Bidirectionality Between Perceived Immediate and Long-Term Benefits and Losses and Internet Gaming Disorder Among Chinese Adolescent Gamers: Prospective Longitudinal Study

This study was innovative in integrating time perspective into both perceived benefits and losses of internet gaming, a cognitive dimension previously overlooked in literature. The current findings advance the field by revealing the unidimensional predictive effects of IGD on perceived immediate and long-term benefits and losses, with 2 exceptions of perceived immediate and long-term benefits of mental health and personal achievement conversely predicting IGD. These results contribute to the development of effective interventions: the cognitive components should go beyond the general pros and cons of gaming and target the potential temporal bias gamers hold.