Aussie study seeks self-professed game addicts

A Victorian PhD student is looking for willing participants to take part in a new study into the long-term effects of video game addiction.

Victoria University researcher Daniel Loton is conducting a global study as part of an extended PhD project on video game addiction that aims to measure the relationship between extended gameplay and a healthy lifestyle.

The project will look at participants' life circumstances over a nine-month period in order to measure variables such as stressful events and life satisfaction, as well as things like parenting, working, studying, and romantic relationships. Loton will also ask the participants to complete regular diary entries to measure how games impact various aspects of each individual's life.

"The goal is to determine how connected these factors may be with video game play and addiction," Loton says. "Not enough studies follow participants over time. This diary-like approach will allow me to determine the precise impact of video game addiction on employment, study, parenting, and relationships, as well as on mental, physical, and social health."

Loton says that the study will also help to determine whether addiction to video games is a coping mechanism for other problems experienced in life, or whether it is actually the root cause of problems experienced later.

"Video game addiction may be a serious problem, but researchers are not yet sure how much of a problem, or even exactly how to define it. The goal is to establish the effects over time, as well as which comes first--video game play or associated problems."

Loton is looking for willing candidates over the age of 18 to take part in the project; participation will involve completing a short survey each month, monitoring video game playing habits, and answering questions to do with physical, mental, and social health. The initial survey will take participants 20 minutes to complete; each follow-up survey will take around 10 minutes. Participants will be emailed each month with the new survey.

All participants who complete the survey for the entire nine months of the project will go into a drawing to win a A$500 money order.

If you are over 18 years of age and interested in taking part, you can find out more details here.