ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1619810
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of digital addiction on mental health and comorbidities in older adultsView all 4 articles
Association of problematic usage of the internet with burnout, depression, insomnia and quality of life among Hungarian recreational esports players: a cross sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
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Background: While recreational esports are often considered a harmless hobby, problematic internet use (PUI) may be an overlooked risk factor for poor mental health outcomes.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the associations between PUI and depression, burnout, insomnia, and quality of life in adult Hungarian recreational esports players.: A total of 2,313 participants completed validated questionnaires, including the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the 9item short form of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-SF), the Athens Insomnia Scale, and the EQ-5D quality of life instrument. Statistical analyses included Student's t-test, chisquare test (χ²), Pearson's correlation, and multivariate logistic regression. Model fit was evaluated using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, Nagelkerke R², and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC). Results: Excessive internet use, as indicated by the PIUQ, was detected in 19.9% of respondents. PUI was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.08-1.12, p < 0.001), moderate to severe depression (OR = 3.25, 95% CI: 2.55-4.14, p < 0.001), severe insomnia (OR = 2.75, 95% CI: 1.85-4.08, p < 0.001), and reduced selfsufficiency as measured by the EQ-5D (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.45-2.36, p < 0.001). The final model demonstrated good fit (Hosmer-Lemeshow p = 0.21), strong explanatory power (Nagelkerke R² = 0.42), and excellent discrimination (AUC = 0.86). Conclusion: Problematic internet use is significantly associated with multiple adverse mental health outcomes among recreational gamers. These findings suggest the need for increased awareness and preventive strategies targeting PUI in adult populations engaged in digital entertainment.
Keywords: eSports, Internet addiction, insomnia, Depression, burnout, Quality of Life, Cross-sectional
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Feher, Fejes, Feher, Horvath and Tibold. 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: Gergely Feher, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
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