Cognitive, Metacognitive, Motivational, and Emotional Predictors of the Intensity of Internet Gaming Disorder among Adolescents

Jul 2, 2024The Psychiatric quarterly

Thinking Skills, Motivation, and Emotions Linked to How Severe Internet Gaming Problems Are in Teens

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Abstract

Cognitive factors accounted for 7.8% of the variance in internet gaming disorder symptoms among 703 Iranian adolescents.

Cognitive and metacognitive factors were significant predictors of internet gaming disorder (IGD) severity.
Maladaptive cognitions, such as cognitive salience and perfectionism, were highlighted as key contributors to IGD.
Metacognitions, particularly negative beliefs about the uncontrollability and dangers of online gaming, were the most important predictors of IGD severity.
Motivational factors, including escape and coping, and emotional factors, like emotion regulation, contributed relatively less to IGD severity.
Exploratory analyses revealed interactions between cognitive predictors and symptoms of loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depression.

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Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is multifaceted and can have significant negative consequences. The present study examined the contribution of cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional factors as predictors for IGD severity. In a cross-sectional study, 703 Iranian adolescents (36.8% females, mean age = 16.98 years [SD = 1.23]) completed an online survey. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional factors predicted 7.8%, 17.4%, 1.4%, and 1.9% of the variance in IGD symptoms, respectively. The findings indicated that the cognitive factors including some maladaptive cognitions, such as cognitive salience, regret, and perfectionism, and metacognitive factors including some maladaptive metacognitions (negative metacognitions regarding the uncontrollability of online gaming and negative metacognitions regarding the dangers of online gaming) were significant predictors of IGD severity, highlighting their importance in understanding and predicting problematic gaming behaviors. Although contributing to the variance in IGD, motivational factors (escape, coping, and skill development) and emotional factors including emotion regulation (especially reappraisal) played relatively smaller roles compared to cognitive and metacognitive factors. Of the examined predictive factors, metacognitions were the most important predictor of IGD severity. Exploratory moderator analyses showed significant interactions between three predictors of IGD (reappraisal, negative metacognitions, and cognitive salience) with loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Reappraisal was the most frequent predictor and had a significant interaction with these variables. Other predictors independently impacted IGD irrespective of the level of loneliness, stress, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Based on these findings, special attention to metacognitive, cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors is suggested in the treatment of IGD.

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Cognitive, Metacognitive, Motivational, and Emotional Predictors of the Intensity of Internet Gaming Disorder among Adolescents

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