Problematic gaming in occasional, low, intermediate or heavy use gamers – not all screen time is created equal – A reanalysis
4 affiliations
- 1Université de Genève, FPSE, Genève, Switzerland.
- 2neuro @campus biotech, Genève, Switzerland.
- 3Digital Wellness Lab, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
- 4Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Abstract
Despite having received increasing attention over the past decade, little is known about the factors that can increase or decrease symptoms of problematic gaming (PG) in individuals with different video gaming (VG) habits (e.g., occasional use gamers vs heavy use gamers). Here, we apply a specification curve analysis to assess the impact of changes in two key risk factors, gaming consumption and impulsivity, as well as one protective factor, family environment, on changes in PG symptoms over 2 years in a large sample of Singaporean adolescents between 2007 and 2009. By considering individual differences in baseline video game habits, we show that changes in VG consumption influenced changes in PG in adolescents who reported not usually playing games at study inception (i.e., occasional use gamers), whereas changes in impulsivity influenced PG in those who reported being the most heavy use gamers at study inception. These findings highlight the importance of designing preventative measures that differ as a function of current video game habits. Possible measures may involve introducing gaming progressively (e.g., through setting age-appropriate limits or structured scaffolding with parents) to improve tolerance and reduce preoccupation in occasional gamers while promoting self-control early in development before gaming can become a problematic habit.
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BibTeX
@article{bediou2026problematic,
title = {{Problematic gaming in occasional, low, intermediate or heavy use gamers – not all screen time is created equal – A reanalysis}},
author = {Benoit Bediou and Sezen Cekic and Douglas A Gentile and Daphne Bavelier},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0356080},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356080},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Problematic gaming in occasional, low, intermediate or heavy use gamers – not all screen time is created equal – A reanalysis
AU - Benoit Bediou
AU - Sezen Cekic
AU - Douglas A Gentile
AU - Daphne Bavelier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0356080
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356080
AB - Despite having received increasing attention over the past decade, little is known about the factors that can increase or decrease symptoms of problematic gaming (PG) in individuals with different video gaming (VG) habits (e.g., occasional use gamers vs heavy use gamers). Here, we apply a specification curve analysis to assess the impact of changes in two key risk factors, gaming consumption and impulsivity, as well as one protective factor, family environment, on changes in PG symptoms over 2 years in a large sample of Singaporean adolescents between 2007 and 2009. By considering individual differences in baseline video game habits, we show that changes in VG consumption influenced changes in PG in adolescents who reported not usually playing games at study inception (i.e., occasional use gamers), whereas changes in impulsivity influenced PG in those who reported being the most heavy use gamers at study inception. These findings highlight the importance of designing preventative measures that differ as a function of current video game habits. Possible measures may involve introducing gaming progressively (e.g., through setting age-appropriate limits or structured scaffolding with parents) to improve tolerance and reduce preoccupation in occasional gamers while promoting self-control early in development before gaming can become a problematic habit.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -