The Influences of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Support on Male Teenagers' Gaming Motivation: A Moderated Network Analysis

Introduction: Strong gaming motivations can lead to gaming-related health problems, but how gaming motivations are formed is unclear. Therefore, we examined the impact of early life experiences on gaming motivations.

Methods: Questionnaire data on the gaming motivations, adverse childhood experiences, and social support of 2,171 teenaged online game players were modeled using moderated network analysis.

Results: All adverse childhood experience components positively correlated with achievement and escapism motivations (weight range: 0.08-0.40). Social support from friends (weight = -0.04) negatively moderated the relationship between achievement motivation and other adverse childhood experiences and positively moderated (weight = 0.01) the relationship between escapism motivation and familial dysfunction.

Discussion: The findings indicate that adverse childhood experiences foster negative gaming motivations. Additionally, social support moderates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and gaming motivations. These findings offer valuable insights that nursing practitioners can apply to gaming-related health problem interventions and prevention in teenagers.