Motivational Profiles of Adolescent Gaming and Their Associations with Psychopathology and Well-Being

Abstract Digital gaming is a common leisure activity among adolescents, yet its relationship with mental health remains poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that gaming motivations may be more informative than gaming behavior per se for understanding adolescent psychological outcomes. The present study examined associations between gaming motives and mental health and identified distinct motivational profiles among adolescent gamers. Participants were Swedish adolescents aged 14–17 years ( n = 418; 62.2 % boys). Gaming motives were assessed across seven domains, and mental health was operationalized across both dimensions of the dual-continua model: psychopathology, indexed by internalizing and externalizing problems, and positive mental health, indexed by subjective well-being. Latent profile analysis identified four motivational profiles: low-motive gamers, broadly motivated gamers, competition-oriented gamers, and highly motivated gamers. Avoidance-oriented motives (escape, coping, fantasy) were associated with lower well-being and higher internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas competence-related motives (competition, skill development) were associated with more favorable well-being. Two profiles represented potential clinical risk groups: broadly motivated gamers reported the highest internalizing problems, and highly motivated gamers the highest externalizing problems. These findings suggest that assessing gaming motivations and not merely gaming frequency, may improve identification of at-risk adolescents and inform more targeted clinical screening and intervention.