141 - Exploring Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms in Youth Through Analysis of Public Forum Posts

Publication Number: 1131.141

Samuel James. Kraus, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, NY, United States; Joseph Mekhail, Northwell Health, New York, NY, United States; Caroline Howard, Northwell Health, New York, NY, United States; Lillian M. Ravikoff, Northwell Health, Bronx, NY, United States; Ruth Milanaik, Northwell Health, Great Neck, NY, United States

Background: 10 million U.S. teens play video games daily. DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) require an individual to experience at least 5/9 symptoms within 12 months. Youth and caregivers may recognize a gaming problem but be unaware of the potential for official diagnosis and treatment. Public forums like Reddit host narratives from both perspectives that are rarely leveraged for symptom surveillance. Although researchers have explored IGD, the prevalence in undiagnosed populations remains unaccounted for. Mapping Reddit posts to DSM-5 IGD criteria can provide a better understanding of the symptoms and impact of IGD in the undiagnosed.

Objective: To analyze youth self-reported and familial-reported posts on public forums describing video game addiction concerns for DSM-5 IGD criteria.

Design/Methods: 3000 Reddit posts were scraped using Python and Reddit's API. Keywords: child, teen, pc, addiction, video games, Fortnite, Roblox, etc. The 10 subreddits scraped include r/Parenting, StopGaming, HealthyGamerGG, and others. Information collected: link, gender, post title, post body, subject, and age. From this dataset, 100 posts were randomly sampled (mean age=15.4; M=60, F=3, N/A=37). Posts were excluded if the post subject's age was >21. Posts were evaluated for DSM-5 symptoms and labelled "Present" or "Not Present." The presence of self-reported clinical depression was noted. Chi-square test evaluated the relationship between IGD and self-reported depression; t-test assessed mean symptom number in self- and familial-reports.

Results: The most commonly reported symptoms were "preoccupation with internet games" (n=97) and "continued excessive use of internet games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems" (n=75). Across all posts, the mean number of symptoms was 3.58/9. 27% of subjects met the threshold for diagnosis. Young adults (19-21 y/o) were at the highest risk with 38% meeting diagnostic threshold (mean=4.2/9) [Figure 1]. An association between IGD and self-reported depression was found (p <.001) [Figure 2]. Mean symptom number was higher in self-reports (mean=4.05) than familial-reports (mean=2.95) (p=.009) [Figure 3].

Conclusion(s): Public forum posts indicated an alarming rate of subjects qualifying for IGD diagnosis among youth populations. Symptom prevalence was especially high in self-reporting adolescents and young adults, highlighting symptom self-awareness without knowledge of avenues to pursue diagnosis and treatment. Thus, IGD awareness and accessible treatment options are crucial. Pediatricians should screen for IGD and provide counseling and treatment options as needed.

Figure 1. Symptom Frequency Across Age Groups
Young adults (19-21 years) were at the highest risk of IGD with 38% meeting diagnostic threshold (mean=4.2/9). 25% of adolescents (13-18 years) met the diagnostic threshold (mean=3.5/9), and 15% of children aged 4-12 years qualified for an IGD diagnosis (mean=2.9/9).

Figure 2. Relationship between Depression and IGD
An association between IGD and self-reported depression was found (p <.001).

Figure 3. Distribution of Symptom Counts by Post Author Category
The mean symptom number was significantly higher in self-reports (mean=4.05) than familial-reports (mean=2.95) (p=.009).