Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28859487›Full record

SynthesisJournal of behavioral addictions2018

Policy responses to problematic video game use: A systematic review of current measures and future possibilities.

Orsolya Király, Mark D Griffiths, Daniel L King, Hae-Kook Lee, Seung-Yup Lee, Fanni Bányai, Ágnes Zsila, Zsofia K Takacs, Zsolt Demetrovics

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
67citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

67 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Rethinking Gaming Disorder Prevention: A Socio-Ecological Model Based on Practitioner Insights.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
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  17. Prevalence of video gaming disorder in Saudi Arabia: a school-based national study.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2024
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Orsolya Király1 Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest, Hungary.
Mark D Griffiths2 International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University , Nottingham, UK.
Daniel L King3 School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide , Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Hae-Kook Lee4 Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea , Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seung-Yup Lee4 Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea , Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Fanni Bányai1 Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest, Hungary.
Ágnes Zsila1 Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest, Hungary.
Zsofia K Takacs6 Institute of Education, Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest, Hungary.
Zsolt Demetrovics1 Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University , Budapest, Hungary.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsEmpirical research into problematic video game playing suggests that overuse might cause functional and psychological impairments for a minority of gamers. Therefore, the need for regulation in the case of video games (whether governmental or self-imposed) has arisen but has only been implemented in a few countries around the world, and predominantly in Asia. This paper provides a systematic review of current and potential policies addressing problematic gaming.

methodsAfter conducting a systematic search in the areas of prevention, treatment, and policy measures relating to problematic Internet and video game use, papers were selected that targeted problematic gaming policies (N = 12; six in English and six in Korean). These papers served as the basis of this review.

resultsPolicies were classified into three major groups: (i) policy measures limiting availability of video games (e.g., shutdown policy, fatigue system, and parental controls), (ii) measures aiming to reduce risk and harm (e.g., warning messages), and (iii) measures taken to provide help services for gamers. Beyond the attempt to classify the current and potential policy measures, the authors also tried to evaluate their efficiency theoretically and (if data were available) empirically. DISCUSSION AND

conclusionsOverall, it appears that although several steps have been taken to address problematic video game playing, most of these steps were not as effective as expected, or had not been evaluated empirically for efficacy. The reason for this may lie in the fact that the policies outlined only addressed or influenced specific aspects of the problem instead of using a more integrative approach.

Indexed as

Health PolicyBehavior, AddictiveHumansInternetVideo Gamesgaming addiction regulationgaming policyInternet Gaming Disorderproblematic video game playing

Identifiers

PMID28859487
PMCPMC6426392

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.