A Study on the Characteristics Influencing Youth’s Problematic Gaming Behaviors

Based on the I-PACE model, the present study aimed to examine which characteristics influence the determination of problematic gaming behaviors risk group. Using data from the 2018 Internet Game Usage Survey, 3,317 adolescents from 4th grade to 12th grade were analyzed. Gender, personality, self-esteem, and interpersonal skills were used to verify which characteristics have significant influence on the determination of problematic gaming behaviors risk group. The results were as follows. First, gender, self-esteem, and leadership had a significant influence on the determination of youth problematic gaming behaviors risk group. For male students, the chances of being classified as the risk group increased. Also, the higher self-esteem, the less likely they were to be judged, and the higher leadership, the more likely they were to be judged as the risk group. Second, the results of subfactors of problematic gaming behaviors suggested that gender had a significant effect on all subfactors, with the rest of the personal characteristics showing different results for each sub-factor. These results presented practical advantages for planning and applying interventions for youths’ problematic gaming behaviors.