By Chang-Shanmei
Online and mobile games are part of daily life for many adolescents and young adults in Taiwan. Parents may restrict internet time or delay giving children phones, tablets, and computers because they fear excessive gaming. At the same time, they worry that children may fall behind digitally or miss important opportunities for self-directed learning. Technology and the internet present modern parents with a genuine dilemma.
Playing online games does not necessarily lead to addiction. A large Taiwanese survey published in 2018 by Dr. Yu-Hsuan Lin and colleagues estimated the prevalence of gaming disorder at approximately 3 percent. What characteristics and circumstances increase risk, and how can people avoid developing serious problems? The following five factors offer a useful starting point.
1. Impulsivity
Internet addiction was once considered an impulse-control problem rather than an addiction. In 2013, the DSM-5 identified internet gaming disorder as a condition requiring further study. Brand and colleagues reported in 2016 that impulsivity was positively associated with problematic internet use across activities including gambling, shopping, pornography use, and online gaming.
A 2017 study by Dr. Chih-Hung Ko’s research team at Kaohsiung Medical University found an association between gaming disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. People diagnosed with both ADHD and gaming disorder showed greater impulsivity and hostility in games than other players.
Gaming problems may therefore coexist with difficulties involving impulse control and attention. Evaluating possible ADHD is important because treating the underlying symptoms may also improve problematic gaming.
2. Boredom and Loneliness
A 2017 study by Myrseth and colleagues examined 246 veterans who had served in Afghanistan. Veterans who lacked meaningful goals at home were more likely to experience boredom and loneliness, increasing the risk of problematic gaming.
In Taiwan, many secondary-school students have tightly scheduled lives shaped by entrance examinations, tutoring, and after-school programs. Parents may promise that after six years of hard work, university will bring freedom. Yet the sudden absence of a single overriding goal can feel confusing. Students who have never learned to organize their own time may find that games, videos, and shopping platforms quickly occupy it.
Gradually allowing children to manage their own time and experience dimensions of life beyond schoolwork may offer a more fundamental form of prevention.
3. Escapism as a Coping Strategy
Using games to avoid difficult assignments, loneliness, helplessness, or other problems is an important risk factor. Our team’s 2018 research found that escapism and the pursuit of in-game achievement were gaming motives associated with problematic internet use.
Escapism can act as a force pushing a person away from reality and into the game, while achievement in the game pulls the person inward. Together, these forces can be powerful.
Which force can families and professionals influence most directly? We can begin with what pushes the person away from life. Try to understand why the game feels like the safest place to escape. Help the person develop more effective ways to cope with pressure, and accompany them as they build the courage and ability to solve problems. Reducing that push may support recovery.
4. Depression and Unhappiness
Pleasure is an important connection in learning and development. Enjoyable experiences help us begin and persist with difficult tasks. Unhappiness may be influenced by the environment, while biomedical evidence also connects depressed mood with neurotransmitter systems including serotonin.
Across our studies, people at higher risk of gaming disorder also showed higher levels of depressive symptoms. Games can be genuinely enjoyable, and for someone who feels unhappy or depressed, gaming may become a way to cope. People enter game worlds in search of enjoyment; if gaming provides neither pleasure nor achievement, most will leave.
5. High and Unmanageable Stress
A manageable level of stress can motivate action. Yet people perceive and respond to the same situation differently. Kardefelt-Winther’s compensatory model suggests that problematic internet use may arise as a response to unmet needs or difficulties in everyday life. People who feel intense stress but lack effective coping strategies may enter games to temporarily distance themselves from distress.
This risk can be especially strong under chronic, uncontrollable stress. Repeated failure may create learned helplessness, leading a person to stop trying. Prolonged stress can also contribute to unhappiness and depression, increasing the appeal of an easily accessible source of pleasure.
Some university students in our interviews described growing up in homes filled with parental conflict. They felt that immersing themselves in games, gaining a sense of achievement, and receiving support from teammates had helped them survive a very dark period. This reminds us that gaming can be both a source of risk and an attempt to cope with pain.
What Can Parents Do?
First, consider whether a child may have ADHD or depression. Both commonly coexist with gaming disorder. If you suspect difficulties with attention or mood, seek an evaluation from a qualified mental health professional. Addressing the underlying condition may also improve problematic gaming behavior.
Second, while children are still at home, provide consistent, high-quality companionship. Learn what makes the game attractive and enjoyable. Offer a warm and stable family environment. Try to understand the difficulties children encounter and how they usually cope, and discuss alternative strategies together. Simply blocking access to phones and computers often has limited effect and may damage the parent–child relationship.
© Chang-Shanmei. All rights reserved.