Lost in the chaos: Flawed literature should not generate new disorders

The paper by Kuss, Griffiths, and Pontes (2016) titled “Chaos and confusion in DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder: Issues, concerns, and recommendations for clarity in the field” examines issues relating to the concept of Internet Gaming Disorder. We agree that there are serious issues and extend their arguments by suggesting that the field lacks basic theory, definitions, patient research, and properly validated and standardized assessment tools. As most studies derive data from survey research in functional populations, they exclude people with severe functional impairment and provide only limited information on the hypothesized disorder. Yet findings from such studies are widely used and often exaggerated, leading many to believe that we know more about the problem behavior than we do. We further argue that video game play is associated with several benefits and that formalizing this popular hobby as a psychiatric disorder is not without risks. It might undermine children’s right to play or encourage repressive treatment programs, which ultimately threaten children’s right to protection against violence. While Kuss et al. (2016) express support for the formal implementation of a disorder, we argue that before we have a proper evidence base, a sound theory, and validated assessment tools, it is irresponsible to support a formal category of disorder and doing so would solidify a confirmatory approach to research in this area

4th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions February 20–22, 2017 Haifa, Israel

Background and aims: Previous small-scale studies in Portugal suggested that a minority of adolescents could be at risk for developing technological addictions such as Internet addiction (IA) and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). However, these findings are still to be replicated by larger studies using more robust samples. In light of this, the present aimed to ascertain how IA, IGD, and Facebook addiction (FA) may impact on Portuguese school-aged adolescents' mental health. Methods: A total of 509 school -aged adolescents were recruited (M age = 13 years; S.D. = 1.64 years) to a multi-technological addictions project. Data were collected on participants' sociodemographic, IA, IGD, FA, and several psychiatric symptoms. Results: Overall, the incidence of technological addictions was not overly prevalent across the sample (0% IA; 1% IGD; 1.8% FA), and a small minority of adolescents appeared to be 'at-risk' for developing technological addictions (1.6% IA; 0.6% IGD; 2.4% FA). Finally, increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were found to be consistently associated with augmented symptomatology of technological addictions. Conclusions: The findings of the present study provided preliminarily insights into how technological addictions may affect Portuguese school-aged adolescents, and corroborated a large body of international studies that found systematic links between technological addictions and psychiatric comorbidities

Behavioural Addiction Open Definition 2.0 – Using the open science framework for collaborative and transparent theoretical development

Commentary to: How can we conceptualize behavioural addiction without pathologizing common behaviours?</p

Assessing Internet addiction using the parsimonious Internet addiction components model - a preliminary study [forthcoming]

Internet usage has grown exponentially over the last decade. Research indicates that excessive Internet use can lead to symptoms associated with addiction. To date, assessment of potential Internet addiction has varied regarding populations studied and instruments used, making reliable prevalence estimations difficult. To overcome the present problems a preliminary study was conducted testing a parsimonious Internet addiction components model based on Griffiths’ addiction components (2005), including salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse. Two validated measures of Internet addiction were used (Compulsive Internet Use Scale [CIUS], Meerkerk et al., 2009, and Assessment for Internet and Computer Game Addiction Scale [AICA-S], Beutel et al., 2010) in two independent samples (ns = 3,105 and 2,257). The fit of the model was analysed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Results indicate that the Internet addiction components model fits the data in both samples well. The two sample/two instrument approach provides converging evidence concerning the degree to which the components model can organize the self-reported behavioural components of Internet addiction. Recommendations for future research include a more detailed assessment of tolerance as addiction component

Gameadvies Op Maat 2.0 (GOM2.0) - Dataset

AIMS: cross validation of self-report scales to improve the self-test on gameninfo.nl (now using: VAT scale) by exploring new scales and drafting a new instrument from those scales. RECRUITMENT: online recruitment: game journalism, Facebook & game information site (gameninfo.nl). Recruitment in two countries: Dutch Belgian (Flemish) and The Netherlands. Dutch sample: 431 cases. Flemish (Belgian) sample: 312 cases. Together: 743 cases. TIME: Average participation time 20 minutes. Dropout: relatively ‘tough’ list due to repetition of multiple problematic gaming measures: we lose multiple cases 282, ending up with a sample of approximately 461 cases. CLEANING: Removing cases that fail one of the two attentiveness questions: final total sample of 430 cases. SCALES: Digital Games Motivation Scale; Video Game Addiction Test (2012); Self Determination Theory Basic Needs; Clinical Video Game Addiction Test 2.0 (DSM-5 coverage); Depressive Mood Scale; Global Kids Online: Online Safety; Global kids Online: Excessive internet use [gaming]; Life Satisfaction; Mental Health Inventory-5; Digital ambitions (career as streamer or progamer); ICD-Gaming Disorder; Open Science Def. Behavioral Addictions; Attentiveness (data quality check item); Demographics: Age (years); Demographics: Education level; Demographics: Gender; Device choice; Favorite game; Gametime per session; IGD Disorder Scale Lemmens: persistence; IGD Disorder Scale Lemmens: tolerance; Time played per weekday (hours); Time played per weekend day (hours); Other favorite games (3 max); Days on which you play (mon, tues, etc.

Internet Gaming Disorder as a formative construct: Implications for conceptualization and measurement.

Some people have serious problems controlling their Internet and video game use. The DSM-5 now includes a proposal for 'Internet Gaming Disorder' (IGD) as a condition in need of further study. Various studies aim to validate the proposed diagnostic criteria for IGD and multiple new scales have been introduced that cover the suggested criteria. Using a structured approach, we demonstrate that IGD might be better interpreted as a formative construct, as opposed to the current practice of conceptualizing it as a reflective construct. Incorrectly approaching a formative construct as a reflective one causes serious problems in scale development, including: (i) incorrect reliance on item-to-total scale correlation to exclude items and incorrectly relying on indices of inter-item reliability that do not fit the measurement model (e.g., Cronbach's alpha); (ii) incorrect interpretation of composite or mean scores that assume all items are equal in contributing value to a sum score; and (iii) biased estimation of model parameters in statistical models. We show that these issues are impacting current validation efforts through two recent examples. A reinterpretation of IGD as a formative construct has broad consequences for current validation efforts and provides opportunities to reanalyze existing data. We discuss three broad implications for current research: (i) composite latent constructs should be defined and used in models; (ii) item exclusion and selection should not rely on item-to-total scale correlations; and (iii) existing definitions of IGD should be enriched further

Gokken en (online) gokverslaving

Online gokverslaving is een nieuw fenomeen. In dit hoofdstuk staan we stil bij gokverslaving in brede zin, maar kijken we ook naar de trends in het denken over gokken en het behandelen van gokproblemen. Gokverslaving heeft de nodige overeenkomsten met andere verslavingen, maar kent ook een aantal eigen kenmerken. Ook staan we stil bij online gokken in het bijzonder: wat zijn hier de ontwikkelingen? Is er een verschil tussen ‘real-life’ gokken en gokken op internet? Het onderzoek naar de risico’s en gevolgen van online gokken staat nog in kinderschoenen. Dit is zorgwekkend, want online gokken is mogelijk extra riskant door zijn anonieme aard en laagdrempeligheid. Daarnaast is online gokken vanaf 2015 legaal in Nederland, waarmee we mogelijk een toename gaan zien in de gokproblemen. Ten slotte wordt er (kort) aandacht besteed aan de toenemende integratie tussen videogames en gokmogelijkheden