Internet gaming addiction (IGA) has been associated with many negative health outcomes, especially for youth; however, few studies have examined the physiological parameters and personality features related to this addiction. This study aimed to identify differences in autonomic functions and distressed (type D) personality traits among Korean adolescent males with and without IGA. In a cross-sectional study, 68 adolescent males were recruited in a Korean city using convenience and snowball sampling methods. For each subject, heart rate variability (HRV) parameters were measured as autonomic functions and questionnaires were used to identify IGA and type D personality traits. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyses, t tests, χ2 tests, and Pearson's correlation. Most HRV parameters significantly differed between the IGA and non-IGA groups (all p < 0.05). Type D personality total and subscale scores, including those for negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition, were significantly higher in the IGA group (all p < 0.001). Of the 68 subjects, 46 were classified as having type D personality, with nearly twice as many in the IGA group as in the non-IGA group (p = 0.002). Type D personality total scores negatively correlated with the logarithmic value of total power and low frequency among the HRV parameters (both p < 0.05). Results showed that excessive Internet gaming was related to alterations in autonomic functions and distressed personality traits in male adolescents. These findings provide further understanding of the IGA phenomenon and highlight the need for interventions that address male adolescents with IGA.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
WeinsteinA, LejoyeuxM. New developments on the neurobiological and pharmaco‐genetic mechanisms underlying internet and videogame addiction. The American Journal on Addictions, 2015; 24:117–125.
2.
KirályO, GriffithsMD, UrbánR, et al.Problematic internet use and problematic online gaming are not the same: findings from a large nationally representative adolescent sample. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Socical Networking, 2014; 17:749–754.
3.
WangCW, HoRT, ChanCL, et al.Exploring personality characteristics of Chinese adolescents with internet-related addictive behaviors: trait differences for gaming addiction and social networking addiction. Addictive Behaviors, 2015; 42:32–35.
4.
YauYH, CrowleyMJ, MayesLC, et al.Are Internet use and video-game-playing addictive behaviors? Biological, clinical and public health implications for youths and adults. Minerva Psichiatrica, 2012; 53:153–170.
5.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
6.
DongG, HuangJ, DuX. Alterations in regional homogeneity of resting-state brain activity in internet gaming addicts. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 2012; 8:41.
7.
HahnC, KimDJ. Is there a shared neurobiology between aggression and Internet addiction disorder?. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2014; 3:12–20.
8.
WeinsteinA, LejoyeuxM. Internet addiction or excessive internet use. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2010; 36:277–283.
9.
KussDJ. Internet gaming addiction: current perspectives. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 2013; 6:125–137.
10.
KwonJH, ChungCS, LeeJ. The effects of escape from self and interpersonal relationship on the pathological use of Internet games. Community Mental Health Journal, 2011; 47:113–121.
11.
KussDJ, GriffithsMD. Internet and gaming addiction: a systematic literature review of neuroimaging studies. Brain Sciences, 2012; 2:347–374.
12.
LoleL, GonsalvezCJ, BarryRJ, et al.Problem gamblers are hyposensitive to wins: an analysis of skin conductance responses during actual gambling on electronic gaming machines. Psychophysiology, 2014; 51:556–564.
13.
LuDW, WangJW, HuangAC. Differentiation of Internet addiction risk level based on autonomic nervous responses: the Internet-addiction hypothesis of autonomic activity. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Socical Networking, 2010; 13:371–378.
14.
LinPC, KuoSY, LeePH, et al.Effects of internet addiction on heart rate variability in school-aged children. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 2014; 29:493–498.
15.
KimN, HughesTL, ParkCG, et al.Resting-state peripheral catecholamine and anxiety levels in Korean male adolescents with Internet game addiction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Socical Networking, 2016; 19:202–208.
16.
CoyneSM, DyerWJ, DensleyR, et al.Physiological indicators of pathologic video game use in adolescence. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 2015; 56:307–313.
17.
Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Circulation, 1996; 93:1043–1065.
18.
KangN, LimJS, HwangTG, et al.The relationship between type D personality and heart rate variability in community mental health center users. Psychiatry Investigation, 2015; 12:197–203.
19.
ThayerJF, YamamotoSS, BrosschotJF. The relationship of autonomic imbalance, heart rate variability and cardiovascular disease risk factors. International Journal of Cardiology, 2010; 141:122–131.
20.
WulsinLR, HornPS, PerryJL, et al.Autonomic imbalance as a predictor of metabolic risks, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mortality. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2015; 100:2443–2448.
21.
HenryBL, MinassianA, PaulusMP, et al.Heart rate variability in bipolar mania and schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2010; 44:168–176.
22.
KempAH, QuintanaDS. The relationship between mental and physical health: insights from the study of heart rate variability. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2013; 89:288–296.
23.
FujibayashiM, MatsumotoT, KishidaI, et al.Autonomic nervous system activity and psychiatric severity in schizophrenia. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 2009; 63:538–545.
24.
ThayerJF, BrosschotJF. Psychosomatics and psychopathology: looking up and down from the brain. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2005; 30:1050–1058.
25.
CloningerCR, SvrakicDM. (2008) Personality disorders. In FatemiSH, ClaytonPJ, eds. The medical basis of psychiatry. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, pp. 473–483.
26.
SausE-R, JohnsenBH, EidJ, et al.Who benefits from simulator training: personality and heart rate variability in relation to situation awareness during navigation training. Computers in Human Behavior, 2012; 28:1262–1268.
27.
DenolletJ, SysSU, BrutsaertDL. Personality and mortality after myocardial infarction. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1995; 57:582–591.
28.
DenolletJ. DS14: standard assessment of negative affectivity, social inhibition, and type D personality. Psychosomatic Medicine, 2005; 67:89–97.
29.
SchifferAA, SmithOR, PedersenSS, et al.Type D personality and cardiac mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. International Journal of Cardiology, 2010; 142:230–235.
30.
HuangWL, ChangLR, KuoTB, et al.Gender differences in personality and heart-rate variability. Psychiatry Research, 2013; 209:652–657.
31.
ShepherdD, MulgrewJ, HautusMJ. Exploring the autonomic correlates of personality. Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic & Clinical, 2015; 193:127–131.
32.
CarpeggianiC, EmdinM, BonaguidiF, et al.Personality traits and heart rate variability predict long-term cardiac mortality after myocardial infarction. European Heart Journal, 2005; 26:1612–1617.
33.
PedersenSS, DenolletJ, OngAT, et al.Adverse clinical events in patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stents: the impact of type D personality. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, 2007; 14:135–140.
34.
AbhishekhHA, NisargaP, KisanR, et al.Influence of age and gender on autonomic regulation of heart. Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing, 2013; 27:259–264.
35.
O'BrienIA, O'HareP, CorrallRJ. Heart rate variability in healthy subjects: effect of age and the derivation of normal ranges for tests of autonomic function. British Heart Journal, 1986; 55:348–354.
36.
RehbeinF, KleimannM, MössleT. Prevalence and risk factors of video game dependency in adolescence: results of a German nationwide survey. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Socical Networking, 2010; 13:269–277.
37.
Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion. (2006) A study of the development of internet game addiction scale for children and adolescents. www.iapc.or.kr/dia/survey/addDiaSurveyNew.do?dia_type_cd=GAYS (accessed Jun.10, 2013).
38.
SteinPK, BosnerMS, KleigerRE, et al.Heart rate variability: a measure of cardiac autonomic tone. American Heart Journal, 1994; 127:1376–1381.
39.
LimHE, LeeMS, KoYH, et al.Assessment of the type D personality construct in the Korean population: a validation study of the Korean DS14. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 2011; 26:116–123.
40.
ServantD, LogierR, MousterY, et al.Heart rate variability. Applications in psychiatry. Encephale, 2009; 35:423–428.
41.
IvarssonM, AndersonM, AkerstedtT, et al.Playing a violent television game affects heart rate variability. Acta Paediatrica, 2009; 98:166–172.
42.
IvarssonM, AndersonM, AkerstedtT, et al.The effect of violent and nonviolent video games on heart rate variability, sleep, and emotions in adolescents with different violent gaming habits. Psychosomatic Medicine, 2013; 75:390–396.
43.
HebertS, BelandR, Dionne-FournelleO, et al.Physiological stress response to video-game playing: the contribution of built-in music. Life Sciences, 2005; 76:2371–2380.
44.
GoodwinRD, DavidsonKW, KeyesK. Mental disorders and cardiovascular disease among adults in the United States. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2009; 43:239–246.
45.
DenolletJ. Type D personality. A potential risk factor refined. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2000; 49:255–266.
46.
MartinLA, DosterJA, CritelliJW, et al.Ethnicity and type D personality as predictors of heart rate variability. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2010; 76:118–121.
OdeS, HilmertCJ, ZielkeDJ, et al.Neuroticism's importance in understanding the daily life correlates of heart rate variability. Emotion, 2010; 10:536–543.
49.
PiesR. Should DSM-V designate “Internet addiction” a mental disorder?. Psychiatry, 2009; 6:31–37.
50.
LinTC. Effects of gender and game type on autonomic nervous system physiological parameters in long-hour online game players. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Socical Networking, 2013; 16:820–827.
