Problematic gaming and internet use: towards a standardised measure and the relationship with life satisfaction

Video games and the internet are wildly popular sources of entertainment. Both are highly prolific, and thousands of hours are logged in both daily. This increase in popularity, however, came with a number of documented behaviours and incidents that revealed an addiction to gaming and the internet may develop in some. Research on problematic online gaming (POG) and problematic internet use (PIU) has burgeoned, however no official diagnostic framework nor standard measure exists due to a lack of consensus. This study aimed to test the reliability of the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire and the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire across digital and paper formats as well as examine POG, PIU and their relationship to life satisfaction and psychological well-being in a sample of gamers (n = 977). The POGQ and PIUQ were found to be reliable across formats. POG and PIU correlated and were predictive of psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This meant that the POGQ and PIUQ were able to identify problematic gaming and internet behaviours, which in future can help to determine their worth as a tool for identifying those at risk of lower psychological well-being and life satisfaction resulting from POG and PIU and provide them with help