The relationship of internet gaming disorder with online dissociation, emotion regulation and mood

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is a behavioural addiction resulting from unhealthy prolonged gaming on computers or mobile devices. Players may spend most of their time in online games instead of interacting with the real world, often adopting different or non-existent identities online compared to their real-world selves. The enjoyment and immersion experienced during gaming can lead individuals to forget or ignore challenging real-world situations, using gaming as a coping mechanism to escape into the virtual world. This behaviour can create new issues while attempting to avoid existing ones. The current study aims to examine the online dissociative experiences, mood, and emotion regulation skills of individuals who play games on the internet. Accordingly, internet gaming addiction and its seven sub-dimensions were analysed using a multiple regression model with variables such as online dissociation, mood, emotion regulation, and demographic information (age, gender, employment status, daily gaming time, and daily time spent watching others play games). The following scales were used to measure the relevant variables: the Game Addiction Scale (GAS) (Baysak et al., 2016), the Van Online Dissociative Experiences Scale (Boysan et al., 2019), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Totan, 2015), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) (Yıldırım et al., 2018), and a demographic information form created for the study. A total of 414 online gamers participated in the study via an online form, including 245 women (59.2%) and 169 men (40.8%). Our analyses found a significant relationship between gaming addiction and online dissociative experiences. Specifically, there was a positive and notable relationship between "daily playing time" and the sub-dimensions of gaming addiction. This finding suggests that increased gaming time may enhance the tendency toward gaming addiction. Additionally, the findings indicate a relationship between detachment from reality and internet gaming disorder. Keywords: Game addiction, dissociation, emotion regulation, emotion, mood, behavioral addiction