 108/685 (15.8)
(ref) 1.14 (0.82–1.59) ns 3.19 (2.40–4.24)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.04
137/3110 (4.4) 24/297 (8.1) 14/81 (17.3)
(ref) 1.91 (1.22–3.00)⁄ 4.53 (2.49–8.27)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.02
Do not have time/forget to eat <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
44/2412 (1.8) 28/718 (3.9) 69/380 (18.2)
(ref) 2.18 (1.35–3.53)⁄⁄⁄ 11.94 (8.04–17.75)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.14
93/3248 (2.9) 20/181 (11.0) 15/68 (22.1)
(ref) 4.21 (2.54–7.01)⁄⁄⁄ 9.60 (5.22–17.66)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.06
34/1916 (1.8) 26/905 (2.9) 79/680 (11.6)
(ref) 1.64 (0.98–2.75) ns 7.28 (4.82–10.99)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
92/3108 (3.0) 18/296 (6.1) 17/81 (21.0)
(ref) 2.12 (1.26–3.57)⁄ 8.71 (4.91–15.45)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.05
Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet. <2h 2–5 h >5 h
97/2425 (4.0) 67/723 (9.3) 80/382 (20.9)
(ref) 2.45 (1.77–3.39)⁄⁄⁄ 6.36 (4.62–8.75)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.09
207/3252 (6.4) 28/181 (15.5) 20/68 (29.4)
(ref) 2.69 (1.76–4.13)⁄⁄⁄ 6.13 (3.57–10.52)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
65/1930 (3.4) 66/906 (7.3) 113/686 (16.5)
(ref) 2.26 (1.59–3.20)⁄⁄⁄ 5.66 (4.11–7.79)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.08
193/3110 (6.2) 38/297 (12.8) 22/80 (27.5)
(ref) 2.21 (1.53–3.21)⁄⁄⁄ 5.73 (3.44–9.57)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
27/2423 (1.1) 17/722 (2.4) 62/383 (16.2)
(ref) 2.14 (1.16–3.95)⁄ 17.14 (10.75–27.33)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.18
19/3256 (0.6) 4/181 (2.2) 10/68 (14.7)
(ref) 3.85 (1.30–11.44)⁄ 29.37 (13.09–65.93)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.13
30/1926 (1.6) 13/906 (1.4) 62/686 (9.0)
(ref) 0.92 (0.48–1.77) ns 6.28 (4.02–9.80)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
19/3114 (0.6) 2/298 (0.7) 11/81 (13.6)
(ref) 1.10 (0.26–4.75) ns 25.60 (11.74–55.81)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.13
No time to do school assignments <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
138/2418 (5.7) 85/720 (11.8) 112/379 (29.6)
(ref) 2.21 (1.66–2.94)⁄⁄⁄ 6.93 (5.24–9.17)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
192/3248 (5.9) 32/181 (17.7) 20/68 (29.4)
(ref) 3.42 (2.27–5.14)⁄⁄⁄ 6.63 (3.86–11.40)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.43
110/1919 (5.7) 73/908 (8.0) 151/680 (22.2)
(ref) 1.44 (1.06–1.95)⁄ 4.69 (3.61–6.11)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.08
189/3104 (6.1) 34/298 (11.4) 20/81 (24.7)
(ref) 1.99 (1.35–2.92)⁄⁄⁄ 5.06 (2.99–8.56)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
152/2422 (6.3) 151/723 (20.9) 166/382 (43.5)
(ref) 3.94 (3.09–5.03)⁄⁄⁄ 11.48 (8.85–14.89)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.18
292/3249 (9.0) 42/176 (23.9) 35/68 (51.5)
(ref) 3.17 (2.20–4.58)⁄⁄⁄ 10.74 (6.58–17.54)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.06
118/1926 (6.1) 110/909 (12.1) 240/685 (35.0)
(ref) 2.11 (1.61–2.77)⁄⁄⁄ 8.26 (6.48–10.54)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.16
276/3105 (8.9) 60/296 (20.3) 30/81 (37.0)
(ref) 2.61 (1.91–3.55)⁄⁄⁄ 6.03 (3.78–9.62)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.04
Other consequences <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
51/2363 (2.2) 30/687 (4.4) 55/361 (15.2)
(ref) 2.07 (1.31–3.28)⁄ 8.15 (5.47–12.15)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
59/3127 (1.9) 13/172 (7.6) 12/63 (19.0)
(ref) 4.25 (2.28–7.91)⁄⁄⁄ 12.24 (6.20–24.14)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
45/1891 (2.4) 30/870 (3.4) 61/642 (9.5)
(ref) 1.47 (0.92–2.34) ns 4.31 (2.90–6.40)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.05
53/3004 (1.8) 17/276 (6.2) 13/73 (17.8)
(ref) 3.66 (2.10–6.40)⁄⁄⁄ 12.06 (6.25–23.30)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
ns = non-significant. ⁄ p 6 0.05. ⁄⁄ p 6 0.01. ⁄⁄⁄ p 6 0.001. a Gaming time up to 2 h a day was held as a reference group in the logistic regressions. b Nagelkerke R2 is given for the analysis of each consequence category, separated by sex.
OR (95% CI)a,b
OR (95% CI)a,b
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(Always/often)
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Table 4 Frequency (n), percentage (%), odds ratio (OR) and 95% CIs of time spent on gaming on weekdays and weekends in relation to experienced negative consequences due to gaming.
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p < 0.001; gaming for demands from others or to gain status OR = 1.574, CI = 1.423–1.740, p < 0.001; gaming to escape OR = 1.855, CI = 1.673–2.056, p < 0.001; and time spent gaming OR = 2.110, CI = 1.829–2.434, p < 0.001). The adjustment for time strengthened the association between gaming for fun and social motives and less risk of negative consequences, whereas it weakened the associations between gaming for demands from others and escaping in relation to negative consequences.
4. Discussion The present study attempted to investigate the relation between amounts of time spent playing MMORPGs, motives to play, and experienced negative consequences, as well as sex differences in adolescents’ online computer gaming habits. The main findings were that, firstly, there was a confirmation of sex differences in adolescent gaming which has been suggested in previous research. Secondly, there was a relation between the amount of time spent gaming and experienced negative consequences due to gaming. Thirdly, this relation was further explained by the motives to play MMORPGs, where a gamer that played to escape, for gaining status, or because of demands showed a higher risk of negative consequences, whereas those who played for fun or social motives had a reduced risk. Researchers have been arguing about how excessive gaming time may or may not lead to negative consequences for gamers, and that more than 5 h of online gaming per day in adolescence seems to increase the risk of negative consequences (Griffiths, 2005). The present study showed that the amount of time spent playing MMORPGs influenced the risk of negative consequences. However, the motives to play seemed to be even more important. Thus, other factors than time spent gaming may further explain why some gamers experience negative consequences and others do not, even if gaming time is the same. Similar results have been shown previously concerning media and internet use where needs and motives predicted amount of use (Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Sun, Rubin, & Haridakis, 2008). It has been suggested that MMORPG players often play online to escape other problems in their lives, that excessive gamers would rather spend time with friends online than offline, and that they find socialising online more pleasant and satisfying than when it occurs offline (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). As anonymity is provided by MMORPGs, a player can use his or her virtual life in the game, as an option for coping with problems in everyday life, as well as an escape from reality (Griffiths et al., 2004; Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). Furthermore, escape is also the prime characteristic of the gambling experiences that facilitate the continuation of problem gambling (Wood & Griffiths, 2007). Internalising problem behaviour, including withdrawal and anxiety has also been suggested as an effect from playing MMORPGs (Holtz & Appel, 2011). According to the present study, the motivation to play is one of the main predictors for negative consequences due to gaming, which has also been suggested in previous research (Yee, 2006a). Multiplayer online games have more addiction forming components than single player computer games (Griffiths et al., 2004). One’s sense of time, space and mood can be altered while playing MMORPGs (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009) and, for some gamers, MMORPGs are a mood modifier, which is one of the core components of addiction (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). Compulsive use of online games has been suggested to stem from the relief of dissatisfaction rather than the pursuit of satisfaction particularly among addicted players (Wan & Chiou, 2006). The relief of dissatisfaction was even more important than
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the feeling of flow within the gaming experience (Wan & Chiou, 2006). However, it has not yet been determined whether behavioural excesses such as computer game playing should be classified as an addiction or not (Griffiths et al., 2004). According to Griffiths, ‘‘the difference between healthy excessive enthusiasms and addictions are that a healthy excessive enthusiasm adds to life whereas addictions take away from it’’ (Griffiths, 2005a). This viewpoint, together with our findings, suggest that time spent gaming may not be an appropriate way to measure risk for problematic gaming without controlling for motives to play. Thus, more attention should be given to how different motives to play may be associated with negative consequences, for example general health issues, psychological and musculoskeletal symptoms, and norm-breaking behaviours among adolescents. Moreover, social influences are important for adolescent gamers and, when intensely playing online games, the ongoing interaction with other gamers will cause more to join in (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Gamers may also feel an obligation to incessantly participate when belonging to a gaming community, and if the gamer is immersed in the game they tend to play more continuously (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Most of the participants in the present study reported that they had experienced negative consequences due to gaming, with the most common consequence being less sleep. As the sleeping habits of adolescents have a direct effect on their health and development these results should be taken seriously (Dworak et al., 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Tazawa & Okada, 2001; Van den Bulck, 2004). However, it is not necessarily gaming in itself that has effects on the lack of sleep, but rather the excessive time spent gaming late into the night. This is indicated by the finding that the association between time spent playing MMORPGs and less sleep was considerably lower during weekends when compensatory sleeping time might be allowed. 4.1. Strengths and limitations Several limitations must be acknowledged in the present study. Firstly, all the analyses are based on self-reports which involves the risk of inaccurate answers or other types of bias. However, the questions used for this study were not of a sensitive nature nor complicated to answer. While the adolescents filled in the questionnaires they had the opportunity to ask their teacher about any questions they did not understand. Secondly, we merged the fifteen affective variables that were used to assess aspects of participants’ motives to play into three higher order motive-variables: Fun/Social, Demand/Status, and Escape. There is always a risk of understanding incorrectly what the participating adolescents meant by, for example, marking ‘‘demand from others’’ as the motive to play. This might have been analysed as a negative aspect although the player did not experience it in a negative manner. In a factor analysis, however, the Demand/Status items loaded highly and distinctly in one single component except for the item ‘‘I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing’’ which loaded equally in Demand/Status and Escape. Thirdly, our choice of measurements may be questioned. In previous research other scales, like for example TENO (The Two-factor Evaluation on Needs for Online Games), have been used to measure the intensity of psychological needs on satisfaction and dissatisfaction dimensions in online gaming (Wan & Chiou, 2006). The present study analysed fractions of data from the extensive SALVe 2008 questionnaire which means that the measurements were chosen previous to the study. However, our measurement of motives to play was based upon the results from a qualitative study investigating gaming habits and motives (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007) and was suited for our aims. Concerning the negative consequences due to gaming, playing MMORPGs and other use of the Internet was included in the same question. Thus, we chose to only
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include participants who stated that they played MMORPGs in the analyses. However, we cannot exclude that the results may in part be explained by other forms of Internet use rather than MMORPG gaming. Fourthly, the present study had a cross-sectional design which excludes any possibilities to discern any causal mechanisms. For example, individuals that often play truant may play more MMORPGs just to fill the time, or those in frequent conflict with their parents may be gaming to escape family quarrels. Fifthly, despite the fact that we had a large population, the subgroups of some variables were still rather small which may have affected the result. This might, for example, have influenced some of the analyses on girls presented in Table 4, as very few girls played for more than 5 h a day. The present study also has strengths, particularly the large study population and the high response rate which provides an opportunity to generalise the results to other adolescent populations. Many previous studies about adolescents’ computer gaming habits and their effects have been criticised because of small study populations and a failure to eliminate confounding components in the relation between gaming and negative consequences (Griffiths, 2005b; Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Lager & Bremberg, 2005). The present study attempted to avoid this problem by asking the participants about negative consequences as a direct effect of playing computer games. 4.2. Conclusions and implications The present study suggests that motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, even more than gaming time. This study may contribute to the understanding of adolescents’ different gaming behaviours, gaming motives, and their implications. There is a need to distinguish between different indicators of problematic MMORPG playing. There is no doubt that the use of MMORPGs will increase even further in the future because more gamers are continuously joining, and the computer gaming industry is constantly evolving. This development is of interest for individuals who are involved in adolescents’ health development, cultural and leisure time activities. The findings of the present study may have implications for parents, clinicians, psychologists, social scientists, teachers, prevention programme workers and policy makers as they may help to identify the kinds of motives to play that could lead to more gaming hours and eventually negative consequences for the gamer. This also raises the question of the quality of leisure time activities offered by peers, by parents, in the neighbourhood and in the community. Adolescents with a poor psychosocial environment may tend to escape into the gaming world, where MMORPGs may include an opportunity of social interaction. The present findings also contribute to a growing literature identifying motives for playing MMORPGs, and suggest that motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, possibly even more than gaming time. Concerns regarding playing MMORPGs in order to escape may be warranted in relation to both adolescent sleeping habits and school performance. Further knowledge of positive and negative characteristics of different adolescent gaming behaviours and their influence on adolescent life habits and health are required. Acknowledgements Grants from the following funds and organisations are acknowledged: The Uppsala and Örebro Regional Research Council, Fredrik and Ingrid Thurings Foundation, Västmanland County Council, König-Söderströmska Foundation, The Swedish Psychiatric Foun-
dation, Svenska Spel Research Council, and Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS). The sponsors of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. C.H., C.Å., J.L. and K.W.N. were responsible for the study concept and design. C.Å. and K.W.N. contributed to the acquisition of data. C.Å. performed the questionnaire management. C.H., C.Å., K.W.N. performed the data analysis, interpretation of findings and drafted the manuscript. J.L. provided critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors critically reviewed the content and approved the final version for publication. No conflicts of interest are declared.
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Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming Charlotta Hellström ⇑, Kent W. Nilsson, Jerzy Leppert, Cecilia Åslund Centre for Clinical Research, Uppsala University, Central Hospital, S-72189 Västerås, Sweden
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Available online 28 March 2012 Keywords: Adolescent Behaviour problems Computer games Consequences Motivation Videogames
a b s t r a c t In this study we examined the relation between gaming-time, motives to play, and negative consequences due to playing MMORPGs. A total of 7757 Swedish adolescents (3872 boys and 3885 girls) between 13 and 18 years of age completed a questionnaire during class hours. Results indicated that time spent on gaming was associated with negative consequences. This relation was further explained by motives to play. Gaming for fun and social motives were associated with a reduced risk whereas gaming to escape, to gain status, or due to demands from others were associated with an increased risk of negative consequences. Motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, even more than time spent gaming. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Computer use and computer gaming have become an ever increasing part of many adolescents’ daily lives (Anderson, Funk, & Griffiths, 2004; David-Ferdon & Hertz, 2007; Ko, Yen, Chen, Chen, & Yen, 2005). The debate as to whether computer games are good or bad for the individuals that play them has been ongoing since the early 1990s (Griffiths, 1993). According to Griffiths and Hunt, the most common initial reason for playing computer games is to play for fun followed by playing for challenge, because friends play, or because there is nothing else to do (Griffiths & Hunt, 1995). The reason for continuing to play is similar to the initial reason for starting. Furthermore, approximately one in ten claims to continue to play because they are unable to stop (Griffiths & Hunt, 1995). 1.1. Benefits and consequences from playing computer games Gaming also provides benefits such as development of educational, social, and spatial ability skills (Griffiths, 2008; Lager & Bremberg, 2005; Paraskeva, Mysirlaki, & Papagianni, 2010). However, the negative consequences due to gaming should be taken seriously when gaming has become the dominant activity in an adolescent’s life (Anderson et al., 2004; David-Ferdon & Hertz, 2007; Ko et al., 2005). Excessive gaming is more common among boys and men, who are also more likely to play computer games than girls and women (Chou & Tsai, 2007; Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh, 2004; Griffiths, 2005; Griffiths, Davies, & Chappell, ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 21174352; fax: +46 21173733. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Hellström), [email protected] (K.W. Nilsson), [email protected] (J. Leppert), [email protected] (C. Åslund). 0747-5632/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.02.023
2004; Ko et al., 2005; Schumacher & Morahan-Martin, 2001; Tanaka, Tamai, Terashima, Takenaka, & Tanaka, 2000; Uhlmann & Swanson, 2004). Computer gaming has, among other things, been associated with addictive-like behaviour (Griffiths, 2000, 2008; Griffiths et al., 2004; Grusser, Thalemann, & Griffiths, 2007; Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005), antisocial behaviour (Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Browne & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005), reduced sleep (Choi et al., 2009; Dworak, Schierl, Bruns, & Struder, 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Tazawa & Okada, 2001; Van den Bulck, 2004), daily tiredness (Choi et al., 2009; Dworak et al., 2007; Van den Bulck, 2004), somatic and physical complaints among adolescents (Tanaka et al., 2000; Torsheim et al., 2010), and both positive and negative effects on academic achievement (Choi et al., 2009; Chou & Tsai, 2007; Cummings & Vandewater, 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Yee, 2006a, 2006b). Moreover, adolescents are more likely than adult gamers to sacrifice their education or work to play (Griffiths et al., 2004). They also spend less time doing homework than non-gamers (Cummings & Vandewater, 2007). According to Griffiths et al. one-fifth of adolescents sacrifice sleep in order to play online games, which may have repercussions on productivity in other areas of their lives (Griffiths et al., 2004). 1.2. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) differ from traditional videogames in that they do not possess a definite end goal and the main purpose lies within the game’s tasks and the gamers’ achievements (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng &
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Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). The use of MMORPGs is increasing among adolescent computer gamers (Griffiths et al., 2004; Ko et al., 2005). The average MMORPG player spend about 20 h per week playing (Yee, 2006a, 2006b) and a majority of the players have on some occasion played continuously for 10 h or more (Griffiths, 2005). Playing computer games for 5 h or more each day may influence the health of adolescents (Griffiths, 2005). It is more common that male gamers play MMORPGs to pursue feelings of achievement and for social motives, whereas females mostly play for the purpose of passing time and for being entertained (Ko et al., 2005). Playing with an ‘‘obsessive passion’’ is a predictor for negative outcomes, while a ‘‘harmonious passion’’ for playing accounts for more positive outcomes (Lafrenière, Vallerand, Donahue, & Lavigne, 2009). Previous research has found that people’s needs, involvement and motives predict amount and outcomes of media and internet use (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000; Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Lager & Bremberg, 2005). 1.3. Videogame playing and gambling in adolescents There are evident relations between videogame playing and gambling in adolescents (Wood, Gupta, Derevensky, & Griffiths, 2004) and gambling for monetary reward is established as a public health problem (Rönnberg, 1999). Excessive gaming has many similarities with excessive gambling in relation to health (Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Johansson & Gotestam, 2004). It is suggested that playing games without monetary reward nevertheless meets the criteria of addiction (Grusser et al., 2007). Moreover, online gaming addictive like behaviour seems to share the same neurobiological mechanisms as substance use disorder (Ko et al., 2009; Thalemann, Wolfling, & Grusser, 2007). A Norwegian study of adolescents showed that three out of ten were engaged in ‘‘pathological playing’’ while every tenth engaged in ‘‘at-risk playing’’ (Johansson & Gotestam, 2004). Excessive gaming, however, does not necessarily mean that a person is addicted to gaming. It has been suggested that the negative impact on other areas of the gamer’s life, rather than the amount of time spent gaming, is the real issue when it comes to the potential consequences that follow (Griffiths, 2010; Liu & Peng, 2009). Wan and Chiou (2006) found that compulsive use of online games might come from the relief of dissatisfaction rather than the pursuit of satisfaction and that customer’s loyalty might be a motivation factor for playing online games, more than the feeling of flow within the gaming experience. People with lower self-esteem are more likely to become addicted to Internet and the addicts of online games are affected by the sense of dissatisfaction which might be the reason behind the excessive gaming (Wan & Chiou, 2006). In a study of World of Warcraft gamers, a number of social mechanisms that might be linked to problematic gaming were identified (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). However, the qualitative design with a small study population limits the possibilities to generalise the results to other populations (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). Moreover, generalised statements about both the negative consequences and the positive effects from gaming are often made without consideration to different gaming types or gamers’ different motives for playing, which may result in incorrect conclusions. As computer games are interwoven into most adolescents’ leisure activities it is important that researchers can understand what initiates different gaming behaviours in order to recognise and prevent problematic adolescent computer game use and its consequences (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Further research regarding how computer gaming interacts with the components of an adolescent’s everyday life, motives to play, and its positive and negative effects (specifically in relation to online gaming and sex differences) is therefore required. In the present study we were able to examine some of those required items.
1.4. Aims 1. To investigate the amount of time spent playing MMORPGs among boys and girls. 2. To investigate the motives to play MMORPGs among boys and girls. 3. To investigate the relation between time spent gaming, the motives to play MMORPGs, and experienced negative consequences among boys and girls. 2. Methods 2.1. Participants and procedures The present study was part of the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland 2008 (SALVe 2008), which is a survey distributed biannually by the County Council of Vestmanland in Sweden. Vestmanland is a medium-sized county with about 257,000 inhabitants. The target population consisted of all adolescents in the county in the 7th (13–14 years old) and 9th (15–16 years old) grades in compulsory school and the 2nd (17–18 years old) grade in upper secondary school. The students completed the questionnaire (SALVe 2008) during school time and answered questions on their demographic background, computer gaming habits and negative consequences due to gaming. The present study analysed fractions of data from the extensive SALVe 2008 questionnaire which included several questions that had no relation to gaming. The initial questions concerning negative consequences due to gaming were interwoven with questions about internet use. Thus, all participants that did not report playing MMORPGs were excluded from the analyses of the present study (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the study population. Administrative non-respondents refer to classes or schools that did not participate in SALVe 2008. External non-respondents refers to students that were absent on the day of the investigation and who did not return their questionnaire by mail. Internal non-respondents refer to those who did not state their sex and those who did not fill in the included questions for this present study.
C. Hellström et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387
Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The study followed the Swedish guidelines for studies of social science and humanities, in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. According to Swedish regulations, this kind of study does not need ethical approval by an ethical committee. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Sex Participants were asked whether they were a boy or a girl. 2.2.2. Computer use Participants were asked: ‘‘On average, how many hours a day do you use a computer during your leisure time (not at school)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not use a computer Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
2.2.3. Computer gaming habits Participants were asked: ‘‘How often do you play multi-player online computer games, for example World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Guild Wars, EverQuest, Starcraft, Battlefield or similar’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Never A few times a year Occasionally every month 2–4 times a month 2–3 days a week 4–5 days a week 6–7 days a week
The participants were asked: ‘‘If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary weekday (Monday to Friday)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not play Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
The participants were asked: ‘‘If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary day over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday)’’? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Do not play Less than 1 h 1–2 h 2–5 h More than 5 h
2.2.4. Computer gaming motives The different variables used to describe the motives to play online computer games were extracted from a qualitative study (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007). The motives described in this study were adjusted to fit as questions in a quantitative design. Fifteen affective measurement variables were used to assess aspects that predicted participants’ motives to play computer games. Participants were asked: ‘‘If you play online computer or
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other multiplayer games on the Internet, what are your reasons for doing so? Response alternatives were: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)
‘‘It is fun’’ ‘‘It is relaxing’’ ‘‘My friends play’’ ‘‘Demands from other players that I have to play’’ ‘‘It is exciting’’ ‘‘It is social’’ ‘‘I have many friends in the game’’ ‘‘I get away from all the problems in my ordinary life’’ ‘‘I have nothing more fun to do’’ ‘‘To earn money’’ ‘‘My ordinary life is so boring’’ ‘‘I gain status among other players’’ ‘‘I gain status among my friends in real life’’ ‘‘I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing’’ ‘‘I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life’’
Response alternatives were: (1) Strongly agree, (2) Agree to some extent, (3) Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Disagree to some extent, (5) Strongly disagree. Cronbach’s a for the 15 items was 0.880. We examined the relation between the variables for motives to play to identify groups of motives with factor analysis (varimax with Kaiser Normalisation). Three components with an eigenvalue over 1 emerged: factor one: Fun/Social including questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, factor loading = 0.701 0.794, Cronbach’s a = 0.817; factor two: Demands/Status including questions 4, 10, 12, 13, 14, factor loading = 0.570–0.744, Cronbach’s a = 0.811; factor three: Escape including questions 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, factor loading = 0.565 0.752, Cronbach’s a = 0.838. The three factors accounted for 65.9% of the total variance. Factor one (eigenvalue 6.764) accounted for 45.1% of the variance, factor two (eigenvalue 2.096) accounted for 14.0% of the variance and factor three (eigenvalue 1.024) accounted for 6.8% of the variance (Table 1). 2.2.5. Negative consequences of gaming Seven variables for problems were created, based upon the self-evaluated negative consequences described by Linderoth and Bennerstedt (2007). We asked: ‘‘Has your computer gaming/Internet use lead to any problems in your everyday life’’? Response alternatives were: (1) ‘‘Do not have time to spend with my friends’’ (2) ‘‘Do not have time/forget to eat’’ (3) ‘‘Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet’’ (4) ‘‘Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet’’ (5) ‘‘No time to do school assignments’’ (6) ‘‘Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights’’ (7) ‘‘Other consequences’’ Answer categories where: (0) Never, (1) Seldom, (2) Occasionally, (3) Often, (4) Almost always. We also created a negative consequences index as a summation of the seven questions with a range from 0 to 28, mean value = 11.99, median = 11.0, SD = 5.10, Q1–Q3 = 8.0–14.0. The Cronbach’s alpha for the seven questions was 0.844. The index was divided by standard deviations, where 1 SD was the cut-off point for few negative consequences,+1 SD was the cut-off point for many negative consequences, and the intermediate group was counted as a medium number of negative consequences. We then created a dichotomous variable, with few-medium negative consequences (0) and many negative consequences (1).
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Table 1 Factor analysis for the relations between the variables for motives to play computer games. Factors
1. Fun/social
5. It is exciting 1. It is fun 3. My friends play 7. I have many friends in the game 6. It is social 2. It is relaxing 13. I gain status among my friends in real life 10. To earn money 4. Demands from other players that I have to play 12. I gain status among other players 14. I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing 15. I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life 9. I have nothing more fun to do 11. My ordinary life is so boring 8. I get away from all the problems in my ordinary life Eigenvalue
.794 .790 .754 .746 .706 .701
E: 6.764
2.096
.565 .752 .738 .724 .665 1.024
Variance Factor 1: Eigen values 6.764, cumulative % 45.1 and 45.1% of variance Factor 2: Eigen values 2.096, cumulative % 59.1 and 14.0% of variance Factor 3: Eigen values 1.024, cumulative % 65,9 and 6.8% of variance
V: 45.1%
14.0%
6.8%
2.3. Statistical analyses The questions included in the present study were part of a questionnaire used in a larger project. Since internet use and other online gaming were included in the same questions as the use of MMORPGs we only included the participants who reported that they played MMORPGs in the statistical analyses. Sex differences, motives to play in relation to self-experienced consequences from playing MMORPGs, and amount of gaming time on weekdays and weekends in relation to self-experienced consequences were analysed by Pearson’s v2 test. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the relation between experienced negative consequences of playing MMORPGs and time spent gaming on weekdays and weekends among boys and girls, respectively. The binary logistic regression resulted in an odds ratio, i.e. a ratio between two odds, where the reference value is 1 (gaming time of up to 2 h a day was held as a reference group in the logistic regressions). Nagelkerke R2 was used to measure the explained variance in the regression models. Factor analysis (varimax with Kaiser normalisation) were used to examine the relation between the variables for motives to play and to identify components or higher order groups of motives. The statistically significant level was set at p < 0.05. The analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17.0) for Windows.
3. Results Every second student, mostly boys, played MMORPGs. It was more common to spend many hours gaming on weekends than on weekdays. Nearly every fourth boy and every tenth girl spent more than 5 h a day gaming on weekends (Table 2). Boys played MMORPGs more often than girls (p < 0.001) and boys also played for more hours during both weekdays (p < 0.001) and weekends (p < 0.001). The motives to play MMORPGs differed to some extent between boys and girls (Table 3). The most common motives to play among both sexes, however with a male preponderance, were to play for fun followed by ‘‘my friends play’’, ‘‘it is exciting’’ and ‘‘I have many friends in the game’’. Almost every second adolescent, both boys and girls, played because they did not have anything more fun to do, and more than every fourth adolescent, both boys and girls,
2. Demands/Status
.744 .707 .697 .683 .570
3. Escape
played to get away from other problems in their ordinary life or because they did not have to think about all the worries in their ordinary life. Furthermore, it was nearly twice as common among boys to play because they became restless and irritated when they did not play. Most of the adolescents who played MMORPGs reported that they had experienced negative consequences from their gaming habits (Table 3). The most common negative consequence from gaming was to get less sleep, and this did not differ between boys and girls. The second most common negative consequence was to not have the time to do school assignments and the third, which had a higher prevalence among girls, was conflicts with parents and/or siblings. Boys reported gaming-related consequences such as ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’, ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’, ‘‘no time to do school assignments’’, and ‘‘other problems’’ more often than girls. However, girls more often reported negative consequences such as ‘‘do not have time or forget to eat’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’ due to gaming. The binary logistic regressions of time spent playing MMORPGs on weekdays and weekends in relation to the different negative consequences are shown in Table 4. Among boys, more than 5 h of playing MMORPGs on weekdays elevated the odds for negative consequences between 4.9 to 17 times compared with less than 2 h of gaming. The highest odds ratios for boys were found for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ followed by ‘‘do not have time or forget to eat’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’. The same pattern was found among boys for online playing over weekends. However, the elevated odds on weekends were considerably lower compared with when playing on weekdays, especially for the outcome of ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’. Among girls, more than 5 h of online playing on weekdays elevated the odds for negative consequences between 4.5 to 29 times compared with less than 2 h of gaming. The highest odds ratios were found for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ followed by ‘‘other problems’’ and ‘‘getting less sleep’’. A similar pattern was found among girls regarding online playing over weekends, where ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’, gave the highest odds followed by ‘‘other problems’’ and ‘‘do not have time/forget to eat’’. The elevated odds were also considerably lower among girls compared with when playing on weekdays, especially for ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’. The explained variance was between R2 = 0.04–0.18 for boys and R2 = 0.02–0.49 for girls. Among boys,
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C. Hellström et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387 Table 2 Numbers and prevalence of playing MMORPGs among gaming boys and girls. Boys n (%)
Girls n (%)
Total n (%)
How often do you play multiplayer online games, for example World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Guild Wars, Everquest, Starcraft, Battlefield or similar? A few times a year 312 (11.3) 321 (45.8) 633 (18.3) Occasionally every month 288 (10.4) 134 (19.1) 422 (12.2) 2–4 times a month 270 (9.8) 92 (13.1) 362 (10.5) 2–3 days a week 437 (15.8) 70 (10.0) 507 (14.6) 4–5 days a week 500 (18.1) 35 (5.0) 535 (15.4) 6–7 days a week 956 (34.6) 49 (7.0) 1005 (29.0) Total
2763 (100)
701 (100)
3464 (100)
If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary weekday? Do not play 532 (19.5) 254 (36.7) Less than 1 h 514 (18.8) 169 (24.4) 1–2 h 628 (23.0) 135 (19.5) 2–5 h 693 (25.4) 99 (14.3) More than 5 h 361 (13.2) 36 (5.2)
786 683 763 792 397
Total
3421 (100)
2728 (100)
693 (100)
(23.0) (20.0) (22.3) (23.2) (11.6)
If you play an online computer or other game on the Internet, how long do you play on average on an ordinary day over the weekend? Do not play 182 (6.7) 120 (17.5) Less than 1 h 357 (13.1) 208 (30.3) 1–2 h 658 (24.2) 167 (24.3) 2–5 h 863 (31.8) 136 (19.8) More than 5 h 657 (24.2) 55 (8.0)
302 565 825 999 712
Total
3403 (100)
2717 (100)
686 (100)
(8.9) (16.6) (24.2) (29.4) (20.9)
Table 3 Numbers, percentages, p- and x2-values for sex differences in motives and self-experienced consequences from playing MMORPGs. Boys n (%)
Girls n (%)
Total n (%)
x2
p
If you play online or other multiplayer games on the Internet, what are your reasons for doing so? (Strongly agree/agree to some extent) It is fun It is relaxing My friends play Demands from other players that I have to play It is exciting It is social I have many friends in the game I get away from other problems in my ordinary life I have nothing more fun to do To earn money My ordinary life is so boring I gain status among other players I gain status among my friends in real life I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing I don’t have to think about all the worries in my ordinary life
2360 (93.7) 1588 (63.5) 1890 (75.8) 321 (13.0) 1811 (72.8) 1313 (52.8) 1728 (69.4) 648 (26.1) 1037 (41.6) 282 (11.3) 332 (13.4) 836 (33.7) 580 (23.4) 440 (17.8) 669 (27.0)
437 (84.9) 209 (41.0) 211 (41.8) 43 (8.7) 267 (53.9) 173 (34.8) 183 (37.0) 133 (27.0) 203 (41.7) 29 (5.9) 78 (15.9) 70 (14.3) 53 (10.9) 53 (10.8) 142 (29.2)
2797 (92.2) 1797 (59.7) 2101 (70.1) 364 (12.2) 2078 (69.6) 1486 (49.8) 1911 (64.0) 781 (26.2) 1240 (41.6) 311 (10.4) 410 (13.8) 906 (30.5) 633 (21.3) 493 (16.6) 811 (27.4)
46.333 89.027 232.431 7.150 69.172 53.845 188.504 0.177 0.000 13.172 2.203 72.462 38.133 14.562 0.946
<0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.007 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.674 0.982 <0.001 0.138 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.331
Has your computer gaming/Internet use lead to any problems in your everyday life? (Often/Almost always) Do not have time to spend with my friends Do not have time/forget to eat Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet No time to do school assignments Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights Other consequences
233 (8.6) 128 (4.7) 219 (8.0) 96 (3.5) 291 (10.7) 414 (15.2) 115 (4.4)
57 (8.3) 48 (7.0) 72 (10.5) 14 (2.0) 70 (10.2) 110 (16.1) 33 (5.1)
290 176 291 110 361 524 148
0.045 5.662 4.200 3.916 0.157 0.307 0.514
0.831 0.017 0.040 0.048 0.692 0.579 0.437
the strongest models were for ‘‘stayed home from school to play’’ (R2 = 0.18) and ‘‘getting less sleep’’ (R2 = 0.18). Among girls, the strongest models were for ‘‘do not have time to spend with my friends’’ (R2 = 0.49) and ‘‘no time to do school assignments’’ (R2 = 0.43). In univariate analyses of the relation between the higher order motives for gaming, discerned by factor analysis, and the dichotomized index of negative consequences (not shown in tables) gaming for fun and social motives were associated with a reduced
(8.5) (5.2) (8.5) (3.2) (10.6) (15.4) (4.5)
risk of negative consequences (OR = 0.734, CI = 0.658–0.820, p < 0.001). Gaming for demands from others or to gain status increased the risk for negative consequences (OR = 1.835, CI = 1.670–2.017, p < 0.001). Moreover, escape as a motive was an even stronger predictor of negative consequences due to gaming (OR = 2.100, CI = 1.904–2.316, p < 0.001). In a multivariate model, adjusted for time spent gaming, the initial relations were confirmed, with a Nagelkerke R2 of 26.5% (gaming for fun and social motives OR = 0.679, CI = 0.596–0.774,
Weekdays boys n (%) OR (95% CI)a,b
Girls n (%)
Weekends boys n (%) OR (95% CI)a,b
Girls n (%)
Do not have time to spend with my friends <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
140/2428 (5.8) 44/722 (6.1) 88/382 (23.0)
(ref) 1.06 (0.74–1.50) ns 4.89 (3.65–6.56)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
137/3254 (4.2) 17/180 (9.4) 21/69 (30.4)
(ref) 2.37 (1.40–4.02)⁄⁄⁄ 9.95 (5.80–17.09)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.49
107/1931 (5.5) 57/909 (6.3) 108/685 (15.8)
(ref) 1.14 (0.82–1.59) ns 3.19 (2.40–4.24)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.04
137/3110 (4.4) 24/297 (8.1) 14/81 (17.3)
(ref) 1.91 (1.22–3.00)⁄ 4.53 (2.49–8.27)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.02
Do not have time/forget to eat <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
44/2412 (1.8) 28/718 (3.9) 69/380 (18.2)
(ref) 2.18 (1.35–3.53)⁄⁄⁄ 11.94 (8.04–17.75)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.14
93/3248 (2.9) 20/181 (11.0) 15/68 (22.1)
(ref) 4.21 (2.54–7.01)⁄⁄⁄ 9.60 (5.22–17.66)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.06
34/1916 (1.8) 26/905 (2.9) 79/680 (11.6)
(ref) 1.64 (0.98–2.75) ns 7.28 (4.82–10.99)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
92/3108 (3.0) 18/296 (6.1) 17/81 (21.0)
(ref) 2.12 (1.26–3.57)⁄ 8.71 (4.91–15.45)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.05
Quarrel and troubles with parents or siblings due to gaming, chatting or use of the Internet. <2h 2–5 h >5 h
97/2425 (4.0) 67/723 (9.3) 80/382 (20.9)
(ref) 2.45 (1.77–3.39)⁄⁄⁄ 6.36 (4.62–8.75)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.09
207/3252 (6.4) 28/181 (15.5) 20/68 (29.4)
(ref) 2.69 (1.76–4.13)⁄⁄⁄ 6.13 (3.57–10.52)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
65/1930 (3.4) 66/906 (7.3) 113/686 (16.5)
(ref) 2.26 (1.59–3.20)⁄⁄⁄ 5.66 (4.11–7.79)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.08
193/3110 (6.2) 38/297 (12.8) 22/80 (27.5)
(ref) 2.21 (1.53–3.21)⁄⁄⁄ 5.73 (3.44–9.57)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
Stayed home from school to play/chat/use the Internet <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
27/2423 (1.1) 17/722 (2.4) 62/383 (16.2)
(ref) 2.14 (1.16–3.95)⁄ 17.14 (10.75–27.33)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.18
19/3256 (0.6) 4/181 (2.2) 10/68 (14.7)
(ref) 3.85 (1.30–11.44)⁄ 29.37 (13.09–65.93)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.13
30/1926 (1.6) 13/906 (1.4) 62/686 (9.0)
(ref) 0.92 (0.48–1.77) ns 6.28 (4.02–9.80)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
19/3114 (0.6) 2/298 (0.7) 11/81 (13.6)
(ref) 1.10 (0.26–4.75) ns 25.60 (11.74–55.81)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.13
No time to do school assignments <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
138/2418 (5.7) 85/720 (11.8) 112/379 (29.6)
(ref) 2.21 (1.66–2.94)⁄⁄⁄ 6.93 (5.24–9.17)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
192/3248 (5.9) 32/181 (17.7) 20/68 (29.4)
(ref) 3.42 (2.27–5.14)⁄⁄⁄ 6.63 (3.86–11.40)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.43
110/1919 (5.7) 73/908 (8.0) 151/680 (22.2)
(ref) 1.44 (1.06–1.95)⁄ 4.69 (3.61–6.11)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.08
189/3104 (6.1) 34/298 (11.4) 20/81 (24.7)
(ref) 1.99 (1.35–2.92)⁄⁄⁄ 5.06 (2.99–8.56)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.03
Less sleep due to gaming/time spent on computer late in evenings and nights <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
152/2422 (6.3) 151/723 (20.9) 166/382 (43.5)
(ref) 3.94 (3.09–5.03)⁄⁄⁄ 11.48 (8.85–14.89)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.18
292/3249 (9.0) 42/176 (23.9) 35/68 (51.5)
(ref) 3.17 (2.20–4.58)⁄⁄⁄ 10.74 (6.58–17.54)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.06
118/1926 (6.1) 110/909 (12.1) 240/685 (35.0)
(ref) 2.11 (1.61–2.77)⁄⁄⁄ 8.26 (6.48–10.54)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.16
276/3105 (8.9) 60/296 (20.3) 30/81 (37.0)
(ref) 2.61 (1.91–3.55)⁄⁄⁄ 6.03 (3.78–9.62)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.04
Other consequences <2 h 2–5 h >5 h
51/2363 (2.2) 30/687 (4.4) 55/361 (15.2)
(ref) 2.07 (1.31–3.28)⁄ 8.15 (5.47–12.15)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.10
59/3127 (1.9) 13/172 (7.6) 12/63 (19.0)
(ref) 4.25 (2.28–7.91)⁄⁄⁄ 12.24 (6.20–24.14)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
45/1891 (2.4) 30/870 (3.4) 61/642 (9.5)
(ref) 1.47 (0.92–2.34) ns 4.31 (2.90–6.40)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.05
53/3004 (1.8) 17/276 (6.2) 13/73 (17.8)
(ref) 3.66 (2.10–6.40)⁄⁄⁄ 12.06 (6.25–23.30)⁄⁄⁄ R2 = 0.07
ns = non-significant. ⁄ p 6 0.05. ⁄⁄ p 6 0.01. ⁄⁄⁄ p 6 0.001. a Gaming time up to 2 h a day was held as a reference group in the logistic regressions. b Nagelkerke R2 is given for the analysis of each consequence category, separated by sex.
OR (95% CI)a,b
OR (95% CI)a,b
C. Hellström et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 1379–1387
(Always/often)
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Table 4 Frequency (n), percentage (%), odds ratio (OR) and 95% CIs of time spent on gaming on weekdays and weekends in relation to experienced negative consequences due to gaming.
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p < 0.001; gaming for demands from others or to gain status OR = 1.574, CI = 1.423–1.740, p < 0.001; gaming to escape OR = 1.855, CI = 1.673–2.056, p < 0.001; and time spent gaming OR = 2.110, CI = 1.829–2.434, p < 0.001). The adjustment for time strengthened the association between gaming for fun and social motives and less risk of negative consequences, whereas it weakened the associations between gaming for demands from others and escaping in relation to negative consequences.
4. Discussion The present study attempted to investigate the relation between amounts of time spent playing MMORPGs, motives to play, and experienced negative consequences, as well as sex differences in adolescents’ online computer gaming habits. The main findings were that, firstly, there was a confirmation of sex differences in adolescent gaming which has been suggested in previous research. Secondly, there was a relation between the amount of time spent gaming and experienced negative consequences due to gaming. Thirdly, this relation was further explained by the motives to play MMORPGs, where a gamer that played to escape, for gaining status, or because of demands showed a higher risk of negative consequences, whereas those who played for fun or social motives had a reduced risk. Researchers have been arguing about how excessive gaming time may or may not lead to negative consequences for gamers, and that more than 5 h of online gaming per day in adolescence seems to increase the risk of negative consequences (Griffiths, 2005). The present study showed that the amount of time spent playing MMORPGs influenced the risk of negative consequences. However, the motives to play seemed to be even more important. Thus, other factors than time spent gaming may further explain why some gamers experience negative consequences and others do not, even if gaming time is the same. Similar results have been shown previously concerning media and internet use where needs and motives predicted amount of use (Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Sun, Rubin, & Haridakis, 2008). It has been suggested that MMORPG players often play online to escape other problems in their lives, that excessive gamers would rather spend time with friends online than offline, and that they find socialising online more pleasant and satisfying than when it occurs offline (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). As anonymity is provided by MMORPGs, a player can use his or her virtual life in the game, as an option for coping with problems in everyday life, as well as an escape from reality (Griffiths et al., 2004; Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). Furthermore, escape is also the prime characteristic of the gambling experiences that facilitate the continuation of problem gambling (Wood & Griffiths, 2007). Internalising problem behaviour, including withdrawal and anxiety has also been suggested as an effect from playing MMORPGs (Holtz & Appel, 2011). According to the present study, the motivation to play is one of the main predictors for negative consequences due to gaming, which has also been suggested in previous research (Yee, 2006a). Multiplayer online games have more addiction forming components than single player computer games (Griffiths et al., 2004). One’s sense of time, space and mood can be altered while playing MMORPGs (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009) and, for some gamers, MMORPGs are a mood modifier, which is one of the core components of addiction (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009; Ng & Wiemer-Hastings, 2005). Compulsive use of online games has been suggested to stem from the relief of dissatisfaction rather than the pursuit of satisfaction particularly among addicted players (Wan & Chiou, 2006). The relief of dissatisfaction was even more important than
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the feeling of flow within the gaming experience (Wan & Chiou, 2006). However, it has not yet been determined whether behavioural excesses such as computer game playing should be classified as an addiction or not (Griffiths et al., 2004). According to Griffiths, ‘‘the difference between healthy excessive enthusiasms and addictions are that a healthy excessive enthusiasm adds to life whereas addictions take away from it’’ (Griffiths, 2005a). This viewpoint, together with our findings, suggest that time spent gaming may not be an appropriate way to measure risk for problematic gaming without controlling for motives to play. Thus, more attention should be given to how different motives to play may be associated with negative consequences, for example general health issues, psychological and musculoskeletal symptoms, and norm-breaking behaviours among adolescents. Moreover, social influences are important for adolescent gamers and, when intensely playing online games, the ongoing interaction with other gamers will cause more to join in (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Gamers may also feel an obligation to incessantly participate when belonging to a gaming community, and if the gamer is immersed in the game they tend to play more continuously (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Most of the participants in the present study reported that they had experienced negative consequences due to gaming, with the most common consequence being less sleep. As the sleeping habits of adolescents have a direct effect on their health and development these results should be taken seriously (Dworak et al., 2007; Griffiths et al., 2004; Sharif & Sargent, 2006; Tazawa & Okada, 2001; Van den Bulck, 2004). However, it is not necessarily gaming in itself that has effects on the lack of sleep, but rather the excessive time spent gaming late into the night. This is indicated by the finding that the association between time spent playing MMORPGs and less sleep was considerably lower during weekends when compensatory sleeping time might be allowed. 4.1. Strengths and limitations Several limitations must be acknowledged in the present study. Firstly, all the analyses are based on self-reports which involves the risk of inaccurate answers or other types of bias. However, the questions used for this study were not of a sensitive nature nor complicated to answer. While the adolescents filled in the questionnaires they had the opportunity to ask their teacher about any questions they did not understand. Secondly, we merged the fifteen affective variables that were used to assess aspects of participants’ motives to play into three higher order motive-variables: Fun/Social, Demand/Status, and Escape. There is always a risk of understanding incorrectly what the participating adolescents meant by, for example, marking ‘‘demand from others’’ as the motive to play. This might have been analysed as a negative aspect although the player did not experience it in a negative manner. In a factor analysis, however, the Demand/Status items loaded highly and distinctly in one single component except for the item ‘‘I become restless and irritated when I’m not playing’’ which loaded equally in Demand/Status and Escape. Thirdly, our choice of measurements may be questioned. In previous research other scales, like for example TENO (The Two-factor Evaluation on Needs for Online Games), have been used to measure the intensity of psychological needs on satisfaction and dissatisfaction dimensions in online gaming (Wan & Chiou, 2006). The present study analysed fractions of data from the extensive SALVe 2008 questionnaire which means that the measurements were chosen previous to the study. However, our measurement of motives to play was based upon the results from a qualitative study investigating gaming habits and motives (Linderoth & Bennerstedt, 2007) and was suited for our aims. Concerning the negative consequences due to gaming, playing MMORPGs and other use of the Internet was included in the same question. Thus, we chose to only
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include participants who stated that they played MMORPGs in the analyses. However, we cannot exclude that the results may in part be explained by other forms of Internet use rather than MMORPG gaming. Fourthly, the present study had a cross-sectional design which excludes any possibilities to discern any causal mechanisms. For example, individuals that often play truant may play more MMORPGs just to fill the time, or those in frequent conflict with their parents may be gaming to escape family quarrels. Fifthly, despite the fact that we had a large population, the subgroups of some variables were still rather small which may have affected the result. This might, for example, have influenced some of the analyses on girls presented in Table 4, as very few girls played for more than 5 h a day. The present study also has strengths, particularly the large study population and the high response rate which provides an opportunity to generalise the results to other adolescent populations. Many previous studies about adolescents’ computer gaming habits and their effects have been criticised because of small study populations and a failure to eliminate confounding components in the relation between gaming and negative consequences (Griffiths, 2005b; Griffiths & Wood, 2000; Lager & Bremberg, 2005). The present study attempted to avoid this problem by asking the participants about negative consequences as a direct effect of playing computer games. 4.2. Conclusions and implications The present study suggests that motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, even more than gaming time. This study may contribute to the understanding of adolescents’ different gaming behaviours, gaming motives, and their implications. There is a need to distinguish between different indicators of problematic MMORPG playing. There is no doubt that the use of MMORPGs will increase even further in the future because more gamers are continuously joining, and the computer gaming industry is constantly evolving. This development is of interest for individuals who are involved in adolescents’ health development, cultural and leisure time activities. The findings of the present study may have implications for parents, clinicians, psychologists, social scientists, teachers, prevention programme workers and policy makers as they may help to identify the kinds of motives to play that could lead to more gaming hours and eventually negative consequences for the gamer. This also raises the question of the quality of leisure time activities offered by peers, by parents, in the neighbourhood and in the community. Adolescents with a poor psychosocial environment may tend to escape into the gaming world, where MMORPGs may include an opportunity of social interaction. The present findings also contribute to a growing literature identifying motives for playing MMORPGs, and suggest that motives to play should be considered as a prime indicator for negative consequences, possibly even more than gaming time. Concerns regarding playing MMORPGs in order to escape may be warranted in relation to both adolescent sleeping habits and school performance. Further knowledge of positive and negative characteristics of different adolescent gaming behaviours and their influence on adolescent life habits and health are required. Acknowledgements Grants from the following funds and organisations are acknowledged: The Uppsala and Örebro Regional Research Council, Fredrik and Ingrid Thurings Foundation, Västmanland County Council, König-Söderströmska Foundation, The Swedish Psychiatric Foun-
dation, Svenska Spel Research Council, and Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS). The sponsors of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. C.H., C.Å., J.L. and K.W.N. were responsible for the study concept and design. C.Å. and K.W.N. contributed to the acquisition of data. C.Å. performed the questionnaire management. C.H., C.Å., K.W.N. performed the data analysis, interpretation of findings and drafted the manuscript. J.L. provided critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors critically reviewed the content and approved the final version for publication. No conflicts of interest are declared.
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