Understanding Motivational Factors of Problematic Video Gaming in the USMC and USN
Abstract
Video games have become a staple in entertainment since the inception of digital gaming and can be used as a healthy way of escaping the stresses of modern society. With the increased usage of technology, military personnel have easier access to computer/internet gaming through various platforms. However, through excessive exposure, video games may become problematic and even addictive. With the potential issues that problematic video gaming may have on the Naval mission, this study assessed the prevalence, severity, and associated factors of video gaming on 87 Sailors from two U.S. Navy warships and compared these results with data from three U.S. Marine Corps commands from a similar study (954 Marines). Results showed that higherseverity gamers experienced statistically higher levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, stress, and were 35% more likely to experience daytime sleepiness and 48% more likely to have an alcohol problem than lowerseverity gamers. The strongest motivations to game for greater severity gamers were to escape from reality, cope with stress, and to compete with other gamers. We did not identify substantive differences between Sailors and Marines who played videogames. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether videogaming is the cause of a drop in the well-being of greater severity gamers and to reliability assess the criteria for both problematic and disordered video gaming that are more suited for an operational military environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1173496
Entities
People
- Jason M. Xu
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School