Video Games' Role in Developing Substance Use

描述(申请人提供)：传统观点认为有些电子游戏会“上瘾”，而最近的研究证实，有些电子游戏对大脑有类似毒品的影响。问题电子游戏的使用和药物滥用/依赖可能会在许多层面上相互发展和影响：两者都作用于并可能改变大脑奖励机制的运作。过度使用任何一种都可能被贴上“问题行为”的标签。几种流行的游戏类型都有模拟和规范物质使用的内容。某些亚文化可能会鼓励大量使用电子游戏和物质。随着用户寻求治疗，与健康相关领域的研究和实践越来越多地承认视频游戏上瘾。这个项目将把风险轨迹和亚文化的范例应用到有问题的电子游戏使用中，这些范式已经对物质使用进行了有益的研究。它的目的是：(1)分别按照视频游戏类型和物质类型，在过去和现在对视频游戏和物质的使用之间建立基本联系，并找到问题使用的独特预测因素；(2)识别和描述儿童、青春期和青年时期在物质和视频游戏使用方面的不同变化模式或“轨迹”，并探索这些轨迹的心理和社会经济风险因素；(3)发现视频游戏和物质使用是否以及在其中通过早期生活过程相互促进；以及(4)通过民族志，深入了解同时使用电子游戏和物质的亚文化背景。前三个目标将使用从800名视频游戏用户的配额样本中收集的数据进行分析，其中超过一半将是目前的物质用户。定量数据收集将包括在童年、青春期和成年早期使用几种不同的视频游戏流派和物质的职业生涯。分析将使用一般增长混合建模建立视频游戏和物质风险的共同轨迹，估计视频游戏使用对物质使用的影响，并测试可能的调节因素。第四个目标将通过人种学(定性)实地工作来实现，它将进入并进入以同时使用物质和视频游戏为特征的亚文化。工作人员将对主要信息提供人进行实地观察和反复的人种学访谈。定性分析将使用扎根的理论方法来确定这些亚文化中情感、仪式和互动领域之间的结构同源性。调查结果将有助于政策和实践，确定问题视频游戏使用的最高风险人群，记录同时使用的背景，并确定视频游戏是否在哪些玩家中以及在多大程度上与药物使用/依赖有关。 与公共健康相关：电子游戏经常被贴上“上瘾”的标签，并被指控助长了物质使用。这个项目将提供无法获得的信息，关于不同类型的视频游戏是否以及如何可能有助于物质使用/依赖。它还将明确区分最高风险的亚群，并确定生命过程中父母和/或公共控制政策可以干预以防止问题介入的最有效时间点。它还可以为开发视频游戏成瘾的治疗方法和/或可能包括在药物滥用治疗中提供基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Conventional wisdom has long held that some video games are "addictive," and recent research establishes that some video games have drug-like effects on the brain. Problem video game use and substance abuse/dependence may develop and influence each other on many levels: Both operate upon and may alter the operation of the brain's reward mechanisms. Heavy use of either may be labeled as a "problem behavior." Several popular game types have content that model and normalize substance use. Certain subcultures may encourage heavy use of both video games and substances. Research and practice in health-related fields increasingly acknowledge video game "addiction" as users seek treatment for it. This project will apply paradigms of risk trajectory and subculture, which have informed research on substance use, to problem video game use. It aims to: (1) establish basic associations among past and present use of video games and substances, separately by video game genre and by type of substance, and find unique predictors of problem use; (2) identify and describe distinct patterns of change, or "trajectories," in substance and video game use through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, and to explore psychological and socioeconomic risk factors for those trajectories; (3) discover whether, and among whom, video game and substance use contribute to each other through the early life course; and (4), via ethnography, access and develop an in- depth understanding of subcultural contexts for concurrent video game and substance use. The first three aims will be analyzed with data collected from a quota sample of 800 video game users, over half of whom will be current substance users. Quantitative data collection will include careers of use of several distinct video game genres and substances through childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Analyses will establish common trajectories of video game and substance risk using general growth mixture modeling, estimate the effect of video game use on substance use, and test possible moderators. The fourth aim will be addressed via ethnographic (qualitative) field work, which will access and gain entrie to subcultures characterized by concurrent use of both substances and video games. Staff will conduct field observations and repeated ethnographic interviews with key informants. Qualitative analyses will employ grounded theory methods to identify structural homologies between affective, ritual, and interactive domains within these subcultures. Findings will contribute to policy and practice by identifying the highest-risk populations for problem video game use, documenting contexts of concurrent use, and determining whether, among which players, and to what extent video gaming is associated with substance use/dependence. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Video gaming is often labeled as "addictive" and is alleged to contribute to substance use. This project will provide unavailable information about whether and how different genres of video gaming may contribute to substance use/dependence. It will also clearly distinguish the highest-risk subpopulations and locate the most effective points in the life course at which parents and/or public control policies could to intervene to prevent problematic involvements. It could also provide a basis for developing treatments for video gaming addiction and/or possible inclusion in substance abuse treatments.