Problematic gaming risk among European adolescents: a cross‐national evaluation of individual and socio‐economic factors

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous research has identified numerous risk and protective factors of adolescent problematic gaming (PG) at the individual and social levels; however, the influence of socio‐economic indicators on PG is less known. This study aimed to measure the contribution of individual and socio‐economic factors involved in PG risk among adolescents from 30 European countries. DESIGN: Multi‐level logistic regression analysis of survey data from the 2019 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) cross‐sectional study using self‐administered anonymous questionnaires. SETTING: Thirty European countries. PARTICIPANTS: A representative cohort of 15–16‐year‐old students (n = 88 998 students; males = 49.2%). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measure was adolescents’ (low and high) risk of PG. Individual key predictors included self‐report assessments of socio‐demographic characteristics, time spent gaming and family variables (parental regulation and monitoring, family support). Main country‐level predictors comprised Gini coefficient for economic inequalities and benefits for families and children (% gross domestic product), retrieved from international public data sets and national thematic reports. The data analysis plan involved multi‐level logistic regression. FINDINGS: Participants who reported stronger parental regulation [odds ratio (OR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.79–0.83] and higher family support (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.91–0.95) reported lower risk of PG. At the country‐level, economic inequalities (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.03–1.07) were positively associated with the risk of PG, while benefits for families and children (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.70–0.89) were negatively correlated with the risk of PG. CONCLUSIONS: Supportive family environments, lower country‐level economic inequalities and higher government expenditures on benefits for families and children appear to be associated with a lower risk of problematic gaming among European adolescents.