Internet gaming disorder and its relationship to social isolation among university students

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to reveal the prevalence of Internet gaming disorder among university students and to identify the levels of Internet gaming disorder and social isolation. Furthermore, the researcher aimed to understand the study variables based on various demographic variables such as gender and academic specialization. The study sample consisted of (450) male and female students from public universities in Erbil governorate; they were chosen based on purposive sampling. The research results showed that the prevalence of Internet gaming disorder in the research sample was 9.55%. The results showed a significant mean difference between men and women: men recorded a higher level of internet gaming disorder than women, and the significant mean differences were not found in an academic specialization.

The results also indicated that social isolation was present among the sample, without statistically significant differences in gender and academic specialization. The results showed a significant correlation between the study variables and the sample's Internet gaming disorder and social isolation. Based on the results, the researchers presented a set of recommendations and suggestions.