A psychologist at the University of Bolton has been studying gaming addiction and his research shows that online gaming addiction damages work, home and social lives.

Though the problem is serious for those affected, Dr John Charlton, Research Fellow in Psychology in the School of Health, Psychology and Sport, also suggests that the number of people addicted to gaming may be up to 10% less than widely accepted.

Current research into internet-related addictions often defines addicts by using symptoms that are also used in the diagnosis of gambling addiction. Dr Charlton, however, believes that some of these symptoms are not appropriate for dependencies such as MMO playing.

Dr Charlton remarked, “This is my second research project in this field to confirm this outcome; that several symptoms researchers had thought were important in diagnosing computing-related addictions were actually only indicative of high, but non-addictive, involvement. This means that taking them into account when conducting research gives an incorrect result - 10% higher than is correct”.

Among the criteria that Dr Charlton believes are important in classifying people as addicted, the survey showed:

•more than 40% said their social life was suffering
•30% recognised gaming was interfering with their work
•40% said it was causing arguments at home
•50% confessed they were not getting enough sleep
•35% said they missed meals to carry on playing.

Despite this, the problems that addicts face are real. In one online survey using 400 Asheron's Call gamers, some reported that time given over to gaming led to arguments at home and negatively affected their work and social life.

The survey reported an average of 18.5 hours a week playing, with one gamer playing up to 100 hours a week. And no surprises that 85% of the survey respondents were men.

"Asheron's Call (which is now discontinued) was a multi-player online role-playing game, the sort of game which can be particularly addictive. The game involved players in a role-playing adventure which was unpredictable and offered opportunities for social reinforcement from other players, both elements which have been proven to add to a game's attraction”, Dr Charlton said.

”However, while our research suggests online gaming may not be as addictive as research has previously suggested, gaming addiction is a real issue for some people who find gaming seriously affecting their lives.”

>> Link - Official Site/SEGAUniversity of Bolton