Adolescents’ Perceived Decisional Balance, Task Specific Efficacy and Stages of Change in Early Computer Gaming Behavior

Adolescents’ Perceived Decisional Balance, Task Specific Efficacy and Stages of Change in Early Computer Gaming Behavior

Adolescents’ perceptions of decisional balance, task specific efficacy and stages of changes related to their gaming behavior in an Asian context were examined. A total of 414 adolescents (girls, n = 171, 41.3%) participated in the study, with their age ranged between 12 and 17 (M = 13.8, SD = 1.37) years old. The participants reported their particulars and rated three scales, i.e., decisional balance, task specific and stages of changes. Nearly all subscales had good international consistency. The precontemplation subscale was significantly related to the DBpro subscale, r(409)=.29, p＜.01 . Significant correlations were observed between the DB-con subscale with the contemplation r(409)=.35, p＜.01, action r(409)=.32, p＜.01, and maintenance r(409)=.34, p＜.01 subscales. The action subscale was positively correlated to the task specific efficacy ? school situation subscale, r(408)=.20, p＜.01. Significantly correlations were reported between the frequency of gaming and the DB-pro r(412)=.28, p＜.01, the ARC Action subscale r(409)=-.13, p＜.01, and the TSSE school subscale r(410)=-.14, p＜.01.