Virtual Reality Lab - Universitat de Barcelona

Video game addiction it’s of great interest for the scientific community since recent years. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) includes the "Internet gaming disorder" within section III (disorders that require more research). Its lack of a clear conceptualization has led researchers to obtain very different prevalence, as psychometric instruments developed don’t follow the same criteria. Virtual Reality (VR) is proposed to support these tests.

Therefore, a virtual environment was designed from the responses to an online questionnaire to assess craving and anxiety related with gaming behavior. 42 volunteer participants, 25 players and 17 non-players, were exposed to the experimental condition and the control in a random order.

The results show a tendency to get higher levels in craving and anxiety depending on whether they’re players or not. In addition, scores are higher in the experimental environment. Nevertheless, these differences are not significant. It’s possible that with a more representative population and a clinical sample, meaningful result could be obtained, so this study would consist of an initial phase whose intention is continue in the future.