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Worsened Anxiety and Loneliness Influenced Gaming and Gambling during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Uppsala Univ, Vastmanland Cty Hosp Västerås, Ctr Clin Res, S-72189 Västerås, Sweden.;Uppsala Univ, Dept Surg Sci, Funct Pharmacol Unit, S-75124 Uppsala, Sweden..
Uppsala Univ, Dept Surg Sci, Funct Pharmacol Unit, S-75124 Uppsala, Sweden..ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0000-7694
Uppsala Univ, Dept Surg Sci, Funct Pharmacol Unit, S-75124 Uppsala, Sweden..
Uppsala Univ, Vastmanland Cty Hosp Västerås, Ctr Clin Res, S-72189 Västerås, Sweden..
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2023 (English)In: Journal of Clinical Medicine, E-ISSN 2077-0383, Vol. 12, no 1, article id 249Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Aim: To study the prevalence and patterns of problematic gaming and gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic and the association with psychiatric traits and major types of anxiety categories. Method: 1067 young adults participated in both wave 3 (2018) and wave 4 (2021) of the SALVe Cohort. Associations with psychiatric symptoms and anxiety were examined using logistic regression and Chi-square tests. Results: Problematic gaming decreased by 1.3 percentage points to 23.2% since the start of the pandemic, while problematic gambling increased by 0.9 percentage points to 6.5% in w4. Average time spent playing video games/day decreased from 2.2 h (w3) to 1.7 h (w4), while increases in gaming activity were associated with worsened feelings of loneliness (p = 0.002), depression (p < 0.001), and anxiety (p < 0.01) during the pandemic. Predictors for problematic gaming at w4 were previous problematic gaming and social anxiety (p = < 0.001 and 0.01, respectively). Moreover, previous problem gambling also predicted problem gambling at w4 p < 0.001. All anxiety categories were associated with both problematic gaming and gambling when adjusted for age and sex. However, after adjusting for depression and insomnia, social anxiety was associated with problematic gaming (p < 0.001), while panic was associated with problem gambling (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, problematic gaming has decreased since the start of the pandemic, while problem gambling has increased. Worsened feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic are associated with increased gaming. Moreover, the association between problematic gaming and gambling and anxiety is independent of depression and sleep problems.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI , 2023. Vol. 12, no 1, article id 249
Keywords [en]
gaming, problem gambling, anxiety, depression, COVID-19, social isolation
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-61617DOI: 10.3390/jcm12010249ISI: 000909021500001PubMedID: 36615049Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85145934169OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-61617DiVA, id: diva2:1730723
Available from: 2023-01-25 Created: 2023-01-25 Last updated: 2023-01-25Bibliographically approved

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Nilsson, Kent W.

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