How symptoms of internet gaming addiction, depression, and anxiety are connected in children and teenagers

A network analysis of 1,548 Chinese children and adolescents identified tolerance, withdrawal, and conflict as core symptoms of internet gaming addiction.

• The core symptoms of internet gaming addiction (IGA) are tolerance, withdrawal, and conflict.
• No significant gender differences were found in the structure, global strength, or core symptoms of IGA.
• While the symptom network structure of IGA did not differ by age, global strength and some core symptoms, such as conflict, did show significant age-related differences.
• Core symptoms associated with the comorbidity of IGA, depression, and anxiety include feeling downhearted, breathing difficulty, lack of initiative, and withdrawal.
• The comorbidity network displayed no significant differences in structure by gender or age, but gender differences in global strength were noted.
• Significant gender and age differences were found in some core symptoms, indicating the need for tailored interventions.

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