This study aims to see if there are any differences in the degree of computer game addiction that come from various maternal behavioral patterns of 5th or 6th graders' mothers, their interaction anxiousness and other variables(socio-demographic variab...
This study aims to see if there are any differences in the degree of computer game addiction that come from various maternal behavioral patterns of 5th or 6th graders' mothers, their interaction anxiousness and other variables(socio-demographic variables, computer-usage variables). Furthermore, the study analyzes how maternal behavior, interaction anxiousness and other variables affect children's computer game addiction.
For these purposes, randomly selected 339 children of a 5th-grader class and 6th-grader class among 5 elementary schools in Gwangju City were study subjects. A survey was conducted to these subjects to find out facts about computer game addiction. Data collected from the survey were used to produce frequency and percentage, average and standard deviation in order to identify general tendencies, maternal behavior, interaction anxiousness, computer usage reality and general tendencies of game addiction. Cronbach's coefficient was calculated to test the reliability of testing tools. In order to ascertain the difference in the extent of computer game addiction due to variables, t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted and, as a post-test, Duncan's multiple comparison test was conducted. In addition, to find out the effects of variables on computer game addiction of children Pearson's correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis were implemented.
The following is the summary of this study:
First, when the general tendencies children perceive in maternal behavior were analyzed, children tend to appreciate receptive attitude better than overprotective attitude irrespective of their sex and school grade.
The general tendencies of interaction anxiousness indicated that the lower parts of overall interaction anxiousness and all interaction anxiousness showed lesser average points than median points, and that the 6th graders had higher points than 5th graders in the lower parts of overall interaction anxiousness and all interaction anxiousness. Computer usage realities revealed that they do their games at home most frequently. Most students started games when they were at their 4th grade. To the question of how often they do the game, the majority of the students answered more 3 times per week. The average amount of time spent on game-playing was less than 1 or 2 hours for most students, but some students said they play more 2 hours per day. The most popular games were, in the order of popularity, cartrider, arcade game(that is, free Internet games available on Koorugi, Juniver, etc.), maplestory, starcraft. In terms of computer game addiction, 55.2% of children were shown to get addicted to it.
Second, when the differences in computer game addiction due to the socio-demographic variables of children were considered, there were some significant differences in sex and grade: males showed higher tendencies than females; 6th graders showed higher addiction points than 5th graders. But father's job, mother's employment or living standards did not make any significant differences in addiction.
Third, when maternal behavior has anything to do with children's game addiction, the overprotective variable showed a significant difference(p<.001) and the receptive variable did not show any significant difference. In other words, the group with high points in overprotection showed higher addiction points than middle- or low- groups.
Fourth, when children's interaction anxiousness plays any role in differing addiction, lower points in overall interaction anxiousness and all interaction anxiousness indicated significant differences in addiction(p<.001). In other words, the group with high points in interaction anxiousness showed much higher addiction points than middle- or low- groups.
Fifth, in terms of computer game playing realities, places where they enjoy games, frequencies and hour of the day showed significant differences. That is to say, children who play at PC lounges showed higher addiction points than kids who play at home or other places and children who play more than 5 times per week and more than 3 hours per day registered the highest addiction points. On the other hand, the time when they start playing did not show any significant difference.
Sixth, in order to see which variables have major impact on children's computer game addiction, Multiple Regression Analysis was conducted. The results showed that game duration(β=.30, p<.001), interaction anxiousness(β=.27, p<.001), sex(β=-.23, p<.001), game frequency(β=.21, p<.001) and overprotection (β=.11, p<.05) were shown to affect computer game addiction. These variables accounted for 47% of computer game addiction. In other words, the longer the average daily game duration is and the higher interaction anxiousness is and when it is male rather than female and the more frequently one plays games and when kids recognize that their mother is overprotective, the higher the level of their computer game addition becomes.
By providing information on variables that influence children's computer game addiction, this study will contribute to the prevention and management of computer game addiction in children.