Academic stress and first-/third-person shooter game addiction in a large adolescent sample: A serial mediation model with depression and impulsivity

This cross-sectional study investigated the impact of academic stress on first-/third-person shooter (F/TPS) game addiction and examined the potential mediating roles of depression and impulsivity in this relationship. Participants comprised 33,880 Korean adolescents identified from the Game Overuse General Survey. The present study examined the relationships between the variables via linear regression analysis and Hayes's (2013) PROCESS macro (Model 6). First, the linear regression analyses revealed that academic stress was positively and significantly associated with F/TPS game addiction (b = 0.24, SE = 0.01, p < .001). Second, simple mediation models suggested that the relationship between academic stress and F/TPS game addiction may be mediated by impulsivity (b = .11, Boot SE = 0.01, 95% Boot CI [0.11, 0.12]) and depression (b = 0.03, Boot SE = 0.01, 95% Boot CI [0.02, 0.03]). Moreover, the serial mediation model suggested that impulsivity and depression may serially mediate the relationship between academic stress and F/TPS game addiction (b = .02, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.02, 0.03]). A first alternative serial mediation model suggested that academic stress may be sequentially associated with depression and impulsivity, which may further lead to F/TPS game addiction (b = 0.06, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.05, 0.06]). These findings imply that academic stress, depression, and impulsivity could be potential risk factors for adolescent F/TPS game addiction. Finally, in this paper, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the study.