Video Game Playing, Dependency and Delinquency: A Question of Methodology? Maree Abbott Barbara Palmisano Mark Dickerson

University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Australia

A methodological challenge to Fisher's (1992) study of adolescent fruit machine gamblers was carried out with young video game players. Fisher (1992) described an association between frequency fruit machine playing, dependency and delinquency. Some methodological concerns were considered that might weaken this conclusion, in particular the use of heterogeneous measures that fail to distinguish between variables. As such measures feature elsewhere in contemporary gambling research it was deemed important to examine some of the potential problems that may arise. 183 11-16 year old video game players (152 males; 31 females) were recruited from four amusement arcades to answer a computerised questionnaire. Using an analysis similar to Fisher (1992) her results for adolescent fruit machine use were 'confirmed'. However a separation of key variables and the use of a multiple regression analysis showed that of money spent, time spent and impaired choice, only the first was a significant predictor of delinquency. It is suggested that delinquents have higher disposable incomes to spend on their leisure activities. Video game playing and possibly fruit machine gambling appear to be independently associated with delinquency; in video game playing this association is not mediated by dependency. It was argued that a similar methodology should be used in the U K to re-examine Fisher's (1992) conclusions for children who use gaming machines.

Send reprint requests (including copy of the survey instrument) to Associate Professor Mark Dickerson, Australian Institute for Gambling Research, University of Western Sydney, Mac- arthur, PO Box 555, Campbelltown 2560. The authors wish to thank Timezone Amusement Arcades for the generous use of their centres, Colin Davis for programming the questionnaire and Dr. Sung-Mook Hong for statistical advice.

Journal of GamblingStudies Vol. 11(3), Fall 1995 9 1995 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

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In the development of research into problem gambling, measures such as the DSM III (APA, 1980), the later revisions and the only psychometric scale, the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) (Lesieur & Blume, 1987, 1993) are heterogeneous instruments that include several divergent variables. Although such approaches to psychological measurement have their place (Anastasi, 1990) their use as independent variables in research that explores the correlates and causes of problem gambling is potentially hazardous. The present study is essentially a methodological illustration of this problem when exploring adolescent gambling behaviour. The gambling behaviour of young people is a relatively recent field of research. The accessibility of slot-machine gambling to minors in the UK has led to a passionate debate regarding the alleged association between frequency of play, dependency and delinquency (Fisher, 1991; Griffiths, 1991; Huxley & Carroll, 1992). Fisher (1992) has suggested that a minority of young people may become dependent on these so-called 'fruit machines' and consequently partake in delinquent and anti-social activities to fund their play. The empirical evidence for a link between dependency and delinquency is rife with methodological and theoretical problems. Many studies are largely descriptive and do not employ appropriate control groups to test for significant between-group differences even on the main dependent variable itself, delinquency (e.g., Ladouceur & Mireault, 1988; Huff & Collinson, 1987; Griffiths, 1990a; Trott & Griffiths, 1991). Furthermore, many studies in this area have failed to adequately measure dependency or impaired choice. For example, the fact that some young people spend all of their income on fruit machines cannot be considered, in itself, an indicator of dependency because this may simply be the way they choose to spend their leisure time and money (e.g., Huxley & Carroll, 1992; Griffiths, 1990b; Graham, 1988, cited in Fisher, 1991). Fisher (1992) attempted to address these issues in a study of 284 11-16 year old fruit machine players recruited from an English secondary school. Using a 9 item (12 question) measure, subjects were divided into two groups on the basis of proposed DSM4-J (J --juvenile) criteria that parallel the DSM4 diagnostic criteria for excessive adult gamblers. Subjects were classified as 'probable pathological' gamblers if they answered yes to four or more of the nine items, or 'social' gamblers otherwise. Subsequent to classification subjects also answered questions about the amount of time and money they spent on fruit ma-

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chines, and whether they had committed any anti-social or delinquent acts to support their gambling behaviour. Fisher reported that the 'probable pathological gamblers' group spent significantly more time and money on fruit machines than the 'social gambler' group. They were also significantly more likely to commit anti-social or delinquent acts to fund their play. Fisher concluded that there is an association between fruit machine playing, dependency and delinquency. However, this conclusion appears to be premature as a result of methodological and theoretical concerns with Fisher's study; these are considered below. A major problem with Fisher's methodology is the confounding of classificatory and dependent variables. Fisher used five questions (four of which were delinquency items) as both dependent variables and classificatory variables; that is, two of the proposed DSM4-J items used to divide subjects into the two groups were also used to test for differences between groups. For example, one of the proposed DSM4-J items asked, "In the past year have you stolen money from outside the family, or shoplifted, to play on fruit machines?", while the "dependency" item asked, "How often have you stolen from sources outside of the family, or shoplifted, to fund gambling in the past year?" It is hardly surprising, then, that Fisher (1992) found significant differences between these groups on measures of delinquency, because the two groups were partly formed on the basis of delinquency differences. Any index of excessive gambling must demonstrate that the subjects being labelled as excessive gamblers are experiencing some degree of impaired choice 1 in their gambling behaviour. Fisher's proposed diagnostic criteria for DSM4-J only addressed this issue in part. Although one of the items concerned "chasing" behaviour, 2 other items did not adequately measure impaired choice. Response formats and the wording of some questions represent further methodological problems in Fisher's study (1992). Leaving aside methodological concerns Fisher's (1992)findings

ZThis construct is analogous to that of impaired control in adults, the latter being central to dependency in gambling (Dickerson, 1989). 2Chasing is a belief and behaviour cluster which keeps a person gambling despite losses, because, for example, the machine is bound to payout soon. Chasing behaviour is taken as a measure of impaired control, or 'dependency', but is common to most people who gamble in varying degrees. While excessive chasing behavior can be considered one aspect of gambling dependency, the mere experience of chasing behaviour should not immediately label an individual as a dependent gambler (Dickerson, 1989).

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can be given alternative explanations. Agnew and Peterson (1989) have shown that factors commonly associated with amusement arcades may predict delinquency in adolescents. T h e y found that unstructured activities without a clear set of conventional goals and no parental involvement, such as "hanging out," were associated with delinquency. The amount of time spent in these leisure activities with peers was also positively associated with delinquency. Riley (1987) found evidence suggesting that 14-15 year old delinquents spend their leisure time differently from adolescents who have not participated in delinquent acts. The delinquent group generally went out with friends more, were expected home later and spent more money in amusement arcades and discos. Thus the characteristics of amusement arcade environments may expose adolescents to delinquents or delinquent activities. An interesting ramification of this possibility is that it explains the association independently of gambling behaviour, and thus could also account for associations between delinquency and frequency of play of nongambling amusement machines. Both video games and fruit machines can be found in British amusement arcades (Fisher, 1991). This has led researchers to speculate about possible associations between the two activities. Specifically, playing video games may lead to fruit machine play; some adolescents may then become 'dependent' on fruit machines and delinquency may ensue (Fisher, 1991; Griffiths, 1990). Additionally, some researchers (e.g., Griffiths, 1991) have suggested that video games are potentially 'addictive' in their own right, and that they may cause some young people to commit delinquent activities to fund their play. Studies of home-based and arcade video games have failed to find any correlation between frequency of play and identifiable problems such as poor school performance (Egli & Meyers, 1984; Creasey & Myers, 1986). Furthermore, researchers have not found any significant differences between high and tow frequency video game players on social deviancy (Gibb, Bailey, Lambirth & Wilson, 1983), and conduct disorder (McClure & Mears, 1986). The present study was intended as a controlled comparison with Fisher's (1992) study. In Australia minors are prohibited from gambling, and thus do not have access to fruit machines. In other respects, however, amusement arcades in Australia are very similar to those in Britain. The purpose of the present study was to determine if fre-

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quency of play, impaired choice, or some combination of these factors, in the absence of any gambling behaviour, predict delinquency. This study surveyed the same age range as Fisher (1992), and the same confidentiality assurances were included to encourage honest responses to questions about delinquent behaviours. The present study also attempted to overcome the methodological problems of Fisher's (1992) study. Also of interest were subjects' motivations for playing video games. It was expected that subjects would vary greatly in why they like to play video games. Fisher's (1992) results may be interpreted in the light of Agnew and Petersen's (1989) finding that characteristics common to amusement arcade environments are associated with delinquency. Since these characteristics are also associated with Australian amusement arcades, it was hypothesised that frequency of play of video games in an arcade would also be associated with delinquency. Choice or control over time and money expenditure was assessed independently to examine the relationship between impaired choice and delinquency.

METHOD

Subjects 226 subjects were recruited from Campbelltown, Liverpool, Fairfield and St Marys Timezone video arcades. These arcades are located in south western Sydney with the exception of St Marys which is located in Sydney's north west. Each arcade was visited at least once during the afternoon, evening and weekend to obtain samples of youth who play video games at different times during the week. In order to facilitate comparison with Fisher's (1992) study, subjects who were not aged between 11 and 16 or who had already left school were excluded from the analysis. This resulted in a final sample size of 183 11-16 year olds. The breakdown of age by gender is presented in Table 1.

Apparatus Two IBM-compatible laptop computers were used to administer the thirty-three item questionnaire.

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Table 1 Number of Male and Female Subjects in E a c h Age Group

Age

Ma&

Fema&

11-12 13-14 15-16

44 64 44

2 16 13

Total

152

31

Construction of Questionnaire The questionnaire is available from the authors. In addition to demographic details (age, sex and income), there were four basic areas of interest: motivation to play, frequency of play, impaired choice and delinquency. In order to assess subjects' motivations for playing video games a broad range of possible reasons were included for subjects to endorse. Frequency of play questions were similar to Fisher's (1992), with two important modifications: broader response sets were used and subjects were only asked to report frequency information for the last week. Information about subjects' frequency of play (time and money spent) and number of visits to the arcade per week were obtained in order to make the data comparable to Fisher's and assess any associations with delinquency. The impaired choice items were designed to assess impaired choice independently of the delinquency items thereby preventing the confounding of classificatory and dependent variables. Questions about participation in delinquent activities were based on Fisher (1992), including items about cutting classes, stealing, borrowing and selling goods. Confidentiality assurances were displayed on the screen at the start of the questionnaire and with each delinquency question. Four questions about machine preferences were asked on a quidpro quo basis for the Timezone Company. These questions were not intended to be included in the analysis. All questions, with the exception of two questions for Timezone, were in multiple choice format. Procedure

Flyers advertising two free game passes for participating in a video game study were distributed among Timezone clients. Subjects were

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seated at a computer while the experimenter started the program. A short introduction to the study was displayed. Because all responses were in multiple choice format the relevant letters (from a to h) were highlighted on the keyboard; subjects pressed a letter and then the 'enter' key to respond to the questions. Only one question was displayed on the screen at a time. Once subjects responded the next question would appear. On completion of the questionnaire subjects were thanked for their participation and given two free game passes.

RESULTS No significant sex or age differences were found for any of the following analyses. The results throughout are therefore presented for the group as a whole. Subjects visited arcades between three and four times a week (N =' 183, SD = 1.77) spending an average of three to four hours there per week (N = 183, SD = 1.92). The average amount of money spent playing video games per week was between six and ten dollars (N = 183, SD = 1.71).

Motivation Items Subjects' responses to the motivation to play video games questions are presented in Table 2. Subjects played video games because they are exciting or as something to do, rather than to forget their troubles. A reliability analysis carried out on the six motivation items

Table 2 Percentage Endorsement of Motivation Items

Motivation 'Something to do' 'Exciting...' 'To forget troubles' 'To meet friends' 'To compete . . .' 'Become more skilled'

Never 6 3 42 16 10 9

Rarely Sometimes Often Always 8 1 14 17 14 7

34 24 28 36 31 27

31 25 9 18 16 22

21 47 8 14 28 36

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obtained an unequal length Spearman-Brown alpha coefficient of .45. This low alpha coefficient may reflect the broad range of behaviours assessed by the scale; subjects were fairly heterogeneous in their motivations for playing video games. Delinquency Items

The term 'delinquency' has been preferred here for brevity but the items included refer only to acts in support of playing video games which m a y also be but a small part of a general set of delinquent behaviours. As can be seen in Table 3 mean scores on delinquency items were at the lower end of the scale, indicating that (overall) subjects never or rarely participated in delinquent activities to support video game play. Subjects were more likely to borrow from family or others than to steal or sell goods. A reliability analysis of the six delinquency items results in a Spearman-Brown alpha of. 76. An alpha of. 83 would have resulted if the first delinquency item (cut classes) was removed. This may be attributable to the fact that cutting classes is a minor and more acceptable delinquent behaviour and the only item not concerned with money. A principle components analysis of the delinquency items extracted only one factor explaining 58% of the variance. Unrotated factor

Table 3 Unrotated Factor Loading, Mean and SD for Delinquency Items Items

1. Cut classes 2. Borrow money from family/friends 3. Borrow from others 4. Steal from family/friends 5. Steal from others 6. Sell goods to fund Eigenvalue % Explained Cumulative %

M

SD

I

he

.82 1.26

1.48 1.50

.69 .72

.47 .52

1.00 .41 .36 .39

1.37 1.10 1.03 1.08

.76 .82 .81 .75

.58 .67 .65 .56

3.45 57.50 57.50

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loadings, communalities and eigenvalues are presented in Table 3. This factor was labelled a general delinquency factor. On the basis of the results of the reliability and factor analyses it seemed acceptable to calculate a total delinquency score by adding all of the delinquency items. This resulted in a total delinquency score between 0 and 30, where 0 indicated that the subject had never participated in delinquent behaviours to support video game play. The mean delinquency score was 4.2 (SD -- 5.7), although the median represented a better measure of central tendency, as the overall distribution was strongly positively skewed (Mdn = 2). This indicates that the majority of subjects did not partake in delinquent acts to support their play. A minority of subjects had high delinquency scores; 23 subjects obtained a score of 10 or more, and eight subjects scored 16 or more.

Impaired Choice Items Choice items were recoded so that a high score indicated impaired choice. Eighteen subjects who answered 'non-applicable' to one or more of the questions relating to impaired choice were excluded from the analysis of choice items. A reliability analysis of the eight impaired choice items showed that the removal of item seven (spending all spare money on video games) increased alpha to .71; resulting in the exclusion of item 7 from further analyses. A principal components analysis was carried out on the remaining seven impaired choice items, the results of which are presented in Table 4. A varimax rotation extracted two factors which explained 38% and 20 % of the variance respectively. As can been seen in Table 4, the items that loaded high on the first factor were related to setting limits to time and money expenditure whereas the two items that loaded high on the second factor concerned breaking financial limits. Both characteristics represent choice or control over video game play and it was decided to retain all seven items. As none of the items loaded negatively on Factor 1 it seemed acceptable to sum the scores on these seven items giving an impaired choice score ranging from 0-28 (Mean = 13.02, SD = 5.47).

Excessive vs. Normal Players An exploratory analysis dividing subjects into two groups was carried out for the purpose of comparing the present results to those

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Table 4 Rotated Factor Loadings, Mean and SD for Impaired Choice Items Loading on Factor I and Factor II Item

1. I spend more money than I intend to on video games 2. I spent money on video games that was meant for other purposes 3. When I have made up my mind not to come to the arcade I can stick to it 4. I can leave the video arcade after a few games if I want 5. When I am playing video games I find it easy to stop 6. When I decide how much to spend on video games I can stick to it 8. When I know I only have a short time to play video games I can stick to it Eigenvalue % Explained Cumulative %

M

SD

I

II

h2

2.31

1.22

.00

.86

.74

1.37

1.22

.13

.85

.74

2.06

1.36

.65

-.02

.42

1.61

1.34

.78

.04

.61

2.07

1.31

.76

.03

.58

1.86

1.29

.73

.18

.56

1.75

.31

.64

.08

.41

2.66 38.00 38.00

1.41 20.10 58.10

o b t a i n e d b y Fisher (1992). Subjects w h o spent m o r e t h a n four h o u r s p e r week in arcades, spent $16 or m o r e p e r week, visited arcades s e v e n or m o r e times a n d a n s w e r e d 'often' or 'always' to f o u r choice items " W h e n I h a v e m a d e u p m y m i n d to not c o m e to the a r c a d e I can stick to it'; "I c a n leave the video a r c a d e after a few g a m e s if I want"; " W h e n I a m p l a y i n g video g a m e s I find it easy to stop"; " W h e n I k n o w ! o n l y h a v e a short t i m e to play video g a m e s I can stick to it"; were classified as excessive players. A two-tailed t-test f o u n d that the excessive g r o u p were significantly m o r e likely to cut classes, t ( 1 8 1 ) = 4 . 3 4 , p < . 0 5 , b o r r o w f r o m family or friends, t(181) = 3.01, p < .05, a n d b o r r o w f r o m others, t(181) = 3.76, p < .001, to s u p p o r t video g a m e play. T h e y w e r e also significantly m o r e likely to steal f r o m f a m i l y or friends,

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t(181) = 2.15, p < .001, steal from others t(181) -- 2.33, p < .05, and sell goods, t(181)= 2.49, p < .001, to fund video game play.

Multiple RegressionAnalyses The intercorrelations between all variables entered into the multiple regression are presented in Table 5. The delinquency score was significantly correlated with weekly expenditure, weekly visits, hours spent in the video arcade per week ( r = . 3 7 , .26 and .32, p < . 0 0 1 , respectively) and choice ( r = .21, p < . 0 1 ) . However, when impaired choice items one and two were removed from the choice score the correlation was no longer significant (r = .14, p > . 0 5 ) . A stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out to investigate which of these variables predict delinquency. A Bonferroni adjustment (multiplying the probability values by the number of predictors) was carried out in order to protect against inflation of the Type 1 error rate ' (Harris, 1975). Money spent was the only variable that significantly predicted delinquency, accounting for 13 percent of the variance ( F = 25.1, p

Video game playing, dependency and delinquency: A question of methodology?

A methodological challenge to Fisher's (1992) study of adolescent fruit machine gamblers was carried out with young video game players. Fisher (1992) ...
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