In simple terms: This study followed 4,289 young people, who were about 14 years old on average, over several years. A little over half were boys.
What did the researchers find?
- Teens with more mental health difficulties were somewhat more likely to develop gaming disorder later.
- This link appeared in the years that researchers compared, and it remained small but meaningful even after they considered other personal characteristics.
- Gaming disorder did not appear to predict later increases in mental health difficulties.
What does this mean?
The results suggest that mental health difficulties may come before and be linked with a greater chance of later gaming disorder. They do not prove that mental health difficulties cause gaming disorder. The researchers used another type of analysis and found a similar overall pattern.