Poster 3

[P-3-04] Characteristics of the Current Online Game Overuser in Gangwon State in Korea

*JUN-WON HWANG^1,2, Dong-ha Lee², Myung-hoon Jung², Jung-yoo Kim² (1.Kangwon National University, College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry(Korea), 2.Gangwon State Mental Health Center(Korea))

Keywords:

online game overuse,internet addction,alcohol use,gambling

Introduction Online gaming is very popular leisure activities worldwide, although a small proportion of online gamers suffer negative consequences due to excessive use (Stevens et al., 2021, World Health Organization, 2019). Recently, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition (ICD-11) proposed criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder and Gaming Disorder, respectively. We performed the current study in order to explore overall characteristics of the current online game overuser and the associations among other addiction problems. Method We used data from the 2024 Gangwon State Addiction Survey in South Korea which was consisted of 1,000 adults in community aged 19-65. The current online game overuser was defined as one experiencing online game use 25 hours or more per week for past 12 months. Results 166 subjects (16.6%) belonged to current online game overuser group. While more males were included in the current online game overuser group (F=16.703, df=1, p<0.001), there were no differences between two groups in age and score of questionnaires regarding anxiety, depression, adverse childhood experience, and life satisfaction. Current online game overuser group spent more times for online games and had higher score in internet addiction questionnaire than control group (t=9.323, df= 170.273, p<.001; t=11.467, df=180.812, p<.001). Current online game overuser had more current smoking (F=28.407, df=1, p<0.001) and gambling (F=23.254, df=1, p<0.001) experience for past 12 months. However, no differences were found in current alcohol use and drug misuse between current online game overuser and controls groups. In logistic regression, sex, current smoking, and current gambling experiences predicted significantly current online game overuse. Conclusion In the current study, we presented some characteristics of current online game overuser. future research would be needed in order to explore other factors contributing the current online game use.