ArticleJournal of behavioral addictions2026
Ecological momentary assessment in internet gaming disorder - Interactions between stress, negative emotions, craving and gaming behavior.
Article in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aims: Gaming may function as maladaptive coping strategy in youth with internet gaming disorder (IGD). Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) enables real-time monitoring of emotions and behavior. This study investigates the temporal dynamics of stress, negative emotions, craving and gaming behavior applying EMA to male youth with IGD during periods of varying gaming intensity and compared to healthy controls (HC). Methods: 29 males diagnosed with IGD, aged 15-25 years, and 26 matched HC were included. Participants underwent diagnostic assessment followed by one week of EMA via smartphone. The group with IGD continued EMA for two additional weeks: one week of unrestricted gaming and one week of restricted gaming. Data on gaming time, stress, negative emotions and craving were collected twice-daily on weekdays and up to sixteen times daily on weekends. Results: Participants with IGD exhibited significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, gaming time and craving compared to HC. While gaming time varied between unrestricted and restricted gaming conditions, craving, stress and negative emotions remained stable. In male youth with IGD, gaming was followed by a short-term reduction of stress and negative emotions. However, increased stress and negative emotions were subsequently followed by decreased gaming time. Discussion and conclusions: This study indicates a complex, bidirectional relationship between gaming, stress and negative emotions. Although gaming provides short-term emotional relief, the association with elevated levels of depression, anxiety and chronic stress highlights its role as maladaptive coping strategy. Conversely, negative emotions and stress do not necessarily seem to increase gaming time.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.