Craving and attentional bias in gaming: Comparing esports, casual, and high-risk gamers using eye-tracking

Abstract

Attentional biases, as measured through eye movements, have been observed in both gaming disorders and substance addictions. However, few studies compare these biases among esports gamers (ESG), high-risk gamers (HRG), and other frequent gamers, despite ESG and HRG both groups dedicating significant time to gaming. This study included 47 male participants aged 15 to 19. Participants were categorized as ESG, casual gamers (CG), or HRG based on their MOBA experience, esports training, and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) scores. Each participant completed a dot-probe task with 56 stimulus conditions based on gaming cues, while eye-tracking technology recorded eye movements. The results indicated that HRG spent more total viewing time on stimulus images than ESG and CG. Additionally, HRG had longer first fixation durations and fewer saccade counts than the other two groups. Furthermore, HRG reported higher impulsivity and lower attentional focusing, suggesting a distinct psychological profile. Although ESG did not exhibit the same attentional biases as HRG, their self-reported gaming time was similar. This may be due to gaming being a career commitment for ESG, while for HRG, it serves as an escape from life pressures. Notably, eye-movement measures can identify high-risk tendencies early and uncover differences missed by self-report scales, including saccade count and attentional shifting. Caution is needed when diagnosing gaming disorder solely based on gaming time and self-reports. Future research could use attentional bias tasks as complementary diagnostic tools and further explore higher depression levels in HRG and ESG compared to CG.