Abstract
BackgroundThis study was designed to examine the prevalence and relationships between the Internet gaming disorder (IGD) behaviors, suggested by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), and personality traits.Participants and procedureA sample community of 1,548 subjects, 707 men and 841 women, with a mean age of 40.90 and 38.89 years, respectively, was evaluated.ResultsThe results showed that only 7 subjects (0.5%) exceeded the cut-off point of 75 points to be classed as “disordered gamers” proposed by Fuster et al. (2016) in Spain. This study demonstrates the unidimensionality of the IGD-20, so it can be used as an ordinal dimensional measure to study the relationship between IGD symptoms and other related variables such as per-sonality in community samples. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that up to 8% of the variance of the Internet Gaming Disorder-20 scale (IGD-20), as a dimensional scale, can be explained by low activity, high aggressiveness, introver-sion, non-planning impulsivity, sensation seeking, neuroticism and impulsiveness (attention impulsivity) using the Alterna-tive Five Factor Model (AFFM) of personality and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11).ConclusionsThis study shows that the prevalence of IGD in the Spanish population is similar to that of other Western countries. The unidimensionality of the IGD-20 allows its use in correlational studies to examine the relationship between Internet gam-bling behaviors and personality variables. The implications of these personality profiles are discussed in relation to the psy-chological and clinical mechanisms involved in Internet gaming disorder.