Persistence and pleasure in VR: Enhancing Exercise Endurance and Enjoyment through Virtual Environments.

Virtual Reality (VR) provides an enjoyable addition to stationary physical exercise and can improve performance while exercising. The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of three interactive virtual environments (i.e., social, relaxing, stressful) on enjoyment and persistence during strength-based exercises. In a within-subjects experiment, 97 healthy young adults completed four consecutive sets of two strength-based exercises. Participants completed one set as baseline and then each participant completed three more sets in three different interactive environments, experienced through a VR headset. Results showed that both the stressful virtual environment, where participants were hanging suspended over a city, and the social virtual environment where participants were audibly encouraged in a stadium, increased participants' persistence in both exercises, when compared to the relaxing virtual environment. Specifically, the relaxing sunny beach environment caused poorer performances in a dead hang exercise among men (n = 30), and poorer performances in a core exercise among women (n = 66). Somewhat paradoxically, this relaxing virtual beach environment was considered the most enjoyable environment among both male and female participants. The potential of VR in exercise lies in its ability to provide pleasurable and performance-enhancing immersive environments that may be too expensive or dangerous in reality.

Let the beat flow: How game difficulty in virtual reality affects flow.

Virtual Reality Games offer highly immersive experiences that allow users to effectively dissociate themselves from reality. VR gaming leads to a strong sense of presence and can facilitate the experience of flow among its players. The current study examines how the balance between a player's skill and the difficulty of a VR rhythm game can influence the sense of flow. An experiment was conducted among 201 university students who played the rhythm game Beat Saber in VR. Difficulty settings were adjusted to each individual player's skill, making the game either too easy, matched, or too hard. Results indicated that the match between skill and difficulty led to higher levels of flow. If the game was too hard, this caused a decrease in flow due to frustration, but too easy did not lead to the expected decrease in flow due to boredom. A stronger sense of flow while playing this VR game was also related to better performance, higher physiological arousal, and more enjoyment.

Including gaming disorder in the ICD-11: The need to do so from a clinical and public health perspective.

The proposed introduction of gaming disorder (GD) in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has led to a lively debate over the past year. Besides the broad support for the decision in the academic press, a recent publication by van Rooij et al. (2018) repeated the criticism raised against the inclusion of GD in ICD-11 by Aarseth et al. (2017). We argue that this group of researchers fails to recognize the clinical and public health considerations, which support the WHO perspective. It is important to recognize a range of biases that may influence this debate; in particular, the gaming industry may wish to diminish its responsibility by claiming that GD is not a public health problem, a position which maybe supported by arguments from scholars based in media psychology, computer games research, communication science, and related disciplines. However, just as with any other disease or disorder in the ICD-11, the decision whether or not to include GD is based on clinical evidence and public health needs. Therefore, we reiterate our conclusion that including GD reflects the essence of the ICD and will facilitate treatment and prevention for those who need it.

Addictive Online Games: Examining the Relationship Between Game Genres and Internet Gaming Disorder.

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is the most recent term used to describe problematic or pathological involvement with computer or video games. This study examined whether this disorder is more likely to involve pathological involvement with online (i.e., Internet) games as opposed to offline games. We also explored the addictive potential of nine video game genres by examining the relationship between IGD and 2,720 games played by a sample of 13- to 40-year olds (N = 2,442). Although time spent playing both online and offline games was related to IGD, online games showed much stronger correlations. This tendency is also reflected within various genres. Disordered gamers spent more than four times as much time playing online role-playing games than nondisordered gamers and more than thrice as much time playing online shooters, whereas no significant differences for offline games from these genres were found. Results are discussed within the frame of social interaction and competition provided by online games.

The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale.

Recently, the American Psychiatric Association included Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in the appendix of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The main aim of the current study was to test the reliability and validity of 4 survey instruments to measure IGD on the basis of the 9 criteria from the DSM-5: a long (27-item) and short (9-item) polytomous scale and a long (27-item) and short (9-item) dichotomous scale. The psychometric properties of these scales were tested among a representative sample of 2,444 Dutch adolescents and adults, ages 13-40 years. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the structural validity (i.e., the dimensional structure) of all scales was satisfactory. Both types of assessment (polytomous and dichotomous) were also reliable (i.e., internally consistent) and showed good criterion-related validity, as indicated by positive correlations with time spent playing games, loneliness, and aggression and negative correlations with self-esteem, prosocial behavior, and life satisfaction. The dichotomous 9-item IGD scale showed solid psychometric properties and was the most practical scale for diagnostic purposes. Latent class analysis of this dichotomous scale indicated that 3 groups could be discerned: normal gamers, risky gamers, and disordered gamers. On the basis of the number of people in this last group, the prevalence of IGD among 13- through 40-year-olds in the Netherlands is approximately 4%. If the DSM-5 threshold for diagnosis (experiencing 5 or more criteria) is applied, the prevalence of disordered gamers is more than 5%.

An international consensus for assessing internet gaming disorder using the new DSM-5 approach.

AIMS: For the first time, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduces non-substance addictions as psychiatric diagnoses. The aims of this paper are to (i) present the main controversies surrounding the decision to include internet gaming disorder, but not internet addiction more globally, as a non-substance addiction in the research appendix of the DSM-5, and (ii) discuss the meaning behind the DSM-5 criteria for internet gaming disorder. The paper also proposes a common method for assessing internet gaming disorder. Although the need for common diagnostic criteria is not debated, the existence of multiple instruments reflect the divergence of opinions in the field regarding how best to diagnose this condition. METHODS: We convened international experts from European, North and South American, Asian and Australasian countries to discuss and achieve consensus about assessing internet gaming disorder as defined within DSM-5. RESULTS: We describe the intended meaning behind each of the nine DSM-5 criteria for internet gaming disorder and present a single item that best reflects each criterion, translated into the 10 main languages of countries in which research on this condition has been conducted. CONCLUSIONS: Using results from this cross-cultural collaboration, we outline important research directions for understanding and assessing internet gaming disorder. As this field moves forward, it is critical that researchers and clinicians around the world begin to apply a common methodology; this report is the first to achieve an international consensus related to the assessment of internet gaming disorder.

Attentional bias and disinhibition toward gaming cues are related to problem gaming in male adolescents.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine whether behavioral tendencies commonly related to addictive behaviors are also related to problematic computer and video game playing in adolescents. The study of attentional bias and response inhibition, characteristic for addictive disorders, is relevant to the ongoing discussion on whether problematic gaming should be classified as an addictive disorder. METHODS: We tested the relation between self-reported levels of problem gaming and two behavioral domains: attentional bias and response inhibition. Ninety-two male adolescents performed two attentional bias tasks (addiction-Stroop, dot-probe) and a behavioral inhibition task (go/no-go). Self-reported problem gaming was measured by the game addiction scale, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fourth edition criteria for pathological gambling and time spent on computer and/or video games. RESULTS: Male adolescents with higher levels of self-reported problem gaming displayed signs of error-related attentional bias to game cues. Higher levels of problem gaming were also related to more errors on response inhibition, but only when game cues were presented. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are in line with the findings of attentional bias reported in clinically recognized addictive disorders, such as substance dependence and pathological gambling, and contribute to the discussion on the proposed concept of "Addiction and Related Disorders" (which may include non-substance-related addictive behaviors) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fourth edition.

The effects of pathological gaming on aggressive behavior.

Studies have shown that pathological involvement with computer or video games is related to excessive gaming binges and aggressive behavior. Our aims for this study were to longitudinally examine if pathological gaming leads to increasingly excessive gaming habits, and how pathological gaming may cause an increase in physical aggression. For this purpose, we conducted a two-wave panel study among 851 Dutch adolescents (49% female) of which 540 played games (30% female). Our analyses indicated that higher levels of pathological gaming predicted an increase in time spent playing games 6 months later. Time spent playing violent games specifically, and not just games per se, increased physical aggression. Furthermore, higher levels of pathological gaming, regardless of violent content, predicted an increase in physical aggression among boys. That this effect only applies to boys does not diminish its importance, because adolescent boys are generally the heaviest players of violent games and most susceptible to pathological involvement.

The appeal of violent video games to lower educated aggressive adolescent boys from two countries.

The objective of this study was to test the effect of individual differences on appeal and use of video games. Participants were 299 adolescent boys from lower and higher secondary schools in the Netherlands and Belgium. In general, boys were most attracted to violent video games. Boys that scored higher in trait aggressiveness and lower in empathy were especially attracted to violent games and spent more time playing video games than did boys lower in trait aggressiveness. Lower educated boys showed more appreciation for both violent and nonviolent games and spent more time playing them than did higher educated boys. The present study showed that aggressive and less empathic boys were most attracted to violent games. The fact that heavy users of violent games show less empathy and higher aggressiveness suggests the possibility of desensitization. Other studies have shown that playing violent games increases aggressiveness and decreases empathy. These results combined suggest the possibility of a violence cycle. Aggressive individuals are attracted to violent games. Playing violent games increases aggressiveness and decreases empathy, which in turn leads to increased appreciation and use of violent games.