Los videojuegos: una afición con implicaciones neuropsiquiátricas

Video gaming has increased worldwide over the last years. A subgroup of gamers may develop an unhealthy pattern of use with features of addiction. A literature review and analysis (2009-2015) was carried out. Most research is focused on children and adolescent, and recent data on Spanish population is lacking. There is no consensus definition of videogames addiction, although several tools have been developed to assess the unhealthy use. There are both positive and negative neurobiological and psychosocial implications of video-gaming. A poor psychosocial functioning seems the be a key factor for developing an addictive pattern of use. Being a male, online gaming, time spent playing, and socio-family factors have also been implicated. Conclusions reveal that, at a prevention level, society needs to be aware of the risk of uncontrolled gaming and, at a therapeutic level, clinicians need to be able to identify and treat unhealthy gaming.

A literature review was carried out at Medline/PubMed database searching for video gaming use and abuse in the general population There is no official definition of VG as a clinical disorder. Criteria used by each study to categorize use as addictive/abusive are heterogeneous. Nevertheless, DSM-5 includes “online gaming addiction” in a section with diagnoses for future editions. Tools are being developed to identify VG addiction, although they do not seem to be valid enough, since they are still grounded on a clinical category that is not clearly defined yet. On the other hand, findings by some studies look promising. These studies point to neurobiological and psychopathological underpinnings shared by VG and substance addiction. Neurobiological implications. Even though most studies are cross sectional and do not allow to draw causality, the effects of VD on a moderate player are the improvement of (a) motion planning and performance, (2) executive functions, (3) viso-motor integration, (4) attention, and (5) visual memory. On the other hand, a damaging use of VG correlates to the following aspects: errors in frontal efficiency tasks, higher impulsivity, and motivation and reward patterns similar to those of individuals with other addictions. Potential harm for physical and psycho-social health. The overuse of VG has been correlated with substance abuse such as cannabis and alcohol. On the other hand, under-aged exposure to VG violent content fosters violent behaviors, cognitions, and feelings. Likewise, a pathological use of VG seems to be detrimental for school performance. Risk factors. Males exceed females in VG use and are also more prone to make a pathological use of VG. Furthermore, online VG seems to have a higher addictive capacity than off-line VG. Time spent on playing seems to be a risk factor when VG overuse affects psychosocial healthy patterns preceding over-gaming. Also, findings suggest that low social competence, low self-esteem, high impulsivity, low empathy, and a poor emotional regulation may be factors preceding VG practice that facilitate a VG pathological use. In this respect, people diagnosed with ADHD or PDD are more prone to VG pathological use. Lastly, a low socio-economic level correlates to abuse/addiction and most studies suggest parents have an unsatisfactory control over their children’s VD playing time and content.