Journal of Community & Public Health Nursing
Open Access

Internet gaming disorder; Smartphone addiction; Behavioural addiction

Introduction

Internet gaming disorder (IGD), which is more common in teenagers and emerging adults, has allegedly become a public health issue for a small percentage of people. Asia tends to have a higher prevalence of IGD, followed by Europe and North America. According to estimates, the prevalence of IGD ranges from 4.8% to 5.9% in nations in Asia, 1.16% to 2.5% in those in Europe, and 0.3% to 1% in those in North America. The prevalence of IGD among young people in Turkey, where the current study was conducted, has prompted the Turkish government to introduce measures to lower its incidence [1, 2].

Anxiety about social appearance and internet gaming

An individual's feelings, beliefs, and perceptions regarding their own body are referred to as their "body image". Those that have a positive body image are satisfied with their bodies. Negative body image is characterised by negative thoughts and feelings regarding one's body (or a particular area of their body), thinking one is less attractive than others, feeling uncomfortable with one's body, and feeling embarrassed of one's body. Positive body image sufferers do not spend a lot of time worrying about eating and gaining weight because they believe that their personalities, character, and values are more important than how they look [3,4].

A person's self-esteem is significantly influenced by their body image. Negative body image is linked to low self-esteem, while a positive body image is linked to good self-esteem. In addition, eating habits, levels of social anxiety, sexual propensities, interpersonal interactions, and emotional states can all be influenced by body image. Negative self-perceptions about one's appearance and body can also lead to social anxiety (Boursier et al., 2020a). The emotional, cognitive, and behavioural worries that a person has about their looks are referred to as social appearance anxiety (Duran and z, 2021). Those who are content with their physical appearance tend to have positive body views, while those who are not satisfied with their appearance [5, 6].

Discussion

The current study looked at the connections between students' IGD, smartphone addiction, social appearance anxiety, and violence among Turkish university students who often played online games.

The findings revealed strong and significant correlations between each variable. IGD was explicitly linked to smartphone addiction and social anxiety disorder. According to these results, individuals' rising social anxiety and smartphone addiction may contribute to the emergence of IGD. Moreover, IGD was mediated by social appearance anxiety, which in turn was mediated by smartphone addiction. According to this route, smartphone addiction contributes to social anxiety disorder (SAD), which in turn contributes to IGD [7, 8].

Conclusions

In the current study, the connections between IGD, smartphone addiction, social anxiety, and violence were looked at in the context of Turkish culture among university students. The findings demonstrated that IGD was directly impacted by social anxiety over appearance and smartphone addiction. The findings imply that in order to prevent the onset of IGD, intervention strategies to lessen social anxiety and smartphone addiction are required. Regular screening is crucial for identifying early signs of social anxiety disorder, IGD, and smartphone addiction. Children and teenagers require direction and social assistance [9,10].

Acknowledgement

None.

Conflict of Interest

None.

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