Association Among Self-Compassion, Resilience, Positive Mental Health and Risk of Gaming Disorder in 18-30 Year Old Population in China and Thailand: A Cross-Regional Study.

Self-compassion was negatively associated with risk of Gaming Disorder in young adults.

• The study used a General Linear Model to compute associations between study variables with p < 0.05 regarded as statistically significant.
• Young adult gamers with lower levels of self-compassion had a greater risk of gaming addiction compared to those with higher levels of self-compassion.
• This was identified as one of the first studies to report an association between GD and self-compassion as a positive psychological factor.
• Data were collected from 1750 young adults aged 18-30 years across four cities in China and one city in Thailand.

Positive mental health was negatively associated with risk of Gaming Disorder in young adults.

• Young adult gamers with moderate mental health had a greater risk of gaming addiction compared to those with flourishing mental health.
• A General Linear Model was used to compute the associations between positive mental health and GD risk.
• Positive mental health was identified as a potential protective mechanism against GD alongside self-compassion.
• The study collected data from 1750 participants recruited via social media, gaming platforms, and tertiary institutions or universities.

Resilience was not significantly associated with the risk of Gaming Disorder.

• Unlike self-compassion and positive mental health, resilience did not show a negative association with GD risk.
• The absence of a significant association for resilience was a notable finding distinguishing it from the other two positive psychological factors examined.
• This finding contrasts with the associations observed for self-compassion and positive mental health in the same sample of 1750 young adults.
• The study is described as the first to report on the association between GD and all three positive psychological factors simultaneously.

The study recruited 1750 young adults from a cross-regional sample spanning China and Thailand.

• Data were collected online in four cities across China and one city in Thailand.
• Participants were aged 18-30 years.
• Recruitment was conducted through social media, gaming platforms, and tertiary institutions or universities.
• The online survey collected information on demography, gaming behaviours, risk of GD, self-compassion, resilience, and positive mental health.
• The study design was cross-sectional.

The study suggests that primary healthcare professionals should include self-compassion and positive mental health assessments in health screening for early identification of gamers at risk of GD.

• The authors propose that screening could identify at-risk gamers before they manifest psychopathological symptoms.
• The preliminary findings frame self-compassion and positive mental health as protective mechanisms against GD.
• The authors recommend future studies explore positive psychological factors in managing GD in addition to the psychopathological approach.
• The existing literature is noted as typically reporting associations between GD and psychopathological outcomes, with evidence linking positive psychological attributes to GD risk described as rarely explored.