Video Game Addiction, Engagement and Symptoms of Stress, Depression and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping

Abstract

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.A number of studies have reported a co-occurrence between video game addiction and poorer mental health, but few have contextualised this relationship by identifying mediating variables. Further, there remains uncertainty in how to differentiate high engagement from what may be termed addiction in the context of video gaming. This study examined the mediating role of coping between one measure of video game addiction and engagement, and mental health. An international sample of 552 adult participants (M age 24.9 years, 52.3 % Australian) completed an online survey including the Computer Addiction-Engagement Scale (CAES), Depression, Anxiety St..