THE ROLE OF PARENTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL AND VIDEO GAME ADDICTION AMONG 15- TO 18-YEAR-OLD ADOLESCENTS

Although benefits can be observed from playing video games, research and practice point to harmful effects. Excessive gaming is included as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) (as Internet Gaming Disorder) and in the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition (ICD-11) (as Gaming Disorder). It is a behavioral disorder characterized by the desire to increase the time spent playing in order to achieve pleasure. Such exposure can have a detrimental impact on mental and physical health, daily routines, and the dynamics and quality of social relationships. In the research from which this paper arose, the two classifications of the disorder are named with a superordinate category – Gaming Addiction (GA). The research was conducted within the framework of the international project coordinated by Palacký University, Czech Republic, and financially supported by the integrative functions of UKIM. Of particular interest to this text is understanding how perceived parental psychological control (by the mother) influences gaming addiction. For this purpose, the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF) and the Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) were used, and perceived parental psychological control was measured with the Children’s Perceptions of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI). The research was conducted during 2022 in secondary schools in Macedonia, through the Qualtrics platform. Secondary school respondents were 15 to 18 years old, 49.8% male and 50.2% female. The research findings showed a high correlation (r = 0.78, p < 0.01) between the two scales measuring the disorder, justifying the use of the superordinate term “Gaming Addiction”. Research results showed that as maternal psychological control increased, so did the intensity of problematic video game playing (r = 0.22, p < 0.01 for IGDS9-SF and CRPBI; r = 0.17, p > 0.01 for GDT and CRPBI), that is, that gaming addiction is determined by perceived parental psychological control (F [21.847], p < 0.01 for IGDS9-SF and CRPBI and F [13.524], p < 0.01 for GDT and CRPBI).