Effects of Game-Related Tasks for the Diagnosis and Classification of Gaming Disorder

Gaming disorder (GD) is an addictive behavior characterized by an insatiable need to play video games and shares similar symptoms with the failure of self-control due to a decline in cognitive function. Current GD diagnostic and screening tools rely on questionnaires and behavioral observations related to cognitive functions to assess an individual's capacity to maintain self-control in everyday life. However, current GD screening approaches rely on subjective symptoms, and a reliable diagnosis requires long-term clinical follow-up. Recent studies have measured biosignals along with cognitive functional tasks to provide objectivity to GD diagnosis and to acquire immediate results. However, people with GD are hypersensitive to game-related cues, so their responses may vary depending on the type of stimuli, and the difference in response to stimuli might manifest as a difference in the degree of change in the biosignal. Therefore, it is critical to choose the correct stimulus type when performing GD diagnostic tasks. In this study, we investigated the task dependence of cognitive decline in GD by comparing two cognitive functional tasks: a continuous performance task (CPT) and video game play. For this study, 69 young male adults were classified into either the gaming disorder group (GD, n = 39) or a healthy control group (HC, n = 30). CPT score, EEG signal (theta, alpha, and beta), and HRV-HF power were assessed. We observed differences in the left frontal region (LF) of the brain between the GD and HC groups during online video game play. The GD group also showed a significant difference in HF power of HRV between CPT and online video gaming. Furthermore, LF and HRV-HF significantly correlated with Young's Internet Addiction Test (Y-IAT) score, which is positively associated with impulsivity score. The amount of change in theta band activity in LF and HRV-HF-both biomarkers for changes in cognitive function-during online video game play suggests that people with GD express task-dependent cognitive decline compared with HC. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of quantifying individual self-regulation ability for gaming and underscore its importance for GD classification.

Impact of increased digital use and internet gaming on nursing students' empathy: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines had led to increased dependence and usage of digital devices for various human activities and internet gaming to the extent of risking vulnerable individuals to develop addiction towards it. Little is known on such risks among populations of nursing students and its impact on their empathy skills or trait.

OBJECTIVE

Determining the impact of digital use and internet gaming on empathy of nursing students undergoing remote learning during closure of learning institutions nationwide.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional online survey was conducted from October to December 2020.

SETTINGS

Two established public institutions located in Malaysia.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 345 nursing students pursuing diploma and bachelor nursing programs.

METHODS

Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), Digital Addiction Scale (DAS) and Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short form (IGDS9-SF) were self-administered via Google Form™. Following principal component analysis of TEQ using IBM-SPSS™ (V-27), path analyses was performed using SmartPLS™ (V-3).

RESULTS

Despite the increased time spent on digital devices (∆ 2.8 h/day) and internet gaming (∆ 1 h/week) before and during the pandemic, the proportion of high digital users (1.4 %) and gamers (20.9 %) were low; and sizable ≈75 % had higher-than-normal empathy. Digital-related emotions and overuse of them were associated with lower empathy (β = -0.111, -0.192; p values < 0.05) and higher callousness (β = 0.181, 0.131; p values < 0.05); internet gaming addiction predicted callousness (β = 0.265, p < 0.001) but digital dependence correlated with higher empathy (β = 0.172, p = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

Digital and internet gaming addiction potentially impact empathy. The negative impact of digital dependence can be attenuated by "digital empathy" - an emerging phenomenon becoming increasingly vital in digital health and communication.