Fitting the Causal Model Based on Online Game Addiction According to Brain Quadrants Dominance Mediated by the Behavioral Regulation of Emotion

The high attractiveness of online games, along with the significant prevalence of addiction to them has made these games receive attention from experts. Therefore, the present study was done to fit a causal model of addiction to online games based on the A, B, C, and D brain quadrants dominance in students with the mediating role of behavioral regulation of emotion.

The research method was descriptive and structural equations. The statistical population of the research included 291 students of the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili during the academic year 2021-2022. These students were selected by the available sampling method and participated in the research through an online questionnaire.

The direct effect of the lateral cerebral superiority variable A (P < 0.01 and T = -2.81), lateral cerebral superiority variable B (P < 0.01 and T = -4.84), lateral cerebral superiority variable C (P < 0.01 and T = -2.30) and positive behavioral emotion regulation (P < 0.01 and T = -5.34) exerted negative effects on addiction to online games and the direct effect of lateral brain superiority variable D (01/ P>0 and T=5.78) and negative behavioral emotion regulation (P<0.01 and T=7.19) were positive and significant. Therefore, the causal model of the relationship between the addiction to online games, brain lateralization, and behavioral regulation of emotion was confirmed based on various fit indices. According to the amount obtained for the VAF statistic, 19.9% of the effect of lateral superiority B, 31.7 % of the effect of lateral superiority C, and 18.1% of the effect of lateral superiority D on addiction to online games through negative behavioral regulation of emotion, and 34.6% of the effect of lateral superiority C and 20.5% of the effect of lateral superiority D on addiction to online games through positive behavioral emotion regulation can be explained.

Due to the high prevalence of using smartphones, it will be extremely important to evaluate the condition of the dominant cerebral cortex and the behavioral emotion regulation on online games addiction.