Nomophobia (the fear of being without a mobile phone or being unable to use it) is an area of growing research interest. The 20-item Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) is the most popular instrument to assess nomophobia. However, there is no validated scale to assess nomophobia in Bangladesh. The present study translated and validated the NMP-Q into Bangla. A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted among 585 university students. The study collected data on socio-demographics, behavioural health, academic attainment, nomophobia, smartphone addiction, and Facebook addiction. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to validate the scale’s factor structure. The four-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbach alphas were 0.915 for the total scale, 0.88 for Factor 1 (not being able to communicate), 0.83 for Factor 2 (losing connectedness), 0.71 for Factor 3 (not being able to access information), and 0.78 for Factor 4 (giving up convenience). Convergent validity was supported by significant associations between nomophobia and both smartphone addiction and Facebook addiction. Measurement invariance across gender was supported in multigroup CFA. The findings indicated that the NMP-Q Bangla appears to be a psychometrically valid and reliable instrument and can be used for further studies to assess nomophobia among Bangladeshi students.

Intolerance of uncertainty can adversely affect wellbeing. However, little is known about the role of doomscrolling in this relationship. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the associations between intolerance of uncertainty and mental wellbeing, as well as moderation and mediation analysis included doomscrolling. The sample comprised 432 participants aged between 18 and 55 years. The study data were collected through an online survey that included the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, Doomscrolling Scale, and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Short Form. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted with the PROCESS macro. The direct effect of intolerance of uncertainty on both doomscrolling and mental wellbeing was significant. Moreover, the direct effect of doomscrolling on mental wellbeing was significant . Also, an indirect effect of doomscrolling between intolerance of uncertainty and mental wellbeing was found. In addition, the moderator analysis showed that intolerance of uncertainty had an inverse impact on mental wellbeing at low and medium ) levels of doomscrolling. . The results of the present study suggest that intolerance of uncertainty is a risk factor for mental wellbeing and that doomscrolling enhances the risk.

The relationship between smartphone use, interpersonal interaction, and friendship satisfaction (FS) remains underexplored in literature. The present study addressed this gap by examining how smartphone-related behaviours, such as phubbing and smartphone addiction (SPA), are associated with fear of missing out (FoMO), being phubbed (BP) and FS. The study surveyed 811 university students and explored the aforementioned relationships and the dual roles of SPA as a mediator and BP as a moderator. The findings showed that FoMO positively correlated with phubbing, with SPA as a partial mediator, suggesting that reducing SPA could mitigate phubbing. Results also showed that BP moderated the relationship between these variables, influencing the effects of phubbing on FS. Notably, the findings also showed that while phubbing typically harms FS, BP can transform this negative impact into a positive one when friends share this behaviour. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of digital behaviours’ effects on social interactions and offer practical implications. Interventions such as digital detox programmes, mindfulness training, and social skills workshops are recommended to promote healthier digital habits and improve social relationships. The need for tailored support for at-risk students and policy development that foster digital well-being in educational settings is emphasised.

Concerns have arisen regarding the possible addictive nature of videogames, resulting in the provisional recognition of internet gaming disorder (IGD) as a behavioural addiction. However, this classification remains controversial, with arguments abounding regarding its structure and nature. Therefore, the present study examined the network structure/characteristics of nine IGD symptoms and three distress behaviours (i.e. depression, anxiety, and stress). A sample of 462 adults (Mage = 30.8. [SDage = 9.23]; 320 males [69.3%]) were surveyed regarding their experience of IGD symptoms and distress behaviours using the Internet Gaming Disorder Short Form (IGDS9-SF) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21) respectively. Subsequently, a network analysis was undertaken using R. IGD symptoms were found to be stable both cross-sectionally and over time. They were associated with, yet distinct, from, depression, anxiety, and stress. The most central symptoms within the network in terms of expected influence were tolerance, persistence, and stress. With a pathway between depression and mood modification providing the ‘bridge’ between IGD and Distress. The findings support the conceptualisation of IGD as a distinct construct (i.e. behavioural addiction). Further implications for the identification and treatment of IGD are discussed.

Since their commercial introduction in the 1970s, videogames have become an increasingly popular form of entertainment leading to the multi-billion-pound industry seen today (Juniper Research, 2020...

The novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major health problem worldwide. The impact of COVID-19 has also been associated with psychological and social problems. The main objective of the present study was to examine the associations between fear of COVID-19 and mental wellbeing, through a serial mediation analysis that included loneliness and smartphone addiction. Utilising convenience sampling from 73 of 81 cities in Turkey via the web-based survey the present study comprised 773 participants (556 females and 217 males; aged between 18 and 66 years) were collected. Self-report data were collected including psychometric measures assessing fear of COVID-19, loneliness, smartphone addiction, and mental wellbeing. Fear of COVID-19 was found to have both a direct and indirect effect on mental wellbeing. In addition, results supported a serial mediation model where fear of COVID-19 was found to influence mental wellbeing via loneliness and smartphone addiction in a sequential manner. The findings suggest that higher fear of COVID-19 is associated with lower mental wellbeing by negatively affecting individuals’ emotion and behaviour.

Online gaming is part of contemporary life, with a range of influences on gamer’s behaviour. The convergence and alignment of an individual’s attitude and behaviour with features and characteristics of their in-game representation (i.e. their avatar), is conceptualised as the ‘Proteus effect’ (PE). In the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW), the Draenei (‘exiled ones’) are one type of in-game character faction. In the present study, the interplay between choosing the class of Draenei, experiencing game-related immersion, along with the gamer’s biological gender was examined in relation to PE behaviours among 404 WoW gamers (males = 299; 74%; females = 104; 26%). Participants completed the Proteus Effect Scale and the Immersion sub-scale of the User-Avatar Questionnaire. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated a significant positive association between immersion and PE behaviours. Furthermore, mediation and moderated mediation analyses suggested that being a Draenei was positively associated with the level of game-related immersion, which in turn associated to higher PE behaviours offline, independent of participants’ gender. Results indicate that gamers who are more immersed within the gaming world tend to exhibit elevated PE behaviours. Moreover, being a Draenei in WoW appeared to relate with higher game-immersion experiences, which resulted in higher PE behaviours offline.

Understanding both the risk and protective factors associated with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been viewed by many in the gaming studies field as an area of research priority. The present study focused on the potential risk and protective effects of user–avatar (game figure) relationship and physical activity (PA), respectively. To address these aims, a cross-sectional and a longitudinal mixed-methods design were combined (comprising both psychological and physiological assessments). A sample of 121 emerging adult gamers (18–29 years) residing in Australia, who played massively multiplayer online games, were assessed in relation to their IGD behaviours using the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale – Short Form. Additionally, the Proto-Self-Presence (PSP) scale was used to evaluate the extent to which gamers identified with the body of their avatar. Finally, a PA monitor (Fitbit Flex) measured levels of energy consumed during real-world daily activities (active minutes). A number of linear regressions and moderation analyses were conducted. Findings confirmed that PSP functioned as an IGD risk factor and that PA acted protectively, weakening the association between PSP and IGD behaviours. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to IGD treatment and gaming development aspects.

Internet Addiction (IA) constitutes an excessive Internet use behavior with a significant impact on the user’s well-being. Online flow describes the users’ level of being absorbed by their online activity. The present study investigated age-related, gender, and flow effects on IA in adolescence. The sample comprised 648 adolescents who were assessed twice at age 16 and 18 years. IA was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test and online flow was assessed using the Online Flow Questionnaire. A three-level hierarchical model estimated age-related, gender, and online flow effects on IA symptoms and controlled for clustered random effects. IA symptoms decreased over time (for both genders) with a slower rate in males. Online flow was associated with IA symptoms and this remained consistent over time. Findings expand upon the available literature suggesting that IA symptoms could function as a development-related manifestation at the age of 16 years, while IA-related gender differences gradually increase between 16 and 18 years. Finally, the association between online flow and IA symptoms remained stable independent of age-related effects. The study highlights individual differences and provides directions for more targeted prevention and intervention initiatives for IA.

Presence describes the feeling of reality and immersion that users of virtual/Internet environments have. Importantly, it has been suggested that there are individual and contextual differences regarding susceptibility to presence. These aspects of presence have been linked to both beneficial and disadvantageous uses of the Internet, such as online therapeutic applications and addictive Internet behaviours. In the present study, presence was studied in relation to individual anxiety symptoms and classroom-level openness to experience (OTE) using a normative sample of 648 adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years. Presence was assessed with the Presence II questionnaire, anxiety symptoms with the relevant subscales of the SCL-90-R, and OTE with the Five-Factor Questionnaire. A three-level hierarchical linear model was calculated. Results showed that experiencing presence in virtual environments dropped between the ages of 16 and 18 years. Additionally, although anxiety symptoms were associated with higher presence at 16 years, this association decreased with age. Results also demonstrated that adolescents in classrooms higher on OTE reported reduced level of experiencing presence. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Previous qualitative studies suggest that gamers experience Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), a variety of non-volitional phenomena related to playing videogames including thoughts, urges, images, and sounds when not playing. To investigate (i) which types of GTP were more common and (ii) their general characteristics, the present study surveyed a total of 2362 gamers via an online survey. The majority of the participants were male, students, aged between 18 and 27 years, and “hard-core” gamers. Most participants reported having experienced at least one type of GTP at some point (96.6%), the majority having experienced GTP more than once, with many reporting 6 to 10 different types of GTP. Results demonstrated that videogame players experienced (i) altered visual perceptions, (ii) altered auditory perceptions, (iii) altered body perceptions, (iv) automated mental processes, and (v) behaviors. In most cases, GTP could not be explained by being under the influence of a psychoactive substance. The GTP experiences were usually short-lived, tended to occur after videogame playing rather than during play, occurred recurrently, and usually occurred while doing day-to-day activities. One in five gamers had experienced some type of distress or dysfunction due to GTP. Many experienced GTP as pleasant and some wanted GTP to happen again.

The aim of this study was to identify, classify, and explain gamers’ perceptual experiences referred to as Visual Game Transfer Phenomena (VGTP) to contribute to the understanding of the effects of post-video-game playing and encourage healthy and safe gaming. A total of 656 experiences from 483 gamers were collected from 54 online gaming forums. The findings suggest that intensive playing can result in misperceptions and visual distortions of real-life objects and environments, stereotypical visual experiences that arise from mind visualization, and pseudo-hallucinatory experiences with video game content. Gamers’ experiences can be explained by the interplay of physiological, perceptual, and cognitive mechanisms. Observation of video game features suggests that in most cases a relationship between the games’ structural characteristics, gamers’ VGTP experiences, and gamers’ playing habits appeared relevant. VGTP can occur while gaming, immediately after stopping play, or after some delay. Further VGTP characteristics and their psychosocial implications are discussed.

To date, there has been relatively little research comparing different types of online gamers. The main aim of this study was to provide robust benchmark data on different types of Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) players using a large sample of online gamers. An online survey was used to recruit 4,374 Hungarian online gamers from websites offering different types of MMOGs. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, the study also collected data on gaming preference, amount of time spent gaming, amount of money spent on the game, and whether they played at an amateur or professional level. A latent profile analysis of gaming preferences differentiated between eight specific gamer types, of which four types emerged as clear categories, indicating clear preference for a specific type of game (role-playing games, first-person shooter games, real-time strategy games, and other games). Overall, 79% of gamers belonged to these four categories. First-person shooter gamers were almost exclusively male, younger aged, lower educated, and of lower socioeconomic status. Real-time strategy gamers were older. Female gamers were most likely to play “Other” games and/or role-playing games. In relation to time spent gaming, role-playing gamers appeared to be the most vulnerable. The results indicated that a significant number of gamers have clear gaming preferences, and these specific gaming types are associated with significant differences regarding sociodemographic and gaming characteristics of gamers.

This research expands on the work of Goffman (1959) in seeking to examine how players of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) use virtual environments as a mechanism to explore their own offline identity, through the use of multiple characters and gender swapping. Using Thematic Analysis of four interviews, five themes have been identified which will inform a larger Grounded Theory study. It is argued that these themes provide the foundation for the construction of solid theoretical constructs which will inform future discussion on all interaction in virtual environments -- not only in computer games, but all other social technologies.