Leisure and Problem Gaming Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents During School Closures Caused by COVID-19 in Hong Kong: Quantitative Cross-sectional Survey Study

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Abstract

Background

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated students’ loneliness, addictive gaming behaviors, and poor mental health. These mental health issues confronting young people are of public concern.

Objective

This study aimed to examine the associations between loneliness and gaming addiction behaviors among young people in Hong Kong and to investigate how familial factors, psychological distress, and gender differences moderate these relationships.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2020 when schools reopened after 6 months of school closures. Participants included 2863 children and adolescents in primary (Grades 4 to 6) and secondary (Grades 7 and 8) schools (female participants: 1502/2863, 52.5%). Chi-square tests, one-way analyses of variance, and independent-samples t tests were performed to compare the differences of distribution in gaming addiction behaviors across gender, age, and other sociodemographic characteristics. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors that relate to excessive or pathological gaming behaviors separately, in comparison with leisure gaming.

Results

A total of 83.0% (2377/2863) of the participants played video games during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of excessive and pathological game addiction behaviors was 20.9% (597/2863) and 5.3% (153/2863), respectively. More male students had gaming addiction symptoms than female students. The multinomial logistic regressions showed that feeling lonely was associated with more problematic gaming behaviors, and the association was stronger for older female students. Low socioeconomic status, less parental support and less supervision, and poor mental health were risk factors for gaming addiction behaviors, especially among primary school students.

Conclusions

Loneliness was associated with gaming addiction behaviors; the findings from this study suggested that this association was similar across gender and age groups among young people. Familial support and supervision during school closures can protect young people from developing problematic gaming behaviors. Results of this study have implications for prevention and early intervention on behalf of policy makers and game developers.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Paul W C Wong:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-6285

Department of Social Work and Social AdministrationThe University of Hong Kong511, JC Teaching TowerPok Fu Lam, 000Hong Kong852 28587604852 39175029paulw@hku.hk

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): JMIR Serious Games

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): JMIR Serious Games

Journal ID (publisher-id): JSG

Title: JMIR Serious Games

Publisher: JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Electronic): 2291-9279

Publication date Collection: Apr-Jun 2021

Publication date (Electronic): 7 May 2021

Publication date PMC-release: 7 May 2021

Volume: 9

Issue: 2

Electronic Location Identifier: e26808

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Applied Social Sciences The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong Hong Kong

[2 ] Department of Health Sciences University of Leicester Leicester United Kingdom

[3 ] Department of Social Work and Social Administration The University of Hong Kong Pok Fu Lam Hong Kong

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Paul W C Wong paulw@ 123456hku.hk

Author information

Shimin Zhu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3428-0234

Yanqiong Zhuang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4154-0065

Paul Lee https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5729-6450

Jessica Chi-Mei Li https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5589-4986

Paul W C Wong https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-6285

Article

Publisher ID: v9i2e26808

DOI: 10.2196/26808

PMC ID: 8108935

PubMed ID: 33960954

SO-VID: 56dafc83-ef6d-4047-9750-8bb81398d6d1

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Serious Games, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://games.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 29 December 2020

Date revision requested : 19 March 2021

Date revision received : 23 March 2021

Date accepted : 2 April 2021

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