Abstract
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a worldwide public health issue and the risk factors and specific mechanisms of its development have been a recent research focus. To explore the association between avatar identification and IGD among middle school students, the present study tested the mediating roles of flow and self-concept clarity within the relationship. Survey research was conducted among 730 Chinese middle school students (399 male and 331 female), aged between 12 and 19 years (Mage = 15.315; SD = 1.801), who had online gaming (including avatar) experience. The results indicated that avatar identification, flow, self-concept clarity, and IGD were significantly interrelated. Avatar identification could indirectly affect IGD through flow, self-concept clarity, and the serial mediation of flow-self-concept clarity. These findings provide implications for understanding the psychological processes by which avatar identification exerts influences on IGD and suggest possible approaches for IGD prevention and intervention among middle school students.
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Data Availability
The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
This study was supported by the Program of National Natural Science Funds of China [grant number 61907020], the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number CCNU22JC002] and Training Program of Excellent Doctoral Dissertation at Central China Normal University [Project number 2022YBZZ056].
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Zhang, D., Cao, M. & Tian, Y. Avatar Identification and Internet Gaming Disorder Among Chinese Middle School Students: the Serial Mediating Roles of Flow and Self-concept Clarity. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00923-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00923-w