A Survey of Online Gaming Behaviours and Gaming Disorder (Mod permission given)

columbd · 07-11-2018 11:01am #1

The first post of this seems to have been deleted from the forum. I do have moderator permission from Retr0gamer to post this survey

Hi there

My name is Dr David Columb and I am a Senior Medical Officer working with Professor Colin O’Gara in the Addiction Department in St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Co Dublin. We conduct research in respect to behavioral addictions – addictions that do not involve a substance such as drugs or alcohol. Examples of this are gambling addiction, gaming addiction and internet use addiction.

We would be very grateful if you could complete this survey on gaming addiction as well as questions around microtransactions in gaming. The link below will lead to a detailed Information Sheet on the study, as well as some Consent questions prior to commencing the study. The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.

https://sjogh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/gamingaddiction

If you have any questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me at david.columb@sjog.ie. I've been in contact with the moderators and they are happy for me to post this survey up a few times between now and Christmas.

Again I'd really appreciate if you could fill the survey out if you have some time to spare.

Kind Regards

David

7aubzxk43m2sni · 07-11-2018 11:25am

Hi David, just a heads up that the link to the survey is broken

columbd · 07-11-2018 11:27am

Kellen Scary Flatware wrote: »

Hi David, just a heads up that the link to the survey is broken

Thanks, the "h" from https got cut off. Should be working now

Thanks for spotting that!

pxdf9i5cmoavkz · 07-11-2018 11:40am

Do you watch or participate in eSports?

It's esports, or Esports if its at the start of a sentence

https://esportsinsider.com/2017/03/associated-press-ended-esports-vs-esports-debate/

columbd · 07-11-2018 12:08pm

Kian Vast Cable wrote: »

It's esports, or Esports if its at the start of a sentence

https://esportsinsider.com/2017/03/associated-press-ended-esports-vs-esports-debate/

Thanks for that, I've changed it in the survey.

And thanks for filling out the survey as well!

Glebee · 07-11-2018 12:28pm

completed.

Mickeroo · 07-11-2018 12:32pm

One issue I had was it still made me put in an age for when I started playing online mobile games even though I stated I never play them.

columbd · 07-11-2018 12:37pm

Glebee wrote: »

completed.

Thanks!

columbd · 07-11-2018 12:38pm

Mickeroo wrote: »

One issue I had was it still made me put in an age for when I started playing online mobile games even though I stated I never play them.

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll put an n/a option beside that

steviebg · 07-11-2018 12:51pm

Done

ShadowHearth · 07-11-2018 12:58pm

Done.

Just a few things:

I don't know if I just missed it, but there was no option to say that "I dont play mobile games", Even if I said I dont play them on weekends and weekdays, it still asks me at what age I started playing them.
Another thing: dividing questions to weekends and week days. Issue is in current day and age weekends dont mean its your day off. I personally work flat out all weekends and my days off are during the week, which is my time when I can spend time with family and play some games.

columbd · 07-11-2018 1:15pm

steviebg wrote: »

Done

Thank you.

columbd · 07-11-2018 1:21pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Done.

Just a few things:

I don't know if I just missed it, but there was no option to say that "I dont play mobile games", Even if I said I dont play them on weekends and weekdays, it still asks me at what age I started playing them.
Another thing: dividing questions to weekends and week days. Issue is in current day and age weekends dont mean its your day off. I personally work flat out all weekends and my days off are during the week, which is my time when I can spend time with family and play some games.

The age thing has been pointed out. I've made the question optional and added in a n/a part

In regards the weekdays/weekend spilt, we would expect the weekends to be much higher that the weekdays for the majority of people gaming. It will be of interest to see if people scoring in the dependent range for gaming use similiar amounts of gaming throughout the week

Hope that answers your questions and thanks for filling out the survey.

Potential-Monke · 07-11-2018 1:47pm

Completed, and my own understanding of the questions would make me seem like an addict, so I'd like to point out it's not an addiction if it doesn't affect other parts of your life, it's just what I do! Good survey!

columbd · 07-11-2018 1:58pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Completed, and my own understanding of the questions would make me seem like an addict, so I'd like to point out it's not an addiction if it doesn't affect other parts of your life, it's just what I do! Good survey!

Yes absolutely, if gaming negatively effects your life, then you may have a problem. Thanks for filling out the survey

columbd · 07-11-2018 3:11pm

Also just wanted to say if you know of anyone else who would be an avid gamer, feel free to let them know about the survey.

Shiminay · 07-11-2018 4:15pm

Survey filled in, it's always good to get some actual science on these sorts of issues, thanks for taking it on David. Looking forward to seeing the results.

columbd · 07-11-2018 4:19pm

Shiminay wrote: »

Survey filled in, it's always good to get some actual science on these sorts of issues, thanks for taking it on David. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Thanks very much. In relation to the results, they will be published sometime in the new year but when I have the results, I'll put the main bullet points up in the forum too

Stone Deaf 4evr · 07-11-2018 6:05pm

completed. best of luck with the research

edit - had to google when quake 1 was released to see what age I was when I started online gaming. now, if you'll excuse me, I must collect my pension

Hurrache · 07-11-2018 6:23pm

Just a query David, why online games only when it comes to behaviours and disorders?

aaronjumper · 07-11-2018 6:44pm

Done. Should be interesting.

Digital Solitude · 07-11-2018 6:48pm

Done it there, gambling on esports isn't something I'd have thought of

The microtransactions will be interesting I'd say, felt so dirty to select Virtual Currency

dreamers75 · 07-11-2018 7:17pm

Done

Ship skins are not microtransactions in Elite Dangerous, they make my space ships pretty

Canis Lupus · 07-11-2018 8:33pm

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

completed. best of luck with the research

edit - had to google when quake 1 was released to see what age I was when I started online gaming. now, if you'll excuse me, I must collect my pension

Q1....Pension you say ?????

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/22783/Adman-Grandstand-TVG-2600-Mk-II/

Although it would be fairer to say I was a c64 era child,a version of the above was just my earliest memory that I assume was bought years before. One of the controller's was wonky thus rendering pong an infuriating affair.

Zero-Cool · 07-11-2018 10:20pm

Some good questions, best of luck with your research.

columbd · 07-11-2018 11:05pm

Hurrache wrote: »

Just a query David, why online games only when it comes to behaviours and disorders?

Good question. We had a large questionnaire worked out at the beginning but it was around 30minutes long, so had to taper it down. Online gaming ties more into the microtransaction piece so we went with that, as well it having good validated screening scales. We had to take out all the scales relating to depression, anxiety and other affective states which go with the disorder

Gaming disorder (both online and offline) is the category that will newly be included in the ICD-11 and would be ideal to survey both, but practically to get the numbers we need, the survey has to be short

Thanks for the question and hope this answers your query, and thanks for filling out the survey.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 07-11-2018 11:31pm

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Q1....Pension you say ?????

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/22783/Adman-Grandstand-TVG-2600-Mk-II/

Although it would be fairer to say I was a c64 era child,a version of the above was just my earliest memory that I assume was bought years before. One of the controller's was wonky thus rendering pong an infuriating affair.

I was a c64 kid too, used to look forward to the issues of zzap! 64 with the demo cassette. The question was about online gaming, my first foray into which was with q1 and GameSpy.

K.O.Kiki · 07-11-2018 11:44pm

Question 13 really needs an "other" option, there's many more games/genres other than MOBAs, shooters & Battle Royale after all.

columbd · 08-11-2018 9:16am

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Question 13 really needs an "other" option, there's many more games/genres other than MOBAs, shooters & Battle Royale after all.

Yes it should have. Unfortunately we're probably too deep into the responses to change it but will do for future studies, thanks!

Skerries · 08-11-2018 12:03pm

do browser games fit with online games as I play a few on a daily basis that have microtransactions?

columbd · 08-11-2018 12:05pm

Skerries wrote: »

do browser games fit with online games as I play a few on a daily basis that have microtransactions?

Yes I would say they do. Thanks for doing the survey

PaddyBomb · 08-11-2018 1:08pm

I'll be interested in seeing the results of this study.

pawrick · 08-11-2018 1:49pm

Most of the games I'd play have an online element which i ignore for single player modes. Also you can spend a lot on DLC which i wouldn't class as micro transactions

columbd · 08-11-2018 3:56pm

PaddyBomb wrote: »

I'll be interested in seeing the results of this study.

Once I have the results analysed they will be published and I will put some of the main findings up here

columbd · 08-11-2018 4:32pm

pawrick wrote: »

Most of the games I'd play have an online element which i ignore for single player modes. Also you can spend a lot on DLC which i wouldn't class as micro transactions

It is difficult to call put DLC and microtransactions in exactly the same category (and we haven't in this study) but there is definitely some overlap when you look at the psychology of both.

Good point though and thanks for taking part in the survey

EoinHef · 09-11-2018 2:29am

Completed it there.

One thing i will say,with so many multiple choice answers with only having the same 5 options to pick from i feel theirs very little room for nuance.

It will give you figures for the study in a general sense but it will lack refinement as a good few times i picked answers that i still felt didnt quite fit but was the closet to what i was trying to answer.

Anyway,best of luck with the study.

Dyr · 09-11-2018 2:38am

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Completed, and my own understanding of the questions would make me seem like an addict, so I'd like to point out it's not an addiction if it doesn't affect other parts of your life, it's just what I do! Good survey!

Given the carry on the UN and WHO came out with about gaming addiction I'd give the likes of this survey a massive body swerve.

Calhoun · 09-11-2018 3:52am

Yah I got the impression on that it looks like the OP has an element of bias.

columbd · 09-11-2018 9:17am

EoinHef wrote: »

Completed it there.

One thing i will say,with so many multiple choice answers with only having the same 5 options to pick from i feel theirs very little room for nuance.

It will give you figures for the study in a general sense but it will lack refinement as a good few times i picked answers that i still felt didnt quite fit but was the closet to what i was trying to answer.

Anyway,best of luck with the study.

Most of the multiple choice questions are taken directly from validated questionnaires or other studies so as to be comparable with international data. I agree they can be repetitive/somewhat blunt in terms of getting exact answers but they've been used with good success elsewhere.

Thanks for taking the survey

columbd · 09-11-2018 9:20am

Calhoun wrote: »

Yah I got the impression on that it looks like the OP has an element of bias.

It's hard to eliminate bias completely and I actually love gaming myself and would play daily.

All the questions in the survey are made from a variety of other studies and validated questionnaires. My expectations would be that there will be a small percentage of people with a potential addiction but that the majority of people in the survey will be just frequent users

columbd · 09-11-2018 7:54pm

Just wanted to say if anyone knows of anyone else who plays online games, feel free to point them in the direction of the survey. We're about half way there in terms of numbers

columbd · 15-11-2018 4:14pm

Hi there. Just reposting this to see if we can get more respondents. We have around 80 so about half way there. I'll post this 2 more times before now and the new year before I close it off.

Thanks again to everyone who has already filled out the survey

Here is the link again

https://sjogh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/gamingaddiction

Kind Regards

David

Hi there

My name is Dr David Columb and I am a Senior Medical Officer working with Professor Colin O’Gara in the Addiction Department in St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Co Dublin. We conduct research in respect to behavioral addictions – addictions that do not involve a substance such as drugs or alcohol. Examples of this are gambling addiction, gaming addiction and internet use addiction.

We would be very grateful if you could complete this survey on gaming addiction as well as questions around microtransactions in gaming. The link below will lead to a detailed Information Sheet on the study, as well as some Consent questions prior to commencing the study. The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.

https://sjogh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/gamingaddiction

If you have any questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me at david.columb@sjog.ie. I've been in contact with the moderators and they are happy for me to post this survey up a few times between now and Christmas.

Again I'd really appreciate if you could fill the survey out if you have some time to spare.

Kind Regards

David

columbd · 15-11-2018 4:15pm

Also apologies to the moderators about posting this on a new thread. Won't happen again

_CreeD_ · 19-11-2018 2:23pm

"We would be very grateful if you could complete this survey on gaming addiction"

How can this survey be remotely useful if you have already decided the nature of regular gaming has to be classed as an addiction? It's not a study from which you will attempt to understand and classify behaviour, but one that seems to be an attempt to prove your original conclusion.
So is Soccer automatically an addiction, running, social interaction, fashion, listening to music, (insert just about any popular human behaviour here)? No, if doing a similar survey you would be stating the aim is to analyse behaviour and using valid scientific method derive your conclusions from it, not start with stating your conclusion.

Shanotheslayer · 19-11-2018 2:35pm

Completed

columbd · 19-11-2018 2:39pm

_CreeD_ wrote: »

"We would be very grateful if you could complete this survey on gaming addiction"

How can this survey be remotely useful if you have already decided the nature of regular gaming has to be classed as an addiction? It's not a study from which you will attempt to understand and classify behaviour, but one that seems to be an attempt to prove your original conclusion.
So is Soccer automatically an addiction, running, social interaction, fashion, listening to music, (insert just about any popular human behaviour here)? No, if doing a similar survey you would be stating the aim is to analyse behaviour and using valid scientific method derive your conclusions from it, not start with stating your conclusion.

Hi. So the idea of the survey isn't to classify a level of gaming as abnormal or anything like that. The idea is to survey a group of predominately regular gamers (likely given they are using this forum) to see if anyone is meeting criteria for gaming disorder. There is a validated screening tool for gaming disorder in the survey. The only real preconception is that it is more than likely a gaming population would have higher findings of gaming disorder compared to the general population given the increased exposure to gaming.

So in short, gaming addiction is screened using some of the questions in the survey (predominantly the ones talking about a negative impact on life). The questions around time spent etc are to see if there are any correlations e.g. we would expect possible gaming disordered people to play longer hours versus their counterparts.

Hope that answers your queries

columbd · 19-11-2018 2:44pm

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Completed

Thanks very much, appreciate it

columbd · 04-12-2018 9:27am

Hi all

I'm posting this survey for the final time. Thank you to everyone that has already filled out the survey, it's very much appreciated

Here's the survey

https://sjogh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/gamingaddiction

Again thank you very much

Kind Regards

David

A Survey of Online Gaming Behaviours and Gaming Disorder (Mod permission given)

Comments