Perturbação de jogos de internet e sua relação com a personalidade e substâncias psicoativas numa amostra de adultos portugueses

Abstract

In its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the American Psychiatric Association has included internet gaming disorder as a condition for future studies. Over the years, addiction to video games has been the subject of numerous investigations, which aim to describe and better understand the problem. The present study aims to explore the relationship between personality traits, substance use, and symptomatology of substance use disorders, with internet gaming disorder in a sample of 179 subjects with a mean age of 25 years. To this end, the Videogame Disorder Scale – Reduced Version 9, the 10-Item Personality Inventory – Portuguese Version, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale of 20 Items and The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test were applied. This study showed higher scores of internet gaming disorders in males, in cohabiting relationships, and in unmarried people without a relation, and in individuals who work fulltime. There were also negative relationships with the personality variables, with the exception of openness to experience, and positive relationships with alexithymia. Furthermore we found significant differences between internet gaming disorder and the risk associated with tobacco consumption. Thus, this study reinforces several assumptions about internet gaming disorder present in the literature and contributes to the establishment of excessive consumption of video games as a behavioral addiction disorder.

Date of Award	9 May 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Berta Rodrigues Maia (Supervisor) & Paulo César Dias (Co-Supervisor)