Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-19-2025

Publication Title

Journal of Affective Disorders Reports

Volume

21

First page number:

1

Last page number:

11

Abstract

Because gaming disorder (GD) often co-occurs with depression, understanding how both disorders work together enables clinicians to better treat individuals with GD–depression comorbidity. The extant literature on GD–depression comorbidity is unsystematic and contradictory, with some studies suggesting depression predicts GD but not vice versa, some claiming GD predicts depression but not vice versa, and some proposing a bidirectional relationship between the two. The goal of this narrative review is to explore and organize these findings to establish a holistic and coherent conceptual framework that explains how GD co-occurs with depression.

The PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Sciences databases were searched for relevant peer-reviewed journal articles published 2013–2025, using the search terms (gaming disorder OR gaming addiction) AND (depression OR depressive symptoms). Results included 127 empirical studies that meet the inclusion criteria and are relevant to building a coherent map to explain the GD–depression relationship. The resulting framework combines their findings to map paths and mechanisms, as well as salient contextual factors, explaining how GD and depression may be connected. Specifically, the self-medication perspective indicates that psychiatric disorders, adverse life experiences, and other factors may predict GD via the mediation of depression. By comparison, the negative consequences perspective suggests that GD may lead to negative consequences (e.g., withdrawal, unhealthy lifestyles, and compromised self-esteem), which subsequently foster depression. Together, these two paths form a chronic vicious cycle.

Keywords

Gaming disorder; Internet addiction; Depression; Self-medication; Negative consequences; Co-occurrence of gaming disorder and depression

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior

File Format

PDF

File Size

1368 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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