Chew, Peter K.H., and Neo, Guan (2024) Internet Gaming Disorder and Problem Gambling Severity do not Predict Money and Time Spent on Games with Loot Boxes. Trends in Psychology. (In Press)

PDF (Publisher Accepted Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

Although loot boxes are structurally and psychologically similar to gambling, they are available to minors and relatively free from government regulations. Amid calls for government regulations, researchers have examined the effects of loot boxes using either a gaming framework, a gambling framework, or both. The current study aimed to examine the ability of internet gaming disorder and problem gambling severity to predict money and time spent on games with loot boxes after controlling for demographic and other gaming-related variables (i.e., money and time spent on games without loot boxes). Participants were 171 (88.9% males) gamers and their ages ranged from 18 to 47 (M = 25.67, SD = 5.29). Participants completed instruments assessing internet gaming disorder and problem gambling severity. Subsequently, they provided demographic and gaming-related information. The results showed that internet gaming disorder and problem gambling severity do not predict money and time spent on games with loot boxes. Instead, the best predictor for each of those variables is money and time spent on games without loot boxes. Overall, the results suggested that it might be premature to introduce legislations to ban loot boxes and research should focus on the effects of microtransactions in general. Future research directions include using objective data for the amount of money and time spent and examining the effects of different types of loot boxes.

Item ID:	84038
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2358-1883
Keywords:	internet gaming disorder, gambling disorder, loot boxes
Copyright Information:	© Associação Brasileira de Psicologia 2024.
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2024 01:33
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520302 Clinical psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 100%
Downloads:	Total: 1 Last 12 Months: 1
	More Statistics