Comments: Another study measuring the characteristics of addiction that Internet addiction and substance abuse share. Every study that studies a characteristic finds that Internet addiction parallels chemical addictions.
Psychiatry Res. 2011 Aug 3.
Yen JY, Yen CF, Chen CS, Tang TC, Huang TH, Ko CH.
Source
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Abstract
This study evaluated the positive motivational implicit response to internet gaming cues (i.e., screenshots of popular online games) to identify potential mechanisms of dyscontrolled internet use in young adults with internet gaming addiction (IGA). The final analysis included 64 young adults with IGA and 71 control subjects. The subjects completed the implicit association task to test their reaction to congruent pairing (internet gaming screenshot paired with liked words) and incongruent pairing (internet gaming screenshot paired with disliked words).
The results demonstrated that, compared to the control group, the IGA group reacted faster to congruent pairing. It suggests that the IGA group had a positive motivational implicit response to screenshots of online games. Implicit cognition is an important mechanism of dyscontrolled substance use, such as alcohol dependence. This result suggests that implicit cognition might also associate with dyscontrolled online gaming. The findings also demonstrate the important role of implicit cognition in dyscontrolled internet use in young adults with IGA.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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