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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Gaming disorder symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity from adolescence to early adulthood – a longitudinal study

  • Samuel Savander1
  • Susanne Olofsdotter1,2
  • Sofia Vadlin2
  • Cecilia Åslund2,3
  • Hans Arinell1
  • Kent W. Nilsson1,2,4
  • Johan Isaksson1,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Medical Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Uppsala University, Uppsala, S-751 85 Sweden
  2. 2Centre for Clinical Research, Västmanland County Hospital Västerås, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
  3. 3CHAP, Department of Public Health and Caring sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
  4. 4Division of Public Health, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden
  5. 5Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Sweden
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Abstract

Gaming is an increasingly common pastime activity. Gaming Disorder (GD) is characterized by excessive gaming habits, loss of control and priority of gaming resulting in negative consequences. Psychiatric symptoms have been suggested as an important factor affecting GD, yet longitudinal studies are limited. This study examined the temporal stability of GD symptoms and longitudinal comorbidity with psychiatric symptoms, from adolescence to adulthood. Self-ratings on symptoms of GD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety and conduct disorder (CD) were collected at four waves (W1: n = 1834, Mean age = 14.40; W2: n = 1642, Mean age = 17.37; W3: n = 1211, Mean age = 20.19; W4: n = 1066, Mean age = 22.93). Linear Growth Mixture Models were used to assess trajectories of GD symptoms. Generalized Linear Mixed Models and binary logistic regression were used for investigating associations between GD trajectories and psychiatric comorbidity. Three trajectories of GD symptoms were found, “Low Descending” (n = 1436), “Moderate Stable” (n = 211) and “Problematic Ascending” (n = 74). The “Moderate Stable” group rated more symptoms of ADHD, anxiety and depression, whereas the “Problematic Ascending” group rated more symptoms of ADHD, anxiety and CD, as compared to the “Low Descending” group. The “Moderate Stable” and the “Problematic Ascending” groups also had higher odds of reporting a diagnosed psychiatric condition. No sex-specificity were found between GD trajectories and psychiatric comorbidities, although males rated more GD symptoms. GD and psychiatric symptoms followed parallel developmental patterns, suggesting a reciprocal relationship. The findings stress the importance of identifying problematic gaming when assessing psychiatric symptoms, and vice versa, potentially important for targeted prevention and early intervention.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{savander2026gaming,
  title = {{Gaming disorder symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity from adolescence to early adulthood – a longitudinal study}},
  author = {Samuel Savander and Susanne Olofsdotter and Sofia Vadlin and Cecilia Åslund and Hans Arinell and Kent W. Nilsson and Johan Isaksson},
  journal = {European Child \& Adolescent Psychiatry},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Gaming disorder symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity from adolescence to early adulthood – a longitudinal study
AU  - Samuel Savander
AU  - Susanne Olofsdotter
AU  - Sofia Vadlin
AU  - Cecilia Åslund
AU  - Hans Arinell
AU  - Kent W. Nilsson
AU  - Johan Isaksson
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/13
JO  - European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
DO  - 10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5
AB  - Gaming is an increasingly common pastime activity. Gaming Disorder (GD) is characterized by excessive gaming habits, loss of control and priority of gaming resulting in negative consequences. Psychiatric symptoms have been suggested as an important factor affecting GD, yet longitudinal studies are limited. This study examined the temporal stability of GD symptoms and longitudinal comorbidity with psychiatric symptoms, from adolescence to adulthood. Self-ratings on symptoms of GD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety and conduct disorder (CD) were collected at four waves (W1: n = 1834, Mean age = 14.40; W2: n = 1642, Mean age = 17.37; W3: n = 1211, Mean age = 20.19; W4: n = 1066, Mean age = 22.93). Linear Growth Mixture Models were used to assess trajectories of GD symptoms. Generalized Linear Mixed Models and binary logistic regression were used for investigating associations between GD trajectories and psychiatric comorbidity. Three trajectories of GD symptoms were found, “Low Descending” (n = 1436), “Moderate Stable” (n = 211) and “Problematic Ascending” (n = 74). The “Moderate Stable” group rated more symptoms of ADHD, anxiety and depression, whereas the “Problematic Ascending” group rated more symptoms of ADHD, anxiety and CD, as compared to the “Low Descending” group. The “Moderate Stable” and the “Problematic Ascending” groups also had higher odds of reporting a diagnosed psychiatric condition. No sex-specificity were found between GD trajectories and psychiatric comorbidities, although males rated more GD symptoms. GD and psychiatric symptoms followed parallel developmental patterns, suggesting a reciprocal relationship. The findings stress the importance of identifying problematic gaming when assessing psychiatric symptoms, and vice versa, potentially important for targeted prevention and early intervention.  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03085-5.
SN  - 1018-8827
SN  - 1435-165X
ER  -