Modeling Online Gaming Addiction Based on Communication Skills and Feelings of Loneliness with the Mediating Role of Adjustment among Adolescents during the Covid-19 Epidemic

Online games are one of the types of computer and smart games that have become widespread due to the increasing familiarity of people, especially young people, with the Internet, the increase in Internet speeds, as well as access to smart devices. The high appeal of online games and the prevalence of addiction have brought them to the attention of experts. Cell phones and tablets. Online gaming addiction is considered to be obsessive, extreme, uncontrollable, and physically and psychologically destructive behavior. The present study is an online gaming addiction based on communication skills and feelings of loneliness with a mediating role. Adaptation in adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The current research design is the modeling of structural equations. The statistical population of the present study was all students aged 12 to 18 in Tehran. The method for selecting these subjects was that after receiving the letter of recommendation and after coordinating with the General Directorate of Education of Tehran Province, they went to the Directorate of Education of five and six districts and randomly selected 2 schools from each district. 1st and 2nd graders of high school were selected between the months of November and February 2019 and answered the research online questionnaires, from a total of 700 subjects became 400 people who used the games online using a multi-stage sampling method. They chose the communication skills questionnaire by Crockett, Russell, et al. and answered him. Wang and Chang's Feeling of Loneliness, Wang and Chang's Online Gambling Addiction Quiz, and Sinha and Singh's Compatibility Quiz.

The collected data were analyzed with the correlation coefficient and the structural equation model. Skills and adaptation to online gaming addiction (P≥0.001). Likewise, there is a positive and significant association between loneliness and addiction to online gaming (P≥0.001). In addition, structural equation modeling results showed that 25% of the variance in adaptation is explained by communication skills and loneliness, and 32% of the variance in online gaming addiction is explained by communication skills, loneliness, and adaptation.

According to the results, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to reduce feelings of loneliness and improve the communication skills of family, school, and education officials, so that students are less involved in online games. The correlation coefficient and structural equation model results showed that feeling lonely positively and significantly affects online gambling addiction. o modeledt. In addition, the results showed that loneliness directly negatively impacts online gambling addiction through adaptation. The results of this study confirm the relationship between loneliness and poor communication skills with online gaming addiction.