SynthesisJournal of behavioral addictions2020
Face validity evaluation of screening tools for gaming disorder: Scope, language, and overpathologizing issues.
Synthesis in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Motivational brief interventions for adolescents and young adults with Internet use disorders: A randomized-controlled trial.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Trial
- AI-Enabled Digital Phenotyping for Personalized Risk Stratification in Internet Gaming Disorder: A Privacy-Preserving Simulation Study.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Should gaming disorder include non-digital gaming activities, e.g., collectible card games, tabletop games?Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Article
- Red Box, Green Box: Psychometric evaluation of a self-report behavioral frequency measurement approach for behavioral addictions research.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Gaming disorder: Neural mechanisms and ongoing debates.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Review
- The Gaming Disorder Identification Test (GADIT) - A screening tool for Gaming Disorder based on ICD-11.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2024Article
- Network analysis of additional clinical features of (Internet) gaming disorder.International journal of methods in psychiatric research · 2024Article
- Red box, green box: A self-report behavioral frequency measurement approach for behavioral addictions research.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2024Article
- Reconsidering item response categories in gaming disorder symptoms measurement.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2023Article
- Impaired control over gaming scale (ICOGS): Development, confirmatory factor validation, and psychometric evaluation.Addictive behaviors reports · 2023Article
- Measuring Internet Gaming Disorder and Gaming Disorder: A Qualitative Content Validity Analysis of Validated Scales.Assessment · 2023Article
- The Practice and Feasibility of Screening, Treatment, and Referral for Gaming Problems in Gambling, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Youth Services.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2023Article
- Toward a delineation of the differences between high engagement and problem gaming.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
- Think-aloud analysis of commonly used screening instruments for Internet use disorders: The CIUS, the IGDT-10, and the BSMAS.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Article
- Emerging experience with selected new categories in the ICD-11: complex PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2022Article
- Individual and Interpersonal Factors Associated with the Incidence, Persistence, and Remission of Internet Gaming Disorders Symptoms in an Adolescents Sample.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Expert appraisal of criteria for assessing gaming disorder: an international Delphi study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
- Player-avatar interactions in habitual and problematic gaming: A qualitative investigation.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2021Article
- Measurement of the problematic usage of the Internet unidimensional quasitrait continuum with item response theory.Psychological assessment · 2021Article
- Person-centred interventions for problem gaming: a stepped care approach.BMC public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimCritics of gaming disorder (GD; i.e., Internet gaming disorder in the DSM-5; Gaming disorder in the ICD-11) have expressed concerns about the potential risks of misclassification (e.g., false positives). An important consideration of relevance to this discussion is the extent to which commonly used screening instruments contain appropriate, sensible, and relevant items. The aim of this review was to evaluate the face validity of items within current tools for GD.
methodsA systematic review of databases identified 29 instruments. An item bank (n = 417 items) was independently evaluated by three professional raters (i.e., a senior academic in clinical psychology, a senior psychometrician, and an academic/clinical psychologist) according to guidelines for defining and measuring addiction and gaming disorder.
findingsEvaluation of the item bank identified issues related to: scope (i.e., "scope creep" or items of questionable relevance); language (i.e., confusing language, unusual wording or syntax); and overpathologizing (i.e., pathologizing typical and/or beneficial aspects or consequences of gaming). A total of 71 items across 23 tools had at least one face validity issue.
conclusionsMost items (83%) demonstrated satisfactory face validity and were consistent with either the DSM-5 or ICD-11 GD classification. However, many tests contain at least one item that may pathologize normal gaming behaviors. Such items refer to basic changes in mood when gaming, a desire to play or continue playing games, and experiencing immersion when gaming. This analysis highlights the challenges of screening for problematic behaviors that are thought to arise within the context of normal recreational activities.
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