ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the features of video game addiction and examines the contemporary research literature by analyzing the prevalence of video game addiction, factors associated with video game addiction, and the treatment of video game addiction. Gaming addiction and internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a topic of increasing research interest. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in the number of empirical studies examining the problematic video game play and video game addiction. Following the release of first commercial video games in early 1970s, it took until 1980s for the first reports of video game addiction in the psychological and psychiatric literature. There are few clinical studies that describe the features and symptoms of problematic video game play and/or video game addiction. There are strong links between online gaming, gambling, non-gambling fantasy games, role-playing games, board games and card games. These may be a cause for concern as youth migrate from free gaming sites to online gambling sites.
