BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Addictive Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1606793
Dimensional latent structure of Internet Gaming Disorder symptoms in four representative surveys of German adolescents: Results from taxometric analyses
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, Jena, Germany
- 2Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
- 3Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland
- 4Münster University of Applied Sciences, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Background: A very large amount of research has addressed the issue of the latent status of psychiatric disorders. To our knowledge, no study has analyzed the latent structure of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) symptoms. Method: We used a new taxometric approach developed by Ruscio et al. rather than estimating a putative taxon base rate and using that estimate to generate the taxon comparative data, we estimate CCFI-profiles with each base rate estimate between .025 and .975 in increments of .025. Nine indicators (1. Preoccupation, 2.Withdrawal, 3.Tolerance, 4.Reduce/stop, 5.Continue despite problems, 6.Give up other activities, 7.Escape adverse moods, 8.Deceive/cover up, and 9.Risk/lose) according to the prescriptions of the DSM-5 were used as well as a four-indicator set based on ICD-11. The analyses draw on data from German ninth-grade students collected between 2013 and 2019 as part of a periodic representative survey. Overall, N = 36 630 (response rates: 41.4-68.5%; 50.2 % male, 27.3 % with migration background) adolescents were reached. The Video Game Dependency Scale (CSAS) was used to assess IGD symptoms in accordance with DSM-5. Results:Regarding the total sample (DSM-5: CCFI-mean-profile = 0.311; ICD-11: CCFI-mean-profile = 0.175), the male sample (CCFI-mean-profile = 0.162/0.046), and female sample (CCFI-mean-profile = 0.390/0.268), strong support for the superiority of a dimensional model was detected. Conclusion: It seems necessary to define diagnostic thresholds regarding IGD-symptom burden based on external criteria (e.g., IGD-related incapacity to work or truancy). Further studies are necessary to substantiate this result in different samples using different measurement approaches.
Keywords: Internet gaming disorder, taxometrics, latent structure, behavioral addictions, Psychometric Assessment
Received: 06 Apr 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kliem, Fischer, Krieg, Baier and Rehbein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sören Kliem, Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, Jena, Germany
Dirk Baier, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, 8401, Zürich, Switzerland
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