Profile of: Amy MacQuarrie

Award Received: SSHRC Post-Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral

Awarded for the project: Risk Factors for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD): Towards Lower-Risk Guidelines

Faculty: Science, Applied Science & Engineering

Department: Psychology

Supervisor: Dr. Caroline Brunelle

When video gaming becomes a disorder, it can negatively affect all aspects of someone’s life. Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) can result in missing work or school to play games, losing friendships or romantic relationships, or experiencing mental or physical health problems. There are a variety of factors (e.g., increased mental health symptoms, increased substance use, playing games more often and for longer periods of time) that may increase individual’s risk of experiencing IGD. Lower-risk guidelines exist in Canada for alcohol, cannabis, and gambling to help the public reduce their risk of harms associated with those activities. However, despite how popular video gaming is, there are few guidelines on how the public can reduce their risk of IGD.

I have recruited 738 adult (18+) participants across North America who recently played video games within the past month. Participants were asked to complete an online survey which included questions about their video gaming--demographics, mental health, and substance use--in order to see what factors were related to an increased risk of IGD.  This data helped me develop preliminary guidelines for individuals to reduce potential harm. My results suggest that increased mental health symptoms, daily use of some substances, playing certain kinds of games (e.g., Massively Multiplayer Online games [MMOs]), playing games more often and for longer periods of time, and playing games for certain reasons (e.g., escapism or playing games to relieve negative emotions) were related to an increase in the risk of IGD. My hope for the future is that IGD is treated as a public health issue to ensure supports are in place for those experiencing gaming-related harms. Campaigns to promote healthy gaming may allow more individuals to enjoy a popular hobby while reducing their risk of IGD.