Gaming disorder and stigma-related judgements of gaming individuals: An online randomized controlled trial.

The Attribution Questionnaire (AQ) and Universal Stigma Scale (USS) assessed stigma towards each gamer vignette. Vignettes described a problem gamer (with features of GD); a regular gamer (frequent gaming; some life interference); and a casual gamer (infrequent gaming; no life interference) FINDINGS: Problem gamer vignettes (mean [M] = 113.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 111.5-115.4) received higher AQ stigma ratings than regular (M = 94.0; 95% CI = 91.9-95.9) and casual gamers (M = 80.1; 95% CI = 78.2-82.1). While significant, the effect of health information type on AQ stigma ratings was negligible (addiction group [M = 97.6; 95% CI = 95.9-99.1], non-addiction group [M = 94.1; 95% CI = 92.6-95.8]). However, the addiction information lowered on USS blame and responsibility to non-addiction information with at least a small effect (99.1% confidence) CONCLUSIONS: Framing of problem gaming as an addictive disorder or non-addictive activity appears to have a negligible effect on stigma of different gamers among middle-aged adults with minimal gaming experience. The concept of 'gaming addiction' seems unlikely to be an important influence on public stigma of gaming.