Psychosocial factors mediating the relationship between childhood emotional trauma and internet gaming disorder: a pilot study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Hypothesized model.

For clarity, correlations between the mediator variables have not been depicted in the figure.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the participants (N = 242).

	% (n)
Gender
Male	93 (224)
Female	7 (18)
Weekly Gaming Time
Less Than 7 Hours	12 (29)
7–14 hours	26 (63)
15–28 hours	23 (55)
29–42 hours	18 (43)
More Than 42 Hours	21 (52)
Game Types Most Played
MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games)	41 (99)
MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games)	28 (68)
MMORTS (Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy)	16 (38)
MOFPS (Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter)	15 (37)

Table 2. Mean scores, standard deviations, and minimum and maximum scores on the variables.

	M	SD	Min	Max
IGD Symptoms	.26	.24	0	1
Emotional Trauma	3.60	1.52	2	8
Body Image Dissatisfaction	2.17	.66	1	4
Depression	2.34	.92	1	4
Loneliness	2.04	.72	1	4
Self-Esteem	7.02	1.77	1	9
Social Anxiety	7.07	2.44	3	14

Table 3. Pearson correlation coefficients of the study variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. IGD Symptoms	–
2. Emotional Trauma	.27*	–
3. Body Image Dissatisfaction	.13	.26*	–
4. Depression	.35*	.30*	.31*	–
5. Loneliness	.34*	.46*	.30*	.48*	–
6. Self-Esteem	-.26*	-.35*	-.33*	-.34*	-.32*	–
7. Social Anxiety	.24*	.29*	.32*	.35*	.45*	-.36*	–

*p < .001.

Figure 2. Final model of the significant path coefficients between variables.

For clarity, correlations between mediator variables, insignificant path coefficients, sub-scales of Emotional Trauma (Emotional Abuse, Emotional Neglect), and Social Anxiety (Social Anxiety Scale – Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Anxiety Scale – New, Social Anxiety Scale – General) and control variables (number of hours gaming, gender, and age) have not been depicted in the figure. Number of hours gaming (β = .22, p < .001; 95% CI [.12, .32]) was significantly associated with internet gaming disorder while gender (β = -.09, p > .05; 95% CI [-.24, .05]) and age were not (β = .10, p > .05; 95% CI [-.08, .26]). *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.