Risk taking behaviors in relation to Internet Gaming Disorder in Iranian university students: a latent class analysis

Dangerous behavior adversely affects the health of adolescents and young adults. The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of college students based on the parameters of risky behavior and to analyze the impact of demographic factors and Internet gaming disorder belonging to each class. Study design: A cross sectional study.

The study was conducted in 2020 on 1355 students through a multi-stage random sampling method. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data and all students completed 1294 sets of questionnaires. We analyzed the data using T-test and latent class analysis.

Three latent classes have been identified. a) low-risk (75%), b) tobacco smoker (8%), and c) high-risk (17%). There was a high possibility of risky behavior in the third class. Being single (OR=2.28), Not having a job along with education (OR=1.54), and internet gaming disorder (OR=1.06) increased the risk of inclusion in the tobacco smoker class. Also not having a job along with education (OR=1.43) increased being in the high-risk class.

According to the findings of this study, 25% of the students were tobacco smokers or were at high risk. The results of this study may help develop and evaluate preventive strategies that simultaneously take into account different behaviors.