International Journal of School Health

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Authorship Rules and Regulations

Indexing and Abstracting

Peer Review Process

Metrics

Forms

The Association between Addiction to Online Games and Students’ Academic Engagement: Determining the Mediating Role of Executive Function

Document Type : Research Article (s)

Authors

1 Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

2 Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

10.30476/intjsh.2025.104180.1446

Abstract

Background: Online gaming addiction can negatively affect academic performance. Thus, it is important to understand the factors that influence it. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between online gaming addiction and academic engagement with the mediating role of executive functions among secondary school students.
Methods: The present cross-sectional study included all secondary high school students in Tehran, Iran in the academic year of 2023-2024. A total number of 384 students were selected using the random cluster sampling method, and they were asked to fill out the Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGD-20), Student Engagement Questionnaire, Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI), and Nejati Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24.
Results: The results showed that online game addiction is negatively correlated with students’ academic engagement (r=-0.336) as well as all dimensions of executive function, including planning (r=-0.425), cognitive flexibility (r=-0.455), working memory (r=-0.420), and inhibition (r=-0.350). Furthermore, path analysis revealed that online game addiction does not directly predict academic engagement (β=-0.12, P=0.37). However, it can indirectly predict academic engagement through the mediation of working memory (β=-0.013, P=0.025) and inhibition functions (β=-0.013, P=0.016). Overall, addiction to online games and the dimensions of executive function collectively account for nearly 44% of students’ academic engagement.
Conclusions: These results suggested that excessive online gaming is destructive to cognitive abilities and motivation toward learning and schooling among adolescent students. Consequently, parents, teachers, and school psychologists should develop suitable educational, training, and therapeutic strategies to mitigate these harmful effects.

Highlights

Mohammadagha Delavarpour: (Google Scholar)

Keywords

References
  1. Meng SQ, Cheng JL, Li YY, Yang XQ, Zheng JW, Chang XW, et al. Global prevalence of digital addiction in general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2022;92:102128. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102128. PubMed PMID: 35150965. ##
  2. Zhang MWB, Lim RBC, Lee C, Ho RCM. Prevalence of Internet Addiction in Medical Students: a Meta-analysis. Acad Psychiatry. 2018;42(1):88-93. doi: 10.1007/s40596-017-0794-1. PubMed PMID: 28849574. ##
  3. Fontana A, Benzi IMA, Cipresso P. Problematic internet use as a moderator between personality dimensions and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence. Curr Psychol. 2022;42(1):1-10. doi: 10.1007/s12144-021-02409-9. PubMed PMID: 35068906; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8761869. ‏##
  4. Zandi Payam A, Mirzaeidoostan Z. Online game addiction relationship with cognitive distortion, parenting style, and narcissistic personality traits in students. IJPCP. 2019;25(1):72-83. doi: 10.32598/ijpcp.25.1.72. ##
  5. Sunday OJ, Adesope O, Maarhuis PL. The effects of smartphone addiction on learning: a meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior Reports. 2021;4(2):100114. doi: 10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100114. ##
  6. Sun RQ, Sun GF, Ye JH. The effects of online game addiction on reduced academic achievement motivation among Chinese college students: the mediating role of learning engagement. Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1185353.‏ doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1185353. PubMed PMID: 37519374; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10381931. ##
  7. De Pasquale C, Sciacca F, Martinelli V, Chiappedi M, Dinaro C, Hichy Z. Relationship of Internet Gaming Disorder with Psychopathology and Social Adaptation in Italian Young Adults. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(21):8201. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218201. PubMed PMID: 33172015; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7664226. ##
  8. Singh A, Srivastava DK. Understanding the effect of internet addiction on student academic engagement. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education. 2021;17(4):1-12. doi: 10.4018/IJICTE.20211001.oa11. ##
  9. Samavi SA, Najjarpourian S. The Causal Relationship Between Internal Motivation, Academic Engagement and Academic Self-Regulation with Academic Performance mediated by Self-Directed Learning in High School Students in Bandar Abbas. Biquarterly Journal of Cognitive Strategies in Learning. 2019;7(12):47-68. doi: 10.22084/j.psychogy.2018.15114.1682. ##
  10. Mandernach BJ. Assessment of student engagement in higher education: A synthesis of literature and assessment tools. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research. 2015;12(2):1-14. ##
  11. Zhang Y, Qin X, Ren P. Adolescents' academic engagement mediates the association between Internet addiction and academic achievement: The moderating effect of classroom achievement norm. Computers in Human Behavior. 2018;89:299-307. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.08.018. ##
  12. Rezvani A, Ajam A. Relationship between the Use of Virtual Social Networks with Academic Engagement and Academic Achievement among Students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Educational Development of Judishapur. 2019;10(4):347-632. doi: 10.22118/edc.2019.99570. Persian. ##
  13. Huizinga M, Baeyens D, Burack JA. Editorial: Executive Function and Education. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1357. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01357. PubMed PMID: 30123163; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6085580. ##
  14. Bouzaboul M, Amri A, Abidli Z, Saidi H, Faiz N, Ziri R, et al. Relationship between executive functions and academic performance among Moroccan middle school students. Dement Neuropsychol. 2020;14(2):194-199. doi: 10.1590/1980-57642020dn14-020014. PubMed PMID: 32595890; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7304277. ##
  15. Amani M. Effect of strengthening executive functions on the academic achievement in the children with nonverbal learning disabilities. MEJDS. 2017;7(13):1-7. Persian. ##
  16. Soares L, Thorell LB, Barbi M, Crisci G, Nutley SB, Burén J. The role of executive function deficits, delay aversion and emotion dysregulation in internet gaming disorder and social media disorder: Links to psychosocial outcomes. J Behav Addict. 2023;12(1):94-104. doi: 10.1556/2006.2023.00007. PubMed PMID: 36947461; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10260228. ##
  17. Zilverstand A, Huang AS, Alia-Klein N, Goldstein RZ. Neuroimaging Impaired Response Inhibition and Salience Attribution in Human Drug Addiction: A Systematic Review. Neuron. 2018;98(5):886-903. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.03.048. PubMed PMID: 29879391; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5995133. ##
  18. Gravand H, Sabzian S. The mediating role of academic engagement in the relationship between Internet addiction and psychological safety with academic buoyancy. Rooyesh. 2022;11(8):47-58. Persian. ##
  19. Buelow MT, Okdie BM, Cooper AB. The influence of video games on executive functions in college students. Computers in Human Behavior. 2015;45:228-234. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.029. ##
  20. Rehman A, Shafi H, Rizvi T. Internet addiction and psychological well-being among youth of Kashmir. International Journal of Indian Psychology. 2016;3(3):6-11.‏ doi: 10.25215/0303.040. ##
  21. McNicol ML, Thorsteinsson EB. Internet Addiction, Psychological Distress, and Coping Responses Among Adolescents and Adults. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2017;20(5):296-304. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2016.0669. PubMed PMID: 28414517; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5485234. ##
  22. Gurjar YJ, Nikita S, Himalay J, Margi J, Rajveersinh J, Abhishek J, et al. The prevalence of internet gaming disorder and its associated factors among college students in saurashtra region, Gujarat, India. Addict Health. 2024;16(1):11-16. doi: 10.34172/ahj.2024.1451. PubMed PMID: 38651028; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11032614. ##
  23. Griffiths MD. Online gaming addiction in youth: Some comments on Rosendo-Rios et al. (2022). Addict Behav. 2022;130:107311. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107311. PubMed PMID: 35339731. ##
  24. Pontes HM, Király O, Demetrovics Z, Griffiths MD. The conceptualisation and measurement of DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder: the development of the IGD-20 Test. PLoS One. 2014;9(10):e110137. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110137. PubMed PMID: 25313515; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4196957. ##
  25. Vahidi M, Zamanzadeh V, Musavi S, Janani R, Namdar Areshtanab H. Validation of the Persian version of the internet gaming disorder-20 Test among the students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. jmsthums. 2019;7(1):15-26. Persian. ##
  26. Reeve J. How students create motivationally supportive learning environments for themselves: The concept of agentic engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2013;105(3):579–595. doi: 10.1037/a0032690. ##
  27. Ramazani M, Khamesan A. Psychometric characteristics of Reeve’s academic engagement questionnaire 2013: with the introduction of the Agentic Engagement. Quarterly of Educational Measurement. 2017;8(29):185-204. doi: 10.22054/jem.2018.22660.1555. Persian. ##
  28. Holst Y, Thorell LB. Adult executive functioning inventory (ADEXI): Validity, reliability, and relations to ADHD. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2018;27(1):e1567. doi: 10.1002/mpr.1567. PubMed PMID: 28497641; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6877129. ##
  29. López MB, Arán Filippetti V, Richaud MC. Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI): Factor structure, convergent validity, and reliability of a Spanish adaptation. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2022;29(6):1380-1386. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2021.1880408. PubMed PMID: 33587681. ##
  30. Parhoon K, Aita SL, Mohammadi A, Roth RM. Do executive functions differentiate Iranian children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with and without comorbid obesity? Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2023;38(8):1659-1670.‏ doi: 10.1093/arclin/acad053. PubMed PMID: 37494423. ##
  31. Nejati V. Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire: Development and Evaluation of Psychometric Properties. Advances in Cognitive Sciences. 2013;15(2):11-19. Persian. ##
  32. Tas I. Relationship between Internet Addiction, Gaming Addiction and School Engagement among Adolescents. Universal Journal of Educational Research. 2017;5(12):2304-2311.‏ doi: 10.13189/ujer.2017.051221. ##
  33. Wang Y, Yin Y, Sun YW, Zhou Y, Chen X, Ding WN, et al. Decreased prefrontal lobe interhemispheric functional connectivity in adolescents with internet gaming disorder: a primary study using resting-state FMRI. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0118733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118733. PubMed PMID: 25738502; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4349655. ##
  34. Moradi A, Pouladi F, Farnia V, Alikhani M. Comparison of Cold Executive Functions in People Addicted to Computer Games, Drug Addicts and Normal People. Shefaye Khatam. 2022;11(1):13-24. doi: 10.52547/shefa.11.1.13. Persian. ##
  35. Lin X, Dong G, Wang Q, Du X. Abnormal gray matter and white matter volume in 'Internet gaming addicts'. Addict Behav. 2015;40:137-43. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.09.010. PubMed PMID: 25260201. ##
  36. Schiebener J, Brand M. Decision-making and related processes in internet gaming disorder and other types of internet-use disorders. Current Addiction Reports. 2017;4:262-271.‏ doi: 10.1007/s40429-017-0156-9. ##
  37. Darnai G, Perlaki G, Zsidó AN, Inhóf O, Orsi G, Horváth R, et al. Internet addiction and functional brain networks: task-related fMRI study. Scientific Reports. 2019;9(1):15777.‏ doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52296-1. ##
  38. Soltani Nezhad M, Delroba M. Investigating the relationship between students’ executive functions, emotion regulation, and academic achievement. Discover Psychology. 2024;4(1):120. doi: 10.1007/s44202-024-00238-y. ##
  39. Nesbitt KT, Farran DC, Fuhs MW. Executive function skills and academic achievement gains in prekindergarten: Contributions of learning-related behaviors. Dev Psychol. 2015;51(7):865-78. doi: 10.1037/dev0000021. PubMed PMID: 26010383. ##
  40. Martí GP, Sidera F, Morera FS, Sellabona ES. Executive functions are important for academic achievement, but emotional intelligence too. Scand J Psychol. 2023;64(4):470-478. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12907. PubMed PMID: 36843137. ##
International Journal of School Health
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 45
April 2025
Pages 118-128
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics