Exploring parent-child relationships in a Swedish child and adolescent psychiatry - cohort of adolescents with internet gaming disorder
(2025) In BMC psychology 13(1).- Abstract
Background: While recent studies suggest a high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) clinics, little is known about the factors contributing to problematic gaming among these patients. Given the well-established role of parenting and parent-child relationships in the development of problem behaviors, this study aimed to explore parent-child relationships within a Swedish cohort of CAP patients with IGD. Methods: A total of 72 adolescents from CAP clinics in Skane, Sweden, diagnosed with IGD based on DSM-V criteria (73% boys), aged 13 to 18 years were included in the study. The adolescents completed the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) and reported on aspects of parent-child... (More)
Background: While recent studies suggest a high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) clinics, little is known about the factors contributing to problematic gaming among these patients. Given the well-established role of parenting and parent-child relationships in the development of problem behaviors, this study aimed to explore parent-child relationships within a Swedish cohort of CAP patients with IGD. Methods: A total of 72 adolescents from CAP clinics in Skane, Sweden, diagnosed with IGD based on DSM-V criteria (73% boys), aged 13 to 18 years were included in the study. The adolescents completed the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) and reported on aspects of parent-child communication, such as parental control and adolescent disclosure and secrecy, and family climate. Adolescents were categorized as engaged, problem or addicted gamers based on core approach. Independent sample t-tests, Pearsons’s correlations, and multivariate regression analyses were used to address the study goals. Results: Independent sample t-tests revealed that girls showed lower levels of parental knowledge than boys. Bivariate correlation analyses showed that IGD-symptoms were related to lower levels of child disclosure, while multivariate regression analyses revealed that higher IGD-symptoms were predicted by high levels of child secrecy and low child disclosure. Conclusion: Parent-child relationships, in particular adolescent information management to parents, plays an important role for the level of IGD-symptoms in a clinical sample of adolescents. We suggest that therapeutic interventions for IGD should integrate family-focused strategies, such as parent training programs fostering open communication between parents and their children.
(Less)
- author
- Kapetanovic, Sabina ; Nielsen, Maiken Due ; André, Frida LU ; Gurdal, Sevtap and Claesdotter-Knutsson, Emma LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Child and adolescent psychiatry, Internet gaming disorder, Parent-child relationships, Problem gaming
- in
- BMC psychology
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 18
- publisher
- BioMed Central (BMC)
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:39780294
- scopus:85215083587
- ISSN
- 2050-7283
- DOI
- 10.1186/s40359-024-02306-3
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 161cba97-04a4-4545-93de-ead88fb65f4c
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-09 10:53:56
- date last changed
- 2025-07-02 17:53:27
@article{161cba97-04a4-4545-93de-ead88fb65f4c,
abstract = {{<p>Background: While recent studies suggest a high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) clinics, little is known about the factors contributing to problematic gaming among these patients. Given the well-established role of parenting and parent-child relationships in the development of problem behaviors, this study aimed to explore parent-child relationships within a Swedish cohort of CAP patients with IGD. Methods: A total of 72 adolescents from CAP clinics in Skane, Sweden, diagnosed with IGD based on DSM-V criteria (73% boys), aged 13 to 18 years were included in the study. The adolescents completed the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) and reported on aspects of parent-child communication, such as parental control and adolescent disclosure and secrecy, and family climate. Adolescents were categorized as engaged, problem or addicted gamers based on core approach. Independent sample t-tests, Pearsons’s correlations, and multivariate regression analyses were used to address the study goals. Results: Independent sample t-tests revealed that girls showed lower levels of parental knowledge than boys. Bivariate correlation analyses showed that IGD-symptoms were related to lower levels of child disclosure, while multivariate regression analyses revealed that higher IGD-symptoms were predicted by high levels of child secrecy and low child disclosure. Conclusion: Parent-child relationships, in particular adolescent information management to parents, plays an important role for the level of IGD-symptoms in a clinical sample of adolescents. We suggest that therapeutic interventions for IGD should integrate family-focused strategies, such as parent training programs fostering open communication between parents and their children.</p>}},
author = {{Kapetanovic, Sabina and Nielsen, Maiken Due and André, Frida and Gurdal, Sevtap and Claesdotter-Knutsson, Emma}},
issn = {{2050-7283}},
keywords = {{Child and adolescent psychiatry; Internet gaming disorder; Parent-child relationships; Problem gaming}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
series = {{BMC psychology}},
title = {{Exploring parent-child relationships in a Swedish child and adolescent psychiatry - cohort of adolescents with internet gaming disorder}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02306-3}},
doi = {{10.1186/s40359-024-02306-3}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2025}},
}