IJERPH, Vol. 16, Pages 1008: Pathologic Use of Video Games and Motivation: Can the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) Predict Depression and Trait Anxiety?

IJERPH, Vol. 16, Pages 1008: Pathologic Use of Video Games and Motivation: Can the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) Predict Depression and Trait Anxiety? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph16061008 Authors: Sara Peracchia Fabio Presaghi Giuseppe Curcio Videogaming is an increasingly prevalent activity among adolescents worldwide. The present study aimed at adapting the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) to the Italian context, assessing its psychometric properties and verifying its sensitivity to predict depression and anxiety levels. From a sample of 1899 participants, a group of 388 adolescents who participated in the survey was divided into two subgroups of Heavy (HG, N = 188) and Light Gamers (LG, N = 200). A sub-sample of N = 172 adolescents also filled-in CESD and STAI to assess, respectively, depression and trait anxiety. Internal consistency and factorial structure of the Italian version of GAMS (GAMS-it) have been evaluated. Moreover, a latent regression structural equation model by predicting the CES-D and STAI scores with the GAMS-it factors has been carried out. GAMS-it has adequate validity and reliability levels, showing a very similar factorial structure to the original version. Therefore, this scale can be used to evaluate gaming motivation, which is useful for gaming motivation screening. Finally, it has been found that lower gaming motivation can be related to high level of depression and anxiety. The p...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research