Over 30 per cent of Hong Kong students have “binge gamed,” experts have said, adding that research shows a correlation between online gaming addiction and poor mental health.
According to the results of a survey done during the second half of last year, 31.8 per cent of primary and secondary school students said they had spent five or more consecutive hours or more playing video games.
Presenting the findings at a press conference on Monday, two researchers who carried out the study said students spent more time on the internet during the Covid-19 pandemic as schools switched to online learning. This made it more likely for them to develop a gaming addiction, they said.
Between last June and December, the researchers surveyed 2,770 students from six primary schools and four secondary schools.
According to research that considered factors including the frequency and duration of gaming, 350 – around 13 per cent – were found to have a tendency towards gaming addiction. These students continued to play video games excessively despite the impact on their social, academic and family life, the experts said. The proportion of primary and secondary school students found to have an addiction tendency was similar, they added.
Separately, 42 per cent said they had once spent upwards of five successive hours watching videos online.
‘Significantly correlated’ with mental health
Researchers also looked into the mental health of the students surveyed. The proportion of those found to experience depression, anxiety and stress was high, they said.
According to the results, 49.1 per cent of students had “moderate” to “very severe” symptoms of depression, while 62.8 per cent of students said they experienced “moderate” to “very severe” stress.
Sherry Yang, a research assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s medical faculty, said in response to a question from HKFP that past research locally and globally had shown a relationship between online addiction and poor mental health.
“Internet gaming disorders and mental health problems are… significantly correlated. So if your children have internet gaming disorders, they are more likely to have depression, anxiety, more stress, especially academic stress, and poor sleep quality,” Yang said.
See also: HKFP’s comprehensive guide to mental health services in Hong Kong
“In turn, if students [have] depression, anxiety or stress, they are more likely to use gaming to avoid that stress or regulate their negative emotions,” she added.
Yang emphasised that the figures on experiencing mental health symptoms were self-reported, not diagnoses, but that self-reports were generally consistent with medical diagnoses.
Nick Tse, an associate professor at the Hong Kong College of Technology Institute of Higher Education’s applied social sciences department, said more effort should be made to raise awareness about mental health. Schools could consider setting up teams of “mental health ambassadors,” while public exhibitions and booths could help to destigmatise mental health disorders.
Tse added that the city had facilities aimed at helping drug addicts fight addiction, and that a similar concept could be applied to online addiction.
“We hope the relevant providers or the government… could operate some short-term residential training so that students can stay away from gaming and immerse themselves in other activities for some time,” Tse said.
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