Predictors of computer game involvement in early adulthood
Computer games, which originated as a phenomenon in the 1960s, have become a controversial phenomenon that has generated discussions in scientific circles. One of the sticking points of these debates is the problem of pathological computer-gaming involvement. The article, presenting part of the dissertation research, examines the predictors of computer-gaming involvement. The topicality of the problem under research is predetermined by disjointed data collections in this area and the lack of a comprehensive systemic view. The study reached 124 people aged 18 to 30 years (average age 25.1 years), 64 women and 60 men. Participants were asked to answer questions of the following instruments: HEXACO Personality Inventory (M. Ashton, K. Lee), self-regulation aptitude questionnaire (N.M. Pejsahov), Moral Foundations Questionnaire (J. Haidt), questionnaire of crisis experiences for the period of early adulthood (V.R. Manukyan), the questionnaire of daily stress (M.D. Petrash et. al), the stress scale (M.B. Marx), the questionnaire "Loss and acquisition of personal resources" (N.E. Vodopyanova, M.V. Stein), the scale of resistance to sources of stress (E.V. Raspopin), "Self-assessment of emotional states" (A. Wessman and D. Ricks). The computer-game involvement was measured by a computer-game engagement questionnaire for teens by A.V. Grishina modified by us for use on a more adult sample. The results of regression analysis showed that involvement and its components are determined by a complex of predictors, the main of which are crisis experiences. Stress experiences and personality traits are predictors too. The portrait of an involved gamer that we received largely echoes the portrait of people leading a hikikomori lifestyle - i.e. people with a "psychosocial moratorium".