Journal of Behavioral Addictions

Journal 2(3), pp. 145–152

of Behavioral (2013)
Addictions
DOI: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.005
DOI: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.005
First published online April 12, 2013

Video game characteristics, happiness and flow as predictors of addiction

among video game players: A pilot study
DAMIEN C. HULL, GLENN A. WILLIAMS* and MARK D. GRIFFITHS

International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University,
Nottingham, United Kingdom

(Received: December 18, 2012; revised manuscript received: February 17, 2013; accepted: February 18, 2013)

Aims: Video games provide opportunities for positive psychological experiences such as flow-like phenomena dur-
ing play and general happiness that could be associated with gaming achievements. However, research has shown
that specific features of game play may be associated with problematic behaviour associated with addiction-like ex-
periences. The study was aimed at analysing whether certain structural characteristics of video games, flow, and
global happiness could be predictive of video game addiction. Method: A total of 110 video game players were sur-
veyed about a game they had recently played by using a 24-item checklist of structural characteristics, an adapted
Flow State Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the Game Addiction Scale. Results: The study revealed
decreases in general happiness had the strongest role in predicting increases in gaming addiction. One of the nine fac-
tors of the flow experience was a significant predictor of gaming addiction – perceptions of time being altered during
play. The structural characteristic that significantly predicted addiction was its social element with increased socia-
bility being associated with higher levels of addictive-like experiences. Overall, the structural characteristics of
video games, elements of the flow experience, and general happiness accounted for 49.2% of the total variance in
Game Addiction Scale levels. Conclusions: Implications for interventions are discussed, particularly with regard to
making players more aware of time passing and in capitalising on benefits of social features of video game play to
guard against addictive-like tendencies among video game players.

Keywords: video game addiction, structural characteristics of video games, happiness, flow

INTRODUCTION behaviour to return to similar patterns of video game playing

prior to stopping the last time around.
Video game playing is prevalent across many cultures with a Addictive behaviours brought on by video game play
wide range of different types, genres, and interfaces from could be elicited by positive psychological phenomena, such
which to choose. These media have been subjected to an in- as the state of flow (Ting-Jui & Chih-Chen, 2003). With the
creasing number of studies concerning the adverse effects of flow experience, a game player derives intense enjoyment
video game play that may entail cases of video game addic- by being immersed in the gaming experience, the challenges
tion, for instance (Griffiths, Kuss & King, 2012; Griffiths & of the game are matched by the player’s skills, and the
Meredith, 2009; Kuss & Griffiths, 2012a; 2012b). It has player’s sense of time is distorted so that time passes without
been argued that to be addicted to video games, six core it being noticed (Csíkszentmihályi, 1992). For some video
components need to be experienced by the player (Griffiths, game players, this may then mean repeatedly seeking out
2008), namely salience, mood modification, tolerance, with- similar experiences on a regular basis to the extent that they
drawal, conflict and relapse. Salience is evident when the can escape from their concerns in the ‘real world’ by being
playing of the video game becomes the single most impor- continually engrossed in a flow-inducing world (Sweetser &
tant thing in a person’s life, often resulting in cravings and Wyeth, 2005). As can be seen, something like flow – viewed
total preoccupation with the activity. Mood modification in- largely as a positive psychological phenomenon (Nakamura
volves the creation of an arousing (or, in some cases, a satiat- & Csíkszentmihályi, 2005) – may be less positive in the
ing) feeling from playing the game that is often used as a long-term for some video game players if they are craving
way of coping with other areas of the person’s life. The the same kind of emotional ‘high’ that they obtained the last
mood-modifying effect from the game often requires in- time that they experienced flow when playing a video game.
creasing amounts of game time, leading to tolerance. When Flow has been proposed by Jackson and Eklund (2006)
playing the game is not possible, players may experience as comprising nine elements that include: (i) striking a bal-
withdrawal symptoms, including irritability, sweating, ance between the challenges of an activity and one’s abili-
headaches, the shakes, etc. Conflict refers to the ways in ties; (ii) a merging of performance of actions with one’s
which playing the game interferes with normal day-to-day
life, compromising personal relationships, job and/or educa-
tional activities, and hobbies/social life. Players may also * Corresponding author: Glenn A. Williams; International Gaming
experience intra-psychic conflict (i.e. personal conflict, re- Research Unit, Psychology Division, School of Social Sciences,
sulting in feelings of guilt and/or a loss of control). Relapse Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1
refers to the tendency for those attempting to change their 4BU, United Kingdom; E-mail: [email protected]

ISSN 2062-5871 © 2013 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Hull et al.

self-awareness; (iii) possessing clear goals; (iv) gaining un- contrast, if the gamer were to be dropped into a level of a
ambiguous feedback on performance; (v) having full con- video game that was over-challenging for one’s abilities (i.e.
centration on the task in hand; (vi) experiencing a sense of A3 in Figure 1), then anxiety may result and perhaps an in-
being in control; (vii) losing any form of self-consciousness; clination to no longer want to play the game. Where flow
(viii) having a sense of time distorted so that time seems to and addiction may begin to be intertwined is when the chal-
speed up or slow down; and (ix) the undergoing of an lenges of the game begin to increase in line with the player’s
auto-telic experience (e.g., the goals are generated by the abilities and new challenges need to be met. In this state (i.e.
person and not for some anticipated future benefit). A4 in Figure 1), it has been argued (Csíkszentmihályi, 1992;
The application of flow to video games is intuitive and p. 75) that this will be a more intense and complex flow ex-
some of the core concepts in gaming design indirectly incor- perience markedly different from when the activity was first
porate facets of flow theory. For example, Dynamic Diffi- being learned. Due to the ‘highs’ experienced at that point, it
culty Adjustment (DDA) is a design implementation within can be hypothesised that, as flow experiences increase in fre-
a game that replaces the traditional, optional difficulty sys- quency through incremental steps of abilities matched with
tem (Hunicke & Chapman, 2004). Instead of deciding the challenges when playing, it is likely that addiction-inducing
difficulty level of the game from the offset, the difficulty set- situations may then begin to arise.
ting is player-centred, offering modification based on the
performance of the player. In this way, the game adjusts it-
self to keep players at the level of difficulty that is challeng-
ing them, while not distressing them. Chen (2007) created a
game exclusively to demonstrate this feature, which incor-
porated a DDA system while discreetly informing players of
their performance. The game had clearly set goals, and play-
ers reported that time seemed to ‘fly by’ when playing. The
experience of time distortions is a common feature of gam-
ing. Some studies (e.g. Wood & Griffiths, 2007; Wood,
Griffiths and Parke, 2007) have obtained qualitative and
quantitative data from players of video games to explore this
issue. In one of their online surveys of 280 gamers (Wood et
al., 2007), results showed that 99% of the gaming sample re-
ported experiencing time loss at some point while playing Figure 1. Flow in relation to video game play.
video games. Further analysis showed that 17% experienced Adapted from Csíkszentmihályi (1992)
this occasionally, 49% frequently, and 33% all of the time.
When performing an activity in a state of flow, if one sud-
denly becomes aware of one’s self, this may result in ending In addition to positive psychological phenomena (e.g.
the optimal experience (Csíkszentmihályi, 1992). For this flow), being correlated with gaming addiction, there is evi-
reason, reports of losing track of time are often one of the dence to suggest that low levels of well-being and happiness
best indications of flow-like experiences. However, in the can be predictive of increased tendencies to engage in prob-
case of Wood and Griffiths’ (2007) study, time loss was not lematic video gaming behaviour. For instance, a two-wave
always reported as positive and such phenomena were often longitudinal study by Lemmens, Valkenburg and Peter
reported more negatively in terms of potential video game (2011) of 851 adolescents in The Netherlands found that
addiction. poor states of psychological well-being acted as antecedents
Given that several studies have concentrated on psycho- to pathological video gaming. Well-being, in that study, was
logical flow and addiction in relation to video games, it is not operationalized in several forms that included self-esteem,
surprising that these two factors may at times inter-relate. social competence and loneliness. As a result of Lemmens
Ting-Jui and Chih-Chen (2003) examined the relationship et al.’s (2011) work, we predicted that low levels of happi-
between flow and addiction and found that flow resulted ness would be predictive of higher levels of gaming addic-
from repetitive behaviour through a desire to repeat the posi- tion scores.
tive experience. This repetitive behaviour subsequently re- Characteristic features that a video game may possess
sulted in addictive tendencies when wishing to repeat the ac- could impact on a player’s experiences and the potential for
tivity concerned. It should be noted that not all players who a game to elicit addictive-type behaviours. To this end,
experience flow may get addicted to playing a video game King, Delfabbro and Griffiths (2010) developed a taxonomy
and not all persons who are addicted to video gaming will of features and sub-features that are common to most video
necessarily have a flow state when playing. Flow could be games (see Table 1). This taxonomy was based on the semi-
an antecedent to an increased likelihood of becoming ad- nal work by Wood, Griffiths, Chappell and Davies (2004)
dicted to a game as gamers begin to increase their expertise who identified inherent characteristics of a video game that
in playing the game and this may then lead to a seeking out were structural and likely to induce initial gaming activities
of greater challenges within the game space to receive the or maintenance of gaming, irrespective of any other differ-
same ‘hit’. For instance, as Figure 1 shows (adapted for entiating factor such as the socioeconomic status, age, sex,
video gaming), if the level of challenge is low and a player’s and so forth. There has also been preliminary recent evi-
abilities are low through just learning the game, there could dence (King, Delfabbro & Griffiths, 2011) to demonstrate
be a flow-like experience as the player begins to revel in that some structural features inherent in certain games are
their new-found talents at a game (i.e. A1 in Figure 1). How- particularly associated with problematic behaviour that
ever, if the challenges of the game remain at a similar level could pose a risk to players of having increased video game
throughout, then it is likely that the player may begin to get addiction tendencies. For example, King, Delfabbro and
bored of the challenges of that game (i.e. A2 in Figure 1); by Griffiths (2011) found that video game players who were ex-
146 | Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013)

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Video game characteristics, well-being & flow as predictors of addiction

Table 1. Taxonomy of video game structural characteristics

Feature type Sub-features Example

Social features Social utility features In-game voice and text chat
Social information/utility features Guilds/clans in MMORPGs
Leader board features “Hall of fame” – high score list
Support network features Internet forums, strategy guides
Manipulation and control features User input features “Combos”, “hot keys”
Save features Checkpoints, “quicksave”
Player management features Managing multiple resources
Non-controllable features Scripted events, loading screens
Narrative and identity features Avatar creation features Choice of sex, race, attributes
Story telling device features Cut scenes, Mission briefing
Theme and genre features “Roleplaying”, “Shooting”
Reward features General reward type features Experience points, bonuses
Meta-game reward features Xbox 360 achievement points
Intermittent reward features Increasing difficulty or levels
Payout interval features Rewarded instantly for playing
Punishment features Punishment features Losing a life, restarting a level
Negative reward features Gaining health, repairing items
Near miss features Difficult “boss” at end of level
Event frequency features Unlimited replayability of game
Event duration features MMORPGs have no endpoint
Presentation features Graphics and sound features Realistic sounds, fast music
Franchise features Trade-marked names, e.g. Mario
Explicit content features Violence, drug use, nudity
In-game advertising features Real-life brands, sponsors, logos
Note: Adapted from King, Delfabbro and Griffiths (2010).

hibiting problematic tendencies were more likely than these would entail the seeking out of rewards and the striv-
so-called ‘normal’ players to look to games that provided in- ing to be in control, to name a few of the structural character-
creasing rewards in the game (e.g. earning experience points istics that may be naturally reinforcing.
or finding rare items) and were also more likely to be en-
grossed in games with a high social component to them (e.g.,
sharing tips and strategies, cooperating with other players, METHOD
etc.).
Overall, this pilot study was designed to test a predictive Participants
model of video game addiction that incorporated the struc-
tural characteristics of a game that participants had recently A total of 190 gamers completed an online questionnaire.
played, along with the nine different elements of flow that The sample was obtained via opportunity sampling by ad-
may have been experienced in relation to playing that game, vertising through online gaming forums and via other online
along with the influence of respondents’ general levels of psychology research web sites. After data cleaning for in-
happiness, or lack thereof. complete or problematic responding (e.g., identical re-
It was hypothesised, based on prior research into flow sponses made for all items or illogical response patterns), a
and addiction, that flow would be positively associated with final sample comprising 110 responses was used. This in-
gaming addiction, in particular the elements of flow that cluded 78 males and 32 females, with a mean age of 24.7
would be symptomatic of being immersed in a state of being years (SD = 9.04 years). The mean number of years of play-
that would involve shutting out the player from the outside ing video games was 13.4 years (SD = 5.6 years) and partici-
world (e.g. actions and self-awareness being blended into pants played for a mean of 9.2 hours per week (SD = 8.8
one; concentrating on the task; not being self-conscious; and hours). Respondents mainly came from the United States of
having a sense of time being distorted). It was also antici- America (n = 65) or the United Kingdom (n = 34). Overall,
pated that, as unhappiness has been correlated with tenden- 79 different video games were played by the participants
cies to withdraw socially and be engrossed in activities such with the most common game being played by respondents
as excessive video gaming, we predicted that low levels of being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (n = 20). Of the 110
happiness would predict an increase in gaming addiction. participants, 66 played the video game alone, while 42
Moreover, we expected to see positive associations between played in a multiplayer mode. Two players did not specify
the main structural features identified by King, Delfabbro whether they played alone or with others.
and Griffiths (2011) and gaming addiction, as per prior re-
search. It was anticipated that the social features would af- Measures
fect a similar dynamic with addiction that has been seen pre-
viously in a range of virtual environments such as what may Video Game Features (King et al., 2010). Respondents were
occur in social networking websites. Other features were provided with a selection of gameplay features, based on the
also seen as synonymous in being able to elicit pleasurable video game feature taxonomy developed by King et al.
engaged feelings of being in flow while at the same time (2010). Each item also included an example of what each
leaving oneself open to such activities becoming addictive – kind of feature entailed (see sample items in Table 1).

Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013) | 147

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Hull et al.

Gamers were asked to indicate the extent to which each of form to complete. To ensure participant anonymity and their
the characteristics was integral to the gaming enjoyment of right to withdraw from participation if they so wished, par-
the video game they had most recently played. Items were ticipants were required to provide a unique identifier, which
coded according to an ordinal scale of 2 if the feature was could be used to delete a participant’s responses at any point
rated as present and important, 1 if the feature was present up until the analysis stage. After completing the consent sec-
but not important for gaming enjoyment and 0 if it was not tion, participants were required to complete the various sec-
present. It should be noted that one of the five main features tions of the survey, after which they were met with a debrief
from the King, Delfabbro and Griffiths (2011) taxonomy – statement that outlined the rationale for the research and
the reward/punishment one – was split into two and the fo- pointed participants to resources for support in case of prob-
cus of the analysis was primarily on the reward feature rather lems relating to video game play. The study was approved
than on punishments as it was hypothesised that the seeking by the research team’s University’s Ethics Committee.
of rewards would be most strongly linked with gaming ad-
diction and the avoidance of punishments would not be that Design and analysis
crucial for gaming addiction levels.
The Flow State Scale (FSS-2; Jackson & Eklund, 2006). The study had a cross-sectional design including correla-
This was used to measure the degree of flow experienced tional data analysis. Multiple regression was used to analyse
while playing their indicated games. The FSS-2 is a 39-item the predictive capability of five different video game charac-
scale assessing nine factors relating to flow, which were teristics, happiness, and nine elements of flow in predicting
computed as subscales. Responses were scored on a 5-point the variance in total Gaming Addiction Scale values.
Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly
agree (5). Higher scores for each of the nine factors indi-
cated a strong indication of flow-like experiences having RESULTS
taken place. The scale has good psychometric properties,
with confirmatory factor analysis supporting its factorial va- A multiple linear regression evaluated the ability of the nine
lidity and it has satisfactory internal consistency, with elements of flow, the OHQ, and the five structural gaming
Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .72 to .91 (Jackson & characteristics as variables to predict the variance in respon-
Eklund, 2006). dents’ GAS total scores. Pre-analysis checks were satisfac-
The Game Addiction Scale (GAS; Lemmens, Valkenburg tory after measuring the degree of multicollinearity in this
& Peter, 2009). The GAS was used to measure addiction re- sample. As can be seen in Table 2, predictor variables were
lating to the game they had most recently played. The GAS not too highly correlated with each other, with only very
is a 21-item scale, comprising seven subscales measuring strong correlations of .71 and .75 being found for the flow
factors of gaming addiction, and based on problematic be- subscale factors. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) for the
haviours and cognitions taken from the Diagnostic and Sta- predictor variables ranged from 1.13 to 3.56, which is ac-
tistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric ceptable as being below the threshold of 10 (Pallant, 2007);
Association, 2000). The scale included questions such as: likewise, Tolerance levels for each predictor was also satis-
Did you think about playing video games all day long? that factory and ranged from .28 to .88.
indicated the issue of salience in relation to addictive ten-
Inspection of the correlation matrix revealed the follow-
dencies with video gaming. Responses were scored on a
ing salient trends, namely that there were low significant
5-point Likert scale, ranging from never (coded as 1) to very
positive correlations between GAS levels and social, manip-
often (coded as 5). A score of 5 indicated a strong indication
ulation/control, and reward features of a game. In terms of
of addiction-proneness with regard to a specific factor. The
Gaming Addiction Scale total was calculated by summing relationships with flow, GAS was significantly and posi-
all items. The GAS has been found to have good levels of tively correlated with a merging of actions and awareness of
concurrent validity and very high internal consistency oneself and also with a distorted sense of time. There was
(Lemmens et al., 2009) and has been used in a range of stud- also a moderate inverse correlation between general happi-
ies into video game addiction (e.g., Arnesen, 2010; Hussain, ness levels and the sample’s GAS experiences. In terms of
Griffiths & Baguley, 2012; van Rooij, 2011). relationships between predictor variables, the auto-telic ex-
The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ; Hills & perience of playing a video game was weakly but signifi-
Argyle, 2002). The 29-item OHQ was used, which was a cantly correlated with games that had manipulation/control,
measure of general happiness. Items were scored on a narrative and identity, and reward features within them.
6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 6 There were also significant positive correlations between the
= strongly agree. Positively coded items included ones such flow experience of merging actions and awareness of self
as I feel that life is very rewarding and reverse coded items with various features of a game, including those games with
were typified by those such as I am not particularly optimis- social features and reward features.
tic about the future. The OHQ has been found, after factor Table 3 shows the strength of the predictive relationship
analysis with a sample of data from 172 University students, with each variable predicting gaming addiction scores. The
to have satisfactory construct validity by largely possessing total variance in game addiction levels explained by this
a uni-dimensional structure and it also have very good inter- model was 49.2%, (R2 = 0.492, F[15, 94] = 6.07, p < .05).
nal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .91 (Hills & Three predictor variables were statistically significant pre-
Argyle, 2002). dictors of total GAS – social features of a video game, dis-
tortion of time perception when playing the game, and levels
Procedure of happiness; happiness was the strongest predictor (b =
–.47), signalling that a one SD unit increase in happiness
Upon clicking on the link to the online survey, participants would predict a .47 SD unit decrease in gaming addiction
were given information on the study and an online consent levels, and vice versa.
148 | Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013)

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Table 2. Correlation matrix – Relationship of predictor variables with total gaming addiction scores

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1. Total GAS –
2. Social features .24* –
3. Manipulation/control features .19* .12 –
4. Narrative and identity features .06 .17* .49* –
5. Presentation features .12 .55* .34* .41* –
6. Reward features .17* .44* .42* .33* .55* –
7. Balance for challenges & ability .02 –.01 .10 .09 .05 .08 –
8. Merging of action & awareness .21* .28* .01 .10 .21* .24* .26* –
9. Clearly set goals .03 .07 .07 .06 .11 .06 .59* .34* –
10. Unambiguous feedback –.01 –.05 .06 –.01 .06 .05 .64* .37* .75* –
11. Concentration on task .05 .02 .08 –.02 .03 .10 .43* .31* .61* .59* –
12. Sense of control .05 –.05 .14 .08 .03 –.01 .59* .37* .68* .71* .65* –
13. Loss of self-consciousness –.11 .04 –.02 .10 .03 –.04 –.05 .07 .11 –.02 .06 .16* –
14. Distortion of time perception .43* .10 .15 .25* .14 .09 .00 .16* .07 –.08 .14 .07 –.00 –
15. Autotelic experience .15 –.04 .19* .19* –.01 .18* .53* .31* .59* .51* .63* .66* .14 .18* –
16. Global happiness –.50* .00 –.18* .01 .06 .00 .08 .07 .05 .12 .08 .13 –.04 –.12 .02 –
Means 47.10 3.52 5.14 3.64 4.23 5.08 15.63 14.28 16.35 16.35 14.98 16.08 14.70 13.53 15.13 125.70
SD 14.04 2.13 1.96 1.69 1.75 1.90 2.84 3.02 2.80 2.84 3.35 2.77 3.79 4.32 3.10 22.02
Key: * indicates significance at p < .05; GAS = Game Addiction Scale.
Video game characteristics, well-being & flow as predictors of addiction

Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013) | 149

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Hull et al.

Table 3. Summary of multiple regression analysis using ers with problematic gaming behaviours were significantly
the enter method to predict Game Addiction Scale levels more likely, when compared with those with non-problem-
Predictor variable B SE B b
atic game play behaviours, to be engrossed in games with a
high social component to them. There are several key dy-
Structural characteristics
namics that could be occurring with video games that have a
Social 1.34* 0.63 .20
Manipulation/control 0.19 0.68 .03 salient socialising characteristic that could make video game
Narrative and identity –0.87 0.78 –.11 addiction more likely. It is probable that an iterative and syn-
Presentation –0.01 0.85 –.00 ergistic process of low levels of happiness, and high levels
Reward 0.28 0.75 .04 of certain elements of flow and gaming addiction are blends
Flow of experiences that make for gamers seeking out social sup-
Balance for challenges & ability –0.14 0.52 –.03 port systems from within the online game to ameliorate any
Merging of action & awareness 0.54 0.41 .12 feelings of isolation.
Clearly set goals –0.68 0.64 –.14 Indeed, it has been argued in a seminal paper by Selnow
Unambiguous feedback 0.27 0.69 .05 (1984) that unhappy, socially isolated gamers may often turn
Concentration on task –0.47 0.47 –.11 to socialisation through gaming, which then in turn effects a
Sense of control 0.66 0.68 .13 need for spending more time with these ‘electronic friends’
Loss of self-consciousness –0.56 0.29 –.15
in order to feel complete. It is through the social world of the
Distortion of time perception 1.11* 0.27 .34
Autotelic experience 0.67 0.54 .15
gaming environment that the video game player with patho-
logical tendencies may act out relationships that are some-
Global happiness –0.30* 0.05 –.47
what superficial but that are still mutually reinforcing and
Note: R2 = 0.49; Adjusted R2 = .41. * p < .05. rewarding; it is often through playing the game at a certain
level of skill and the kudos afforded to the gamer through
gaming achievements and respect and recognition given by
one’s gaming companions, that the gamer may attain some
DISCUSSION form of self-worth. The addictive experiences within the so-
cial world of the online video game may thus become mutu-
By conducting multiple regression analysis on the data col- ally reinforcing among many of the players within the gam-
lected relating to flow, the structural characteristics of video ing community – this dynamic could be particularly prob-
games, and addiction, the findings provide insights into lematic for some gamers with a high risk of gaming addic-
some of the important factors that may be involved in the de- tion. With the normalising of behaviours within the video
velopment of video game addiction. More specifically, the gaming population’s social world of devoting prolonged pe-
results demonstrated that three variables were statistically riods of game play in order to succeed, it is little wonder that
significant predictors of gaming addiction (i.e., the social the norms and values of some of the socially-related video
features of a video game, distortion of time perceptions, and game characteristics may be particularly noxious for some-
levels of happiness). These all appear to have good face va- one with a predisposition to video game addiction.
lidity in relation to previous findings on video game addic- Only one of the nine factors of the flow experience was a
tion (Griffiths et al., 2012). These three predictors and the significant predictor of gaming addiction – heightened lev-
other predictor variables accounted for 49.2% of the vari- els of a sense of time being altered during play. This factor
ance in Game Addiction Scale levels among the sample; may be highly reinforcing and rewarding to video game
these factors appear to be important factors in explaining players, and as such may be an experience that players want
how people develop video game addictions. to constantly repeat to achieve these positively rewarding
In relation to happiness, the study showed that the un- psychological experiences. Given that addictive behaviour
happier a player was, the more likely they would have a is essentially about constant rewards (Griffiths, 2005), such
higher score on the GAS. Given that much of the video game a finding again makes intuitive sense. Since flow more gen-
addiction literature shows that video game addicts play as a erally is widely accepted as a positive optimal psychological
means of escaping and coping with unpleasant and un- experience from engaging in an activity, it makes sense that
wanted aspects of their day-to-day lives (Kuss & Griffiths, an activity that is enjoyed so much may in some cases take
2012a, 2012b), such a finding would appear to make intu- on an obsessive and/or addictive form. This finding supports
itive sense. However, given the cross-sectional nature of the the study by Ting-Jui and Chih-Chen (2003) who suggested
study, the data do not shed light on whether the unhappiness that flow-inducing activities may lead to addictive behav-
was experienced prior to the game playing (and therefore iours. As also noted earlier, there have been instances within
video game playing was used to counteract the unpleasant video game addiction research where potential addicts have
feelings) or whether the addictive playing made them feel reported time loss as a negative attribute to gaming (Wood,
unhappy (and therefore the video game playing made them Griffiths & Parke, 2007). The results from the present study
forget about how unhappy they were). appear to support such a finding.
The structural characteristic that significantly predicted At present, it is likely that no one type of gaming experi-
video game addiction was the social element with increased ence can be associated with higher levels of flow or addic-
sociability being associated with higher levels of addic- tion. In essence, it may not be the phenomenological set of
tive-like experiences. Structural characteristics that promote experiences derived from playing a game that is as vital to
sociability are also likely to be deemed as highly rewarding addiction and flow as perhaps the actual interplay between
and reinforcing by players, and again any activity that is facets of addiction and flow themselves. Certain, as yet un-
constantly providing rewarding experiences to the player in- covered, facets of gaming experiences may be more crucial
creases the likelihood of habitual behaviour. The findings in to determining a video game player’s tendencies to become
the current study also confirm results obtained by King, addicted to a certain game or in getting into a state of flow
Delfabbro and Griffiths (2011) who found video game play- while playing it. Rather, it is possible that other factors may
150 | Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013)

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Video game characteristics, well-being & flow as predictors of addiction

more crucial to getting into a flow state when gaming, such addiction. New Directions in Addiction Treatment and Preven-
as the speed with which the gamer can interact with the gam- tion, 12, 27–41.
ing environment or the need for a focused attentional state Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J. & King, D. L. (2012). Video game ad-
(Huang, Chiu, Sung & Farn, 2011). diction: Past, present and future. Current Psychiatry Reviews,
This study aimed to uncover the potential for assessing 8, 308–318.
common gaming experiences among video game players Griffiths, M. D. & Meredith, A. (2009). Videogame addiction and
and also in seeing whether these experiences could be treatment. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 39(4),
equated with video game addiction. However, as this was 47–53.
only a small-scale pilot study, it is acknowledged that were Hills, P. & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Question-
some limitations, which included issues to do with: the sam- naire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological
ple size; whether the sample can be seen as representative of well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33,
the video gamer population and its self-selecting nature; the 1073–1082.
self-report nature of the data, and that the fact that the Huang, L-T., Chiu, C-A., Sung, K. & Farn, C-K. (2011). A com-
cross-sectional design did not make it possible to infer cau- parative study on the flow experience in web-based and
text-based interaction environments. Cyberpsychology, Behav-
sality.
ior, and Social Networking, 14(1–2), 3–11.
The study’s findings suggest some implications for pre-
Hunicke, R. & Chapman, V. (2004). AI for dynamic difficulty ad-
vention and treatment of gaming problems. The results sug-
justment in games. In: Proceedings of the Challenges in Game
gest that strategies are needed to help game players keep
AI Workshop, 19th Nineteenth National Conference on Artifi-
track of time spent during gameplay. Certainly, the extant
cial Intelligence, pp. 91–96.
literature (King, Delfabbro & Griffiths, 2012; King,
Hussain, Z., Griffiths, M. D. & Baguley, T. (2012). Online gaming
Delfabbro, Griffiths & Gradisar, 2011, 2012) around the
addiction: Classification, prediction and associated risk fac-
treatment of technology-based addictions, such as internet tors. Addiction Research and Theory, 20(5), 359–371.
addiction, has involved recommendations of using a range Jackson, S. A. & Eklund, R. C. (2006). The flow scale manual.
of therapeutic techniques such as cognitive-behaviour ther- Morgan Town, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
apy or motivational interviewing to help clients to monitor King, D. L., Delfabbro, P. H. & Griffiths, M. D. (2010). Video
and cope with unmanageable patterns of behaviour; such game structural characteristics: A new psychological taxon-
techniques could include cognitive-behavioural strategies omy. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction,
(e.g. diarising to help the player to be more aware of struc- 8(1), 90–106.
tural characteristics in a game that has prolonged game play King, D., Delfabbro, P. & Griffiths, M. (2011). The role of struc-
to such an extent that adverse consequences such as conflict, tural characteristics in problematic video game play: An empir-
mood modification, and tolerance have resulted). Some re- ical study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addic-
sponsible gaming companies could introduce features in a tion, 9(3), 320–333.
game to assist those who may be prone to addictive tenden- King, D. L., Delfabbro, P. H. & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Clinical in-
cies from losing track of time while playing; features could terventions for technology-based problems: Excessive Internet
be built into a game to remind players to take regular breaks and video game use. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An
by having subtle ‘pop-up’ messages to inform players of International Quarterly, 26, 43–56.
time spent gaming in a single session. Alternatively, as rec- King, D. L., Delfabbro, P. H., Griffiths, M. D. & Gradisar, M.
ommended by King, Delfabbro, Griffiths & Gradisar (2011). Assessing clinical trials of Internet addiction treatment:
(2012), behavioural strategies such as deploying an alarm A systematic review and CONSORT evaluation. Clinical Psy-
clock to set clear parameters for game play time, may also be chology Review, 31, 1110–1116.
effective when aiming to interrupt flow as a precursor to ad- King, D. L., Delfabbro, P. H., Griffiths, M. D. & Gradisar, M.
diction. Overall, this pilot study has revealed intriguing re- (2012). Cognitive-behavioral approaches to outpatient treat-
sults and implications for prevention and treatment of video ment of Internet addiction in children and adolescents. Journal
game addiction, which could benefit from further replication of Clinical Psychology, 68, 1185–1195.
with larger, heterogeneous samples of video game players. Kuss, D. & Griffiths, M. D. (2012a). Internet gaming addiction: A
systematic review of empirical research. International Journal
of Mental Health and Addiction, 10(2), 278–296.
REFERENCES Kuss, D. J. & Griffiths, M. D. (2012b). Online gaming addiction in
adolescence: A literature review of empirical research. Journal
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statisti- of Behavioral Addictions, 1, 3–22.
cal manual of mental disorders (4th edition). Washington, DC: Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M. & Peter, J. (2009). Develop-
American Psychiatric Association. ment and validation of a game addiction scale for adolescents.
Arnesen, A. A. (2010). Video game addiction among young adults Media Psychology, 12, 77–95.
in Norway: Prevalence and health. [Master’s thesis]. The Uni- Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M. & Peter, J. (2011).
versity of Bergen, Norway. Psychosocial causes and consequences of pathological gam-
Chen, J. (2007). Flow in games (and everything else). Communica- ing. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 144–152.
tions of the ACM, 50(4), 31–34. Nakamura, J. & Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2005). The concept of flow.
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1992). Flow: The psychology of happiness. In C. R. Snyder and S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive
London: Random House. psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Griffiths, M. D. (2005). A ‘components’ model of addiction within Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS survival manual. 3rd edition. Maidenhead,
a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance Use, 10, Berkshire: Open University Press.
191–197. Selnow, G. W. (1984). Playing videogames: The electronic friend.
Griffiths, M. D. (2008). Diagnosis and management of video game Journal of Communication, 34, 148–156.

Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013) | 151

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC

 Hull et al.

Sweetser, P. & Wyeth, P. (2005). GameFlow: A model for evaluat- video games: Is there a relationship to addictive behaviours?
ing player enjoyment in games. ACM Computers in Entertain- International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 5,
ment, 3(3), 1–24. 141–149.
Ting-Jui, C. & Chih-Chen, T. (2003). The role of flow experience Wood, R. T. A., Griffiths, M. D. & Parke, A. (2007). Experiences
in cyber-game addiction. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 6, of time loss among video game players: An empirical study.
663–675. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 10, 38–44.
van Rooij, A. J. (2011). Online video game addiction. Exploring a Wood, R. T. A., Griffiths, M. D., Chappell, D. & Davies, M. N. O.
new phenomenon [PhD Thesis]. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: (2004). The structural characteristics of video games: A psy-
Erasmus University Rotterdam. cho-structural analysis. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 7,
Wood, R. T. A. & Griffiths, M. D. (2007). Time loss whilst playing 1–10.

152 | Journal of Behavioral Addictions 2(3), pp. 145–152 (2013)

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 05/02/23 07:32 PM UTC