Testing the Influence of Social Axioms on Internet Gaming Disorder Tendency with a Cross-Lagged Panel Model: a One-Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Gaming-specific beliefs on the functions and/or consequences of gaming have consistently been shown to be risk factors for Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, there is a scarcity of research on the effects of generalized beliefs about the world (i.e., social axioms) on IGD tendency. This 1-year longitudinal study was designed to test whether and which social axioms would have a prospective influence on IGD tendency. One hundred ninety-five Chinese university students (Mage\u2009=\u200919.86, female\u2009=\u200972.3%) voluntarily participated in both the baseline and 1-year follow-up surveys. Social cynicism, but not four other social axioms (i.e., fate control, reward for application, social complexity, and religiosity), was found to be significantly associated with baseline and follow-up IGD tendency. Using a cross-lagged panel model, while controlling for baseline IGD tendency and grade point average (GPA), baseline social cynicism belief still had a positive effect on follow-up IGD tendency at a marginal significance level (p\u2009=\u2009.07). Moreover, students’ baseline GPA predicted lower follow-up IGD tendency (β\u2009=\u2009−.17, p\u2009<\u2009.01) but not vice versa. Our findings suggested that preventive interventions may consider modifying not only gaming-specific beliefs but also general beliefs, such as social cynicism. They also shed light on the importance of identifying groups that are at risk for IGD tendency, such as low-achievement students, for interventions.