At a crossroads: video game addiction

Abstract

If you thought video game addiction was a joke, you need a wake-up call. Video game addiction is a form of non-substance abuse like gambling. Fisher [2], in 1994, reported on a study of addiction to arcade machines. Adolescents surveyed in the study were from a small community that relied on tourism, and arcade machines available for tourists were easily accessible to these teenagers. The researchers used pathological measures that were adapted from those used to identify gambling addiction in adults. The results of the study identified some adolescents that were "pathological players" and found that not only did they play a lot more, but also that they were spending their lunch money, borrowing, stealing, and selling their possessions to play.