Video game characteristics, happiness and flow as predictors of addiction among video game players: A pilot study

Damien C. Hull; Glenn A. Williams; Mark D. Griffiths

doi:10.1556/jba.2.2013.005

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Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Volume/Issue:: Volume 2: Issue 3

Video game characteristics, happiness and flow as predictors of addiction among video game players: A pilot study

Authors:

Damien C. Hull

Damien C. Hull International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

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Glenn A. Williams

Glenn A. Williams International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BU, UK

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, and

Mark D. Griffiths

Mark D. Griffiths International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

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Pages:: 145–152

Online Publication Date:: 12 Apr 2013

Publication Date:: 01 Sep 2013

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/jba.2.2013.005

Keywords:: video game addiction; structural characteristics of video games; happiness; flow

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Abstract

Aims

Video games provide opportunities for positive psychological experiences such as flow-like phenomena during play and general happiness that could be associated with gaming achievements. However, research has shown that specific features of game play may be associated with problematic behaviour associated with addiction-like experiences. The study was aimed at analysing whether certain structural characteristics of video games, flow, and global happiness could be predictive of video game addiction.

Method

A total of 110 video game players were surveyed about a game they had recently played by using a 24-item checklist of structural characteristics, an adapted Flow State Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the Game Addiction Scale.

Results

The study revealed decreases in general happiness had the strongest role in predicting increases in gaming addiction. One of the nine factors of the flow experience was a significant predictor of gaming addiction — perceptions of time being altered during play. The structural characteristic that significantly predicted addiction was its social element with increased sociability being associated with higher levels of addictive-like experiences. Overall, the structural characteristics of video games, elements of the flow experience, and general happiness accounted for 49.2% of the total variance in Game Addiction Scale levels.

Conclusions

Implications for interventions are discussed, particularly with regard to making players more aware of time passing and in capitalising on benefits of social features of video game play to guard against addictive-like tendencies among video game players.

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Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Print ISSN:: 2062-5871

Online ISSN:: 2063-5303

Dr. Zsolt Demetrovics
Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
Address: Izabella u. 46. H-1064 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36-1-461-2681
E-mail: jba@ppk.elte.hu

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2023
Web of Science
Journal Impact Factor	6.6
Rank by Impact Factor	Q1 (Psychiatry)
Journal Citation Indicator	1.59
Scopus
CiteScore	12.3
CiteScore rank	Q1 (Clinical Psychology)
SNIP	1.604
Scimago
SJR index	2.188
SJR Q rank	Q1

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Publication Model	Gold Open Access
Submission Fee	none
Article Processing Charge	990 EUR/article Effective from 1st Feb 2025: 1400 EUR/article
Regional discounts on country of the funding agency	World Bank Lower-middle-income economies: 50% World Bank Low-income economies: 100%
Further Discounts	Corresponding authors, affiliated to an EISZ member institution subscribing to the journal package of Akadémiai Kiadó: 100%.
Subscription Information	Gold Open Access

Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Language	English
Size	A4
Year of Foundation	2011
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	4
Founder	Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Founder's Address	H-1053 Budapest, Hungary Egyetem tér 1-3.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	2062-5871 (Print)
ISSN	2063-5303 (Online)

Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Zsolt DEMETROVICS

Assistant Editor(s):

Csilla ÁGOSTON

Dana KATZ

Associate Editors

Stephanie ANTONS (Universitat Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Joel BILLIEUX (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
Beáta BŐTHE (University of Montreal, Canada)
Matthias BRAND (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
Daniel KING (Flinders University, Australia)
Gyöngyi KÖKÖNYEI (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Ludwig KRAUS (IFT Institute for Therapy Research, Germany)
Marc N. POTENZA (Yale University, USA)
Hans-Jurgen RUMPF (University of Lübeck, Germany)
Ruth J. VAN HOLST (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands)

Editorial Board

Sophia ACHAB (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland)
Alex BALDACCHINO (St Andrews University, United Kingdom)
Judit BALÁZS (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Maria BELLRINGER (Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand)
Henrietta BOWDEN-JONES (Imperial College, United Kingdom)
Damien BREVERS (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Julius BURKAUSKAS (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania)
Gerhard BÜHRINGER (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
Silvia CASALE (University of Florence, Florence, Italy)
Luke CLARK (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
Jeffrey L. DEREVENSKY (McGill University, Canada)
Geert DOM (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Nicki DOWLING (Deakin University, Geelong, Australia)
Hamed EKHTIARI (University of Minnesota, United States)
Jon ELHAI (University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA)
Ana ESTEVEZ (University of Deusto, Spain)
Fernando FERNANDEZ-ARANDA (Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Naomi FINEBERG (University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom)
Sally GAINSBURY (The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia)
Belle GAVRIEL-FRIED (The Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Biljana GJONESKA (Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Republic of North Macedonia)
Marie GRALL-BRONNEC (University Hospital of Nantes, France)
Jon E. GRANT (University of Minnesota, USA)
Mark GRIFFITHS (Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom)
Joshua GRUBBS (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA)
Anneke GOUDRIAAN (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Susumu HIGUCHI (National Hospital Organization Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, Japan)
David HODGINS (University of Calgary, Canada)
Eric HOLLANDER (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA)
Zsolt HORVÁTH (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Susana JIMÉNEZ-MURCIA (Clinical Psychology Unit, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)
Yasser KHAZAAL (Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland)
Orsolya KIRÁLY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Chih-Hung KO (Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan)
Shane KRAUS (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA)
Hae Kook LEE (The Catholic University of Korea, Republic of Korea)
Bernadette KUN (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Katerina LUKAVSKA (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
Giovanni MARTINOTTI (‘Gabriele d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy)
Gemma MESTRE-BACH (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, La Rioja, Spain)
Astrid MÜLLER (Hannover Medical School, Germany)
Daniel Thor OLASON (University of Iceland, Iceland)
Ståle PALLESEN (University of Bergen, Norway)
Afarin RAHIMI-MOVAGHAR (Teheran University of Medical Sciences, Iran)
József RÁCZ (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary)
Michael SCHAUB (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Marcantanio M. SPADA (London South Bank University, United Kingdom)
Daniel SPRITZER (Study Group on Technological Addictions, Brazil)
Dan J. STEIN (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Sherry H. STEWART (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Attila SZABÓ (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Hermano TAVARES (Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)
Wim VAN DEN BRINK (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Alexander E. VOISKOUNSKY (Moscow State University, Russia)
Aviv M. WEINSTEIN (Ariel University, Israel)
Anise WU (University of Macau, Macao, China)
Ágnes ZSILA (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)