The authors provide a detailed study of 11 statistical hypotheses that are related to antecedents and consequences of game addiction. These hypotheses are:
- (H1) Higher socio-economic status increases game addiction.
- (H2) Computer ownership increases game addiction.
- (H3) Males are more prone to be addicted to games.
- (H4) Having an employed mother increases game addiction.
- (H5) Having a high-level educated mother decreases game addiction.
- (H6) Online gaming as a leisure time activity increases game addiction.
- (H7) Computer gaming as a leisure time activity increases game addiction.
- (H8) Smoking increases game addiction.
- (H9) Game addiction decreases academic performance of college students.
- (H10) Game addiction decreases self-confidence.
- (H11) Game addiction decreases self-esteem.
According to the paper, “The study was conducted with 159 undergraduate students, [the] majority of whom (97 percent) do not live with their parents.” This number of subjects is appropriate for drawing statistical inference since only 68 observations are needed for 90 percent certainty. Listed limitations should only encourage other researchers to do more empirical studies.
The obtained results draw an interesting picture of game addiction in the case of young people (undergraduate students), because nowadays the problem of gaming addiction seems to be one of the most important addictions in this group.
The results show how H1 to H8 influence H9 to H11 as the indirect effects (academic performance, self-confidence, self-esteem) of antecedents on consequences via game addiction. Moreover, a detailed study (Table 6) shows how antecedents (socio-economic status, gender, mother’s employment status, mother’s education level, online gaming and computer gaming as leisure time activities, smoking) influence the indirect effects (academic performance, self-confidence, self-esteem).
The reviewed paper presents results of great importance that may become strong incentives for the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) to finally recognize a growing problem of Internet misuse.
