Depression, Internet Gaming Disorder, and the Moderating Effect of the Gamer-Avatar Relationship: an Exploratory Longitudinal Study

The current study is part of a wider project of Federation University Australia that addresses the interplay between individual, Internet, and proximal context factors in the development of Internet gaming disorder symptoms among emerging adults. Instruments used in the data include the following: (1) Internet Gaming Disorder 9-Short Form (Pontes and Griffiths 2015a, b), (2) Beck Depression Inventory—second edition (21 items) (Beck et al. 1996), (3) Beck Anxiety Inventory (21 items) (Beck and Steer 1990), (4) Hikikomori-Social Withdrawal Scale (5 items) (Teo et al. 2015), (5) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Self-Report Scale (18 items) (Kessler et al. 2005), (6) Ten Item Personality Inventory (Gosling et al. 2003), (7) The Balanced Family Cohesion Scale (7 items) (Olson 2000), (8) Presence Questionnaire (10 items) (Faiola et al. 2013), (9) Online Flow Questionnaire (5 items) (Chen et al. 2000), (10) Self-Presence Questionnaire (Ratan and Hasler 2010), (11) The Gaming-Contingent Self-Worth Scale (12 items) (Beard and Wickham 2016), and (12) Demographic and Internet Use Questions. The battery of questionnaires was utilized for both online and face-to-face data collection. The use of the fitness tracker (Fitbit flex) was used only for face-to-face data collection. Data have not been used in any previous published studies.

To ensure that there were no significant differences between the online and face-to-face samples considering their demographic and Internet use characteristics, as well as the variables used in the present study, independent sample t-tests and chi-square analyses were conducted. Findings did not indicate any significant differences in regards to gender (χ ² = 0.21, df = 1, p = .89), the type of game genre (i.e., MMOs vs MMORPGs) played (χ ² = 2.59, df = 1, p = .61), the age of the participants (t = − 0.54, df = 120, p = .59), their years of Internet use (t = 2.35, df = 122, p = .06), their reported level of avatar self-presence (t = 1.09, df = 119, p = .28), and their assessed psychopathological symptoms (depression t = − 0.38, df = 111, p = .70; IGD t = − 0.14, df = 111, p = .89). Therefore, online and face-to-face data (i.e., TP1) were combined (i.e., analyzed together) to investigate cross-sectional questions.

The longitudinal design was assessed for attrition. Assessments’ frequency for each participant varied within a range of 1–3 (M_average = 2.57). Time point 1 comprised 61 participants, time point 2 comprised 56 participants (8.20% attrition), and time point 3 comprised 43 participants (29.51% attrition). In line with literature recommendations, attrition, in relation to the studied variables, was assessed using Little’s Missing Completely At Random test (MCAR), which was insignificant (MCAR, χ ² = 1715.79, p = 1.00; Little and Rubin 2014). In order to avoid list-wise deletion, which would reduce the sample’s power, maximum likelihood imputation (five times) of values was applied (Gold and Bentler 2000).

In line with the approval received by the ethics committee of Federation University, the flyers: a) indicated that participants were required to participate on three separate measurement occasions approximately one month apart; b) included an email address to contact the investigators; and c) clearly described the process and stages of the data collection (face-to-face and online). MMO and MMORPG players, aged between 18-29 years old, interested in the study received the Plain Language Information Statement (PLIS). The PLIS clearly indicated that participation was voluntary and that participants could independently decide to withdraw from the study at any point. Individuals who choose to participate were required to provide informed consent.