Investigation of the Relationship Between Internet Gaming Disorder and Sensorimotor Functions in Adolescents

Investigation of the Relationship Between Internet Gaming Disorder and Reaction Time, Motor Dexterity, Neck Posture and Proprioception in Adolescents

Using computer for long have been shown to cause vision problems, musculoskeletal pain particularly in neck, postural deviations, obesity and physical inactivity in several studies. The relation between obesity and physical activity, neck pain and postural deviations with altered sensorimotor function has been also shown with many studies. However, there were not enough study that assess sensorimotor congruence such as proprioception and reaction time in adolescents diagnosed with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). This study aimed to evaluate the proprioception and reaction time and investigate its relation with the relationship with neck pain, proprioception and reaction time in adolescents with IGD.

The aim of this study is to evaluate reaction time, motor dexterity, cervical posture and proprioception and its relationship with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in adolescents. It's anticipated that 60 adolescents aged between 10-18 years will be included to this study (30 healthy adolescent; 30 adolescent with IGD. After recording sociodemografic data of participants, age of starting to use the internet, the age of starting to play games on the internet, the time spent on the internet, the name and type of the game played will be questioned. The presence of musculoskeletal pain and its localization, if any, will be recorded. The severity of internet addiction will be assessed with Internet Addiction Scale, motor dexterity will be assessed with The 9 Hole Peg Test, reaction time of upper extremity will be assessed with Ruler Drop Method, the severity of forward head posture will be assessed with Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) device, and lastly, proprioception of cervical region will be assessed with Joint Position Error which will be evaluated CROM device. All parameters will be compared between healthy adolescents and adolescents with IGD.

Inclusion Criteria:

For healthy group as follows:

• being male in age between 10-18 years old
• having accepted the research on a voluntary basis and signed the informed consent.

For the experimental group, being diagnosed with IGD according to DSM-5 is an additional criterion.

Exclusion Criteria:

• being diagnosed with psychotic, bipolar, or autism spectrum disorder
• the presence of mental retardation in the child or family that prevents answering the questions and following the instructions properly in clinical assessment
• Use of psychotropic drugs.