Abstract / Summary
Abstract This study examined the psychosocial, demographic, and behavioral variables associated with digital game addiction by conceptualizing scores from the digital game addiction scale as the dependent variable and investigating their relationships with demographic and behavioral characteristics, life satisfaction, happiness, and social connectedness. Data were obtained through a survey administered to 407 participants, of whom 51.1% were women and 48.9% were men. Validated scales were used to measure the constructs, and their reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Statistical analyses included correlation analysis, hierarchical regression, and subgroup comparisons based on demographic and behavioral variables. The results showed that both life satisfaction and social connectedness had significant negative effects on digital game addiction scale scores, indicating that individuals reporting higher levels of life satisfaction and social connectedness obtained lower scores on the scale. In contrast, happiness was not a significant independent predictor when life satisfaction and social connectedness were controlled for. The regression model explained 9% of the variance in digital game addiction scale scores when only control variables were included, while the addition of psychological variables increased the explained variance by 11 percentage points, resulting in a total R² of .20. Correlation analyses provided support for these findings. Difference tests identified significant differences in 15 of 42 comparisons. These differences were associated with age, education, daily gaming duration, and the device used for gaming, whereas no significant differences were observed for income or occupation. Overall, the findings suggest that life satisfaction and social connectedness may play protective roles regarding digital game addiction scale scores, while behavioral exposure variables are more closely associated with these scores than certain demographic characteristics. The modest proportion of variance explained after incorporating psychological variables also indicates that additional psychological and environmental factors should be examined to provide a more comprehensive understanding of digital game addiction.