TY - JOUR
T1 - Game on
T2 - A cross-sectional study on gamers’ mental health, Game patterns, physical activity, eating and sleeping habits
AU - Matias, Catarina N.
AU - Cardoso, Joana
AU - Cavaca, Margarida L.
AU - Cardoso, Sofia
AU - Giro, Rita
AU - Vaz, João
AU - Couto, Pedro A.
AU - Dores, Artemisa Rocha
AU - Ferreira, Tiago B.
AU - Tinsley, G. M.
AU - Teixeira, Filipe J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - Introduction and purpose: Problematic gaming patterns have been associated with mental disorders and an unhealthy lifestyle pattern characterized by poor physical activity, nutritional habits, and sleep patterns. Thus, our objective was to characterize highly engaged Portuguese gamers by assessing the prevalence of these health issues and patterns, including Internet Gaming Disorder. Methods: A sample of 235 gamers (83.3% male) recruited online (through mailing list and social media) participated in online questionnaires to assess sociodemographic and health information, gaming and nutritional habits, physical activity patterns, sleep hygiene, and mental health. Results: The highly engaged gamers showed a mean playing time of 3.5 h/day (SD = 2.1) and 5.5 h/day (SD = 3.0) in other screen-related activities. Most of the players reported not consuming snacks while gaming. Physical activity practice was observed in 63.8% of the players. Most of the participants (66.3%) reported poor sleep quality and a “moderately and definitely evening” chronotype (60.4%). Gamers showed low scores of IGD, with only three reported cases, and half of the gamers reporting good psychological well-being. The mean of BSI scores was 1.6 (SD = 0.6), close to the cut-off point of 1.7. Conclusions: Poor sleep quality was observed in Portuguese gamers. Despite this, gamers seem to display a healthy lifestyle consisting of regular physical activity, a healthy diet during gaming time, and an unproblematic gaming behavior, as well as an emotionally healthy profile and state of well-being. Future studies should conduct a more thorough analysis of these variables and further explore possible correlations.
AB - Introduction and purpose: Problematic gaming patterns have been associated with mental disorders and an unhealthy lifestyle pattern characterized by poor physical activity, nutritional habits, and sleep patterns. Thus, our objective was to characterize highly engaged Portuguese gamers by assessing the prevalence of these health issues and patterns, including Internet Gaming Disorder. Methods: A sample of 235 gamers (83.3% male) recruited online (through mailing list and social media) participated in online questionnaires to assess sociodemographic and health information, gaming and nutritional habits, physical activity patterns, sleep hygiene, and mental health. Results: The highly engaged gamers showed a mean playing time of 3.5 h/day (SD = 2.1) and 5.5 h/day (SD = 3.0) in other screen-related activities. Most of the players reported not consuming snacks while gaming. Physical activity practice was observed in 63.8% of the players. Most of the participants (66.3%) reported poor sleep quality and a “moderately and definitely evening” chronotype (60.4%). Gamers showed low scores of IGD, with only three reported cases, and half of the gamers reporting good psychological well-being. The mean of BSI scores was 1.6 (SD = 0.6), close to the cut-off point of 1.7. Conclusions: Poor sleep quality was observed in Portuguese gamers. Despite this, gamers seem to display a healthy lifestyle consisting of regular physical activity, a healthy diet during gaming time, and an unproblematic gaming behavior, as well as an emotionally healthy profile and state of well-being. Future studies should conduct a more thorough analysis of these variables and further explore possible correlations.
KW - Internet gaming disorder
KW - Mental health
KW - Nutrition
KW - Physical activity
KW - Sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167578835&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107901
DO - 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107901
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85167578835
SN - 0747-5632
VL - 148
JO - Computers in Human Behavior
JF - Computers in Human Behavior
M1 - 107901
ER -