(ANSA) – SYDNEY, 20 JUL – Tens of thousands of Australian teenagers, like many of their peers in the world, engage in video games at pathological levels, which in the most advanced cases lead to prolonged refusal of school, threats of self-harm and aggression towards family members. A new study from Macquarie University in Sydney documents how vulnerable young people, who develop the condition called Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), not only have to contend with their impulses, but also feel disconnected from families and helpless in the external environment. As part of the study, the researchers looked at the cases of nearly 900 middle-class students at a high school in a socially advantaged area. About 24 of them met the internet video game addiction criteria: 14 males and nine females. According to Wayne Warburton, professor of developmental psychology, who led the study, the likelihood of a teenager suffering from clinical problems with video games increases with risk factors, including being male, having low self-esteem and feeling socially isolated. “Feeling that you don’t have much control over your environment, that you’re not good at many things; feeling that you don’t have a good relationship with your parents are among the risk factors,” writes Warburton on the university’s website. Teenagers who live attached to video games do so because it gives them something they lack in real life. “In the ‘connection’ – continues the expert – you find your own tribe and spend time with other people. You are also competent, that is, good at videogames, which compensates for the induffciences in school subjects. Finally, young people are finally in control: of the game in which you try your hand and your environment “. Behavioral addiction can however be addressed by targeting risk factors, such as fostering self-confidence and addressing relationship problems that lead to social isolation. The risk is reduced when young people have higher self-esteem, are better socially connected and have a stronger bond with their parents and a warm family environment, the scholar writes. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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