Profiles of video game players and co-occurrence of video game abuse, gambling disorder or substance use disorder: analysis by video game type

Video games abuse is a behaviour of increasing prevalence that may vary depending on the
type of video game, and may co-occur with other addictions such as gambling disorder or
substance use disorder. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the co-occurrence of video game
abuse with these behaviours as a function of age, sex, and academic performance, and to
analyse these profiles depending on which the main video game that used is (Fornite, FIFA,
or other video games). The sample comprised 393 video game users (18-36 years old; 21.6%
were female and 76.8% male). The results showed greater degrees of gambling disorder in
males and greater degrees of video game and substance abuse in repeaters of 2 or more
courses. Regarding age, older participants showed a greater use of offline card and sports
betting, online lottery, cocaine, and speed, and younger participants showed greater use of
energy drinks and video games, especially in Fortnite users, in which video game abuse was
related with substance abuse. In the case of FIFA users, there was a significant relationship
of video game abuse with gambling disorder. In this group, gambling disorder and substance
abuse showed a significant relationship with sports betting. These results draw differential
profiles which are of interest for prevention and intervention.