Coping, escapism, and fantasy motives and depression symptoms mediate the relationship between emotion dysregulation and gaming disorder

Bäcklund, Christian and Sörman, Daniel Eriksson and Gavelin, Hanna M. and Király, Orsolya and Demetrovics, Zsolt and Ljungberg, Jessica K. (2026) Coping, escapism, and fantasy motives and depression symptoms mediate the relationship between emotion dysregulation and gaming disorder. ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS REPORTS, 23. No. 100663. ISSN 2352-8532

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Abstract

Background: Studies have shown that emotion dysregulation, depression symptoms, and escapism motives are associated with Gaming Disorder (GD) symptoms. Findings indicate a discrepancy between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) GD symptoms frameworks. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the serial mediating effect of depression symptoms and coping, escapism and fantasy motives on the relationship between emotion dysregulation and GD symptoms and compare the WHO and APA frameworks. Methods: Data was collected through an online survey utilizing validated self-reported measures. The final convenience sample consisted of 678 video game players (68.44 % men [n = 464], 29.65 % women [n = 201], and 1.92 % reported ’other’ as gender identification [n = 13]) with an average age of 29.50 years (SD = 8.92). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the mediating effects. Results: The results showed that depression symptoms and a composite measure of coping, escapism, and fantasy motivations, in sequence, fully mediated the relationship between emotion dysregulation and GD symptoms within the WHO framework and partially mediated it within the APA framework. Conclusions: The results indicate that individuals with emotion dysregulation and higher levels of depression symptoms may use video games as an emotion regulation strategy. Managing emotion dysregulation and coping in the context of video games may aid in the clinical course for gaming disorder and co-occurring depression. Future research should utilize longitudinal designs to investigate study variables.

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