Investigating the Prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder among University Students in Lebanon and Associated Risk Factors

Abstract

Internet gaming has become a wide-spread phenomenon throughout the 21st century, and even though it provides us with a leisure activity and an opportunity to connect with people, it has become an addiction among a unique, vulnerable population, known by the DSM-5 as Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Psychologists have begun to extensively study the prevalence of IGD across the world and its risk factors, where majority of the findings are based in the Western pacific and Southeast Asia, with a minority of research in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Lebanon. Therefore, guided by the I-PACE model of addiction, the aims of the study are to determine the prevalence of IGD among university students in Lebanon, identify crucial risk factors associated with IGD and provide mental health resources.

The study follows a cross-sectional design, where participants did in an online survey consisting of questionnaires and scales (in English and Arabic), including the IGD-short form scale (IGDS9-SF) and measures for the 8 risk factors of interest. Due to the time constraints for graduation and the ongoing war in Lebanon, the sample size was reduced to at least 300 from an original 462. Afterwards, the prevalence of IGD among the sample was determined, and then a multiple regression analysis was conducted among the 8 risk factors of interest and IGD. After data collection, which occurred from February 6th, 2026 to March 21st, 2026, an unclean data sample of 317 participants was obtained. After data cleaning and assumption tests were conducted on RStudio, a final sample size of 296 participants was used for data analysis (n = 296). Due to the presence of heteroscedasticity in the data, a robust standard error (HC3) approach was implemented alongside a multiple regression analysis.

The analysis revealed a 4.4% prevalence rate of IGD in the sample, which is consistent with previous literature in Lebanon and the greater Arab region. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis revealed five statistically significant predictors of IGD: time spent gaming, self-esteem, academic performance, authoritarian parenting, and the MOBA game genre. The other risk factors of interest (gender, loneliness, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting, the other game genres excluding MOBA games, and current psychological disorder diagnoses) were found to have statistically non significant associations with IGD, which warranted careful analysis and explanation. Overall, the study was able to reach its designated aims and provide sufficient support for the hypotheses made, to a high extent.

There were several strengths in the study which contributed to obtaining statistically grounded conclusions and provided the first depiction of IGD prevalence among Lebanese university students, and their associated risk factors. On the other hand, the limitations of the study highlighted that the study wasn’t representative of the general Lebanese university population, due to the sampling strategies used and the high proportion of participants from a particular university. Moreover, the use of particular measurement methods and scales may have attenuated the associations observed between the risk factors and IGD. Moreover, the cross-sectional design limits our ability to confidently assume these predictors as risk factors.

Henceforth, it is recommended that future research investigate IGD in Lebanon through a longitudinal design, investigate other risk factors represented in the previous literature, use measuring methods and scales that are appropriate for the young adult population in Lebanon, and to do such research with a larger, more representative sample of Lebanese university students.