English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Zendy Open

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Insights

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Zendy Tools

Zendy Plus

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Video gaming has become one of the most prevalent forms of leisure activity in today’s societies. The latest data from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) reported that approximately 65% of all American adults play video games regularly and that approximately 75% of households have at least one gamer (Entertainment Software Association, 2019). Video gaming is widely accessible and the most commonly used gaming devices among adult gamers in the United States of America (USA) are smartphones (60%), personal computers (52%), and dedicated game consoles (49%) (Entertainment Software Association, 2019). A similar trend has been reported in other countries. For example, in Australia, the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) recently reported that 67% of all Australians play video games and that 97% of households with children have computer games (Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2017). For the majority of gamers, the activity leads to positive and beneficial outcomes including psychomotor, cognitive, therapeutic, and educational benefits (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2013; Griffiths, 2019; Nuyens, Kuss, Lopez-Fernandez, & Griffiths, 2017). In general, gamers report that playing has a positive impact on their lives, with nearly 80% of all American adult gamers reporting that games provide mental stimulation, relaxation, and stress relief (Entertainment Software Association, 2019). Similarly, the majority of Australian gamers report that gaming helps them improve their thinking skills (84%), dexterity (78%), and manage pain (59%). Although the great majority of gamers report experiencing similar positive outcomes, the extant literature has systematically reported detrimental and harmful effects stemming from excessive gaming, particularly in relation to disordered gaming (Burleigh, Griffiths, Sumich, Stavropoulos, & Kuss, 2019; Nuyens, Kuss, Lopez-Fernandez, & Griffiths, 2019; Şalvarlı & Griffiths, 2019; Stavropoulos, Gomez, & Motti-Stefanidi, 2019). The consequences of excessive and addictive gaming have been researched for over 35 years (e.g., Harry, 1983; Ross, Finestone, & Lavin, 1982) and the psychiatric importance of this phenomenon has been steadily increasing since 2013. In light of the latest conceptual and diagnostic advances in the field, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) included ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ (IGD) in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as a tentative addictive disorder warranting further research. Furthermore, the APA has proposed a diagnostic framework defining IGD as a condition characterized by disordered gaming behavior leading to significant clinical impairments within a period of 12 months as indicated by the endorsement of five out of nine following diagnostic criteria. These criteria include: (i) preoccupation with games (‘preoccupation’); (ii) withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away (‘withdrawal’); (iii) tolerance, resulting in the need to spend increasing amounts of time gaming (‘tolerance’); (iv) unsuccessful attempts to control gaming activities (‘loss of control’ and ‘relapse’); (v) loss of interest in previous hobbies and pastime activities as a result of, and with the exception of, gaming (‘giving up other activities’); (vi) continued excessive gaming behavior despite the knowledge of psychosocial problems (‘continuation’); (vii) deceiving family members, therapists, or others regarding the amount of gaming (‘deception’); (viii) gaming to escape or cope with negative mood states (‘escape’ and ‘mood modification’); and (ix) jeopardizing or losing significant relationships, jobs, or education or career opportunities due to gaming (‘negative consequences’) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). More recently, additional developments in the field culminated in the long-awaited formal recognition of ‘Gaming Disorder’ (GD) as a behavioral addiction by the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2019 (Griffiths & Pontes, 2019; Pontes & Griffiths, 2019). Accordingly, GD is characterized by a pattern of online and/or offline gaming behaviors that is persistent and indicated by the following clinical criteria: impaired control over gaming (i.e., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context – ‘loss of control’); increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that it takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities (‘giving up other activities’); and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences (‘continuation’). Additionally, these symptoms must occur within a 12month timeframe and the behavior pattern must be of sufficient severity and lead to significant impairments (i.e., personal, family, social, educational, occupational) across important areas of life (‘negative consequences’) (World Health Organization, 2019). Given the public health relevance of this emerging phenomenon, researchers must continue to carry out high-quality research to further improve the current understanding of GD and the way in which it negatively impacts the life of a minority of gamers. To this end, previous robust epidemiological research has reported prevalence rates of GD usually below 5% among nationally representative samples (Pontes, 2018). It is clear that the research community is taking seriously the issue of GD as timely special issues dedicated to different aspects of GD have been recently published on a number of refereed journals. These included recent special issues focusing on investigating “Internet Gaming Disorder: A Pathway Towards Assessment Consensus” (Stavropoulos, Gomez, et al., 2019) and the “Neural Mechanisms Underlying Internet Gaming Disorder” (Zhang & Brand, 2018). With this in mind, the present special issue sought to contribute to the many ongoing debates in the field of GD (see Ferguson, Bean,

Emerging insights on internet gaming disorder: Conceptual and measurement issues