Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37978468›Full record

ArticleBMC psychiatry2023

The relationship between internet gaming disorder and psychotic experiences: cyberbullying and insomnia severity as mediators.

Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Eya Lamloum, Alexandre Andrade Loch, Wissal Cherif, Majda Cheour, Souheil Hallit

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
8.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Trajectories of psychotic-like experiences in youth and associations with lifestyle factors.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Feten Fekih-RomdhaneThe Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of Psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi hospital, Manouba, 2010, Tunisia. feten.fekih@gmail.com.
Eya LamloumFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.
Alexandre Andrade LochLaboratorio de Neurociencias (LIM 27), Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, BR, Brazil.
Wissal CherifThe Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of Psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi hospital, Manouba, 2010, Tunisia.
Majda CheourThe Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of Psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi hospital, Manouba, 2010, Tunisia.
Souheil HallitSchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon. souheilhallit@usek.edu.lb.
Tunis El Manar University · TNHoly Spirit University of Kaslik · LBHôpital Razi de La Manouba · TNHospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe nature of the relationship between Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and psychosis is unclear so far. There is evidence that greater time spent in playing video games may expose players to both insomnia and a toxic online environment with widespread cyberbullying. These two possible consequences of IGD may, in turn, be associated with greater psychotic experiences (PE). Based on this theoretical framework, the present study proposed to contribute the body of the knowledge in this area, by testing the possible indirect effects of insomnia severity, cyber-victimization and cyberbullying in the cross-sectional association between IGD and PE in a sample of Tunisian university students.

methodWe conducted a cross-sectional study over 4 months (February-May 2022). The Arabic versions of the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Internet Gaming disorder-20 Test, the Insomnia Severity Index, and the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory-II were administered to a total of 851 students (mean age = 21.26 ± 1.68 years, 53.7% females).

resultsWe found that 25% of students were at risk of IGD, and 1.8% had an IGD. The results of the mediation analysis showed that insomnia severity fully mediated the association between IGD and paranoid ideation. Higher IGD was significantly associated with more insomnia severity, which was, in turn, significantly associated with more paranoid ideation. Cyberbullying partly mediated the association between IGD and psychoticism. Higher IGD scores were significantly associated with more cyberbullying, which was, in turn, significantly associated with more psychoticism. Finally, greater IGD was significantly and directly associated with higher psychoticism.

conclusionOur findings suggest that insomnia and cyberbullying may be regarded as potential targets for youth mental health promotion, as well as community-focused prevention and early intervention in psychosis. More particular attention should be devoted to the huge potential for engaging in cyberbullying among online gamers. Sleep deprivation should be prevented, assessed and treated in heavy gamers.

Indexed as

Behavior, AddictiveCyberbullyingSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersVideo GamesAdolescentAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInternetInternet Addiction DisorderMaleYoung AdultCyberbullyingInsomniaInternet gaming disorderPsychosis riskPsychotic experiencesStudents

Identifiers

PMID37978468
PMCPMC10657007
OpenAlexW4388760029

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.