Personality traits in adolescents with the Internet Gaming Disorder. Part

Introduction: The aim of this study was to characterize types of gamers in terms of selected personality traits. Material and methods: The study involved 576 individuals aged 16 to 19 years. The participants were surveyed using Gough and Heilbrun’s ACL, the Coping with Stress Questionnaire, and the Psychological Inventory of the Aggression Syndrome. Results: The four types of online gamers identified in the first part of the study reported in this paper differed significantly in the following personality characteristics: self-image, coping styles and aggression types. Conclusions: 1


Introduction
This paper presents a continuation of our previous study reported in the article entitled "A typology of adolescent online gamers.Part 1".In the second part of the study we searched for personality traits characteristic of online gamers.
Meixner [9] reports that people who are addicted to Internet use are characterized by impulsiveness, an increased sense of loneliness, fear, shyness and a low selfesteem.Gentile et al. [10] emphasize that impulsiveness, a low sense of social competence and a lack of empathy are risk factors for Internet gaming addiction.Kwon et al. [11] conclude from their study of a sample of 1,136 adolescents that addiction to the Internet, and especially to Internet games is caused by a low self-esteem, which leads to a lowering of mood.Games are used as a form of "consolation" and a way of coping with negative emotions.
Chumbley and Griffiths [12], Grüsser et al. [13] and Wan and Chiou [14] argue that video games offer an alternative world in which young people can cope with their negative emotions, reduce their internal stress, and find refuge from the real world [15].Thalemann [16] stresses that individuals who play computer games pathologically are less likely to use adaptive coping strategies than non-gaming individuals, and are more likely to cope with difficulties by using the media, i.e. by watching TV and using the computer and the Internet.Grüsser and colleagues [13] point out that gaming is a nonadaptive stress-coping strategy, which allows gamers to avoid being hurt.
Kim et al. [6] report that 44.3% of the adolescents they studied played computer games to create an interactive character -the protagonist of the game, whom they could endow with whatever characteristics they wanted to, including gender, appearance, or skills.According to Ryan et al. [17] and Wan and Chiou [18], by playing computer games, people can meet their need for competence and autonomy, as they get to decide the appearance, personality traits, and the skills of the characters they create.Ng and Wiemer-Hastings [19] claim that in moving to "higher levels" of a game and winning "rewards", adolescent gamers fulfil their need for achievement.
The Internet, and especially video games, allow people to meet their various emotional needs, including the need for power and aggression.Wan and Chiou [14] observe that playing massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) allows one to experience a sense of control and power over virtual subjects through the character one creates.Chwaszcz et al. [20] emphasize that players experience a sense of power as they decide when to start and quit the game and whether or not to return to the same scenario and action.
According to Gentile et al. [21], Kuntsche [22], Chiu et al. [23] and Yen et al. [24] adolescents addicted to online gaming and visiting Internet chatrooms show higher levels of hostility both online and in real life than nonaddicted persons.Wan and Chiou [14] and Kim et al. [6] believe that an increased need for aggression is satisfied primarily by playing computer games in which the player has the opportunity to use violence without bearing the consequences of his or her actions.Kim et al. [6], Wang and Yang [25], and Peng et al. [26] all hypothesize that people with severe aggression readily play violent computer games.In the opinion of Slater et al. [27] and Przybylski et al. [28], aggression understood as a personality trait, predisposes people to playing violent computer games, and the brutal content of computer games reinforces their aggressive tendencies [29,30].
Kim et al. [6], who surveyed 1,471 adolescents using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, found that a high level of aggression and low self-control were risk factors for developing gaming addiction.Whang and Chang [31] and Bayraktar and Gün [32] suggest that killing and using violence in online games, especially role playing games (RPG) increases young people's aggression towards themselves and other people.Similar observations are reported by Ko et al. [33], who revealed that Internet addiction, browsing Internet pornography and playing computer games predispose young people to using aggression outside of Internet relations.According to Gentile et al. [21], Kuntsche [22], Chiu et al. [23] and Yen et al. [24], adolescents who are addicted to online gaming and chatting show higher levels of hostility both online and offline than non-addicted persons.
According to some authors [34,35,36], it is not the games themselves, but the amount of time spent playing violent computer games, that causes an increase in aggressive behavior in adolescents.Möller and Krahé [35] and Lemmens et al. [36] found that exposure to aggression in computer games inclines adolescents to use physical aggression.At the same time, Young [37] observed that sytuacji stresu stosuje środki psychoaktywne, przejawia zachowania autoagresywne oraz reaguje agresją przeniesioną.

Słowa kluczowe: gry internetowe, typologia, osobowość
Curr Probl Psychiatry 2022;23 (4) increased aggression and irritability in adolescents who played violent computer games could be a symptom of quitting or limiting the amount of time spent on playing this type of games.Adolescents behave aggressively when they cannot play, e.g. at school or at home, when their parents restrict access to games [37].
The aim of this study was to characterize the four types of online gamers we had identified in our previous article entitled "A typology of adolescent online gamers.Part 1" in terms of selected personality traits: self-image, coping strategies and severity of the aggression syndrome.

Participants
The study involved 576 individuals aged 16 to 19 years, including 326 girls and 250 boys who reported Internet gaming.The mean age of the participants was 17 years.All participants were high-school students, inhabitants of the Lublin Province.58% of the young people came from rural and 42% from urban areas.
In the paper "A typology of adolescent online gamers.Part 1", presenting the first portion of our research results, we identified four types of online gamers: 1-severely addicted, 2-moderately addicted, 3-mildly addicted, and 4-non-addicted gamers.

Methods
The following instruments were used in this study: Gough and Heilbrun's ACL [38], Janke, Erdman and Boucsein's Coping with Stress Questionnaire [39], and the Psychological Inventory of the Aggression Syndrome by Gaś [40].

Results
In the first stage of the study, four types of online gamers (type 1 -severely addicted, type 2 -moderately addicted, type 3 -mildly addicted, and type 4 nonaddicted) were compared in terms of selected personality traits: self-image, coping strategies and aggression level.
Table 1 shows the results of ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test comparing the scores obtained by the four groups of adolescents on the scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL).The results of the post hoc test showed that severely addicted young gamers (Type 1), compared to mildly addicted adolescents (Type 3), obtained significantly lower scores on the ACL scales Number of favorable adjectives checked (p = 0.04) and Intraception (p = 0.02), but scored significantly higher on the scales Number of unfavorable adjectives checked (p = 0.001) and Adapted child (p = 0.04).These results indicate that compared to Type 3 gamers, young people with severe online gaming addiction symptoms (Type 1) have a more negative selfesteem and a hostile, aggressive and distrustful attitude toward other people; they also lack insight into their own behavior and into the motives of other people, are more dependent and show a tendency to escape from stress and reality into the world of dreams.
Severely addicted young gamers (Type 1), compared to young people who were not at risk of addiction to Internet gaming (Type 4) had significantly lower scores on the ACL scales of Number of favorable adjectives checked (p = 0.002), Intraception (p = 0.05), Nurturance (p = 0.02), Deference (p = 0.003) and Personal adjustment ( p = 0.01), and significantly higher scores on the scales of Number of unfavorable adjectives checked (p = 0.001), Counseling readiness (p = 0.01), Critical parent (p = 0.01), and Adapted child ( p = 0.004).These results indicate that addicted young online gamers, compared to their non-risk peers (Type 4), are characterized by a more negative selfesteem, have difficulty understanding the motives of their own and other people's behavior; are prone to humiliate and criticize others; are stubborn, conflictual and impulsive; seek to compete with others; have adaptation difficulties and a tendency to escape from stress and reality into the world of fantasy.
Young gamers who played to meet the need for aggression, domination and seeking new experiences (Type 2) obtained significantly lower scores than Type 4 gamers (not at risk of online gaming addiction) on the ACL scales Endurance (p = 0.05), Order (p = 0.01), Deference (p = 0.03) and Adult (p = 0.005), and significantly higher scores on the scales Number of unfavorable adjectives checked (p = 0.03) and Critical parent (p = 0.04).Gamers who played to meet the need for aggression, domination and new sensations (Type 2), compared with their peers not at risk of Internet gaming addiction (Type 4), were characterized by a much more severe impulsivity, stubbornness and proneness to conflict; a stronger desire to compete; a lack of perseverance in performing tasks; a lack of autonomy, responsibility and ability to cope with the tasks of everyday life; and a more severe hostility toward the self and others as well as a proneness to humiliate and criticize others.
No statistically significant differences in the scores obtained on the ACL scales were found between Type 1 and Type 2 gamers and between Type 3 and Type 4 gamers.
Table 2 shows the results of ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test comparing the scores obtained by the four groups of adolescents on the scales of the Coping with Stress Questionnaire (SVF).
Statistically significant differences were found among the four groups (types) of young computer gamers on the following SVF scales: Comparison to others, Defense against fault, Seeking self-affirmation, Escaping tendency, Isolation from other people, Self-pity, Selfblaming, Aggression, and Dependence.
The results of Tukey's post hoc test indicated that severely addicted adolescents (Type 1) were significantly more likely than Type 2 gamers, who played to meet the need for aggression, domination and search for new experiences, to respond to stress with isolation (p = 0.002), self-pity, further preoccupation with their suffering (p = 0.02), self-blame (p = 0.005), and use of psychoactive drugs (p = 0.001).
Compared to adolescents who engaged in online gaming in order to satisfy the need to seek new experiences and eliminate boredom (Type 3), young people with severe symptoms of online gaming addiction (Type 1) were significantly more likely to believe, in a situation of stress, that they were better predisposed to cope with difficulties than other people (p = 0.01) and also more likely to see the source of the difficulties outside of themselves (p = 0.002).Type 1 gamers were also significantly more likely to escape from problems (p = 0.01), isolate themselves (p = 0.001), engage in self-blame (p = 0.006) and self-pity (p = 0.001), experience feelings of helplessness, failure, dejection and hopelessness (p = 0.05), respond with aggression or auto-aggression (p = 0.001), and use psychoactive drugs (p = 0.001).
In a situation of stress, young gamers with severe Internet gaming addiction symptoms (Type 1) were significantly more likely than their peers who engaged in gaming only occasionally and were not at risk of Internet gaming addiction (Type 4), to hold the compensatory belief that they were better predisposed to cope with difficulties than other people (p = 0.001), and to see the source of difficulties outside of themselves (p = 0.004), but, at the same time, they were also significantly more likely to escape from problems (p = 0.002), isolate themselves (p = 0.001), engage in self-blame (p = 0.002) and self-pity (p = 0.003), use psychoactive agents (p = 0.001) and react with aggression directed against other people, objects or the self (p = 0.001).
Individuals who played online games in order to search for new stimuli and eliminate boredom (Type 3) were significantly less likely than Type 2 gamers, who played violent games, to respond to stress with selfaggression or aggression directed against other people (p = 0.03), but were significantly more likely than Type 4 gamers, not at risk of Internet gaming addiction, to consume alcohol and use tranquilizers (p = 0.02).Table 3 shows the results of ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test comparing the scores obtained by the four groups of adolescents on the scales of the Psychological Inventory of the Aggression Syndrome (IPSA).

Statistically significant differences were found among the four groups (types) of young online gamers on all IPSA scales
The results of the post hoc test indicated that adolescent who were severely addicted to Internet gaming (Type 1) were significantly more likely than Type 2 gamers, who played to meet the need for aggression, domination and search for new experiences, to report suicidal ideation (p = 0.001), attempt suicide and engage in self-mutilation (p = 0.001), and destroy things (p = 0.009).At the same time, Type 1 gamers were significantly less likely than Type 2 gamers to control their aggressive behavior (p = 0.04).
Adolescents who were severely addicted to Internet gaming (Type 1), significantly more often than individuals who engaged in gaming to satisfy the need to seek new experiences and eliminate boredom (Type 3), reported suicidal ideation (0.05) and suicide attempts and selfmutilation (0.001), destroyed things (0.001), showed physical aggression (0.001); backbit, derided, ridiculed or accused others (0.001), and were more vengeful (0.001), suspicious, distrustful and hostile toward others (0.001).Compared to Type 3 gamers, Type 1 gamers were significantly less likely to control their aggressive behavior and express it in a socially acceptable way (0.001).
Gamers who played to meet their need for aggression, dominance and rivalry (Type2) were significantly more likely, than those who played in order to satisfy their need to seek new experiences and eliminate boredom (Type 3), to show hostility and distrust (p = 0.003) and react with indirect (p = 0.001), verbal (p = 0.01) and physical aggression (p = 0.002); they were also more likely to be vindictive (p = 0.001).
Type 2 gamers, who mainly played violent games, were significantly more likely than those not at risk of Internet gaming addiction (Type 4) to attempt suicide and engage in self-mutilation (p = 0.004), destroy objects (p = 0.001), ridicule and accuse others (p = 0.001), react with verbal (p = 0.001) and physical aggression (p = 0.001), and take revenge on other people (p = 0.001); they were less likely to control their aggressive behavior and express it in a socially acceptable manner (p = 0.02).
Type 3 gamers were significantly more likely than Type 4 gamers to think about suicide (p = 0.04), attempt suicide and engage in self-mutilation (p = 0.001), destroy things to relieve anger (p = 0.001), take revenge on other people and retaliate when they felt wronged (p = 0.01).

Results and Discussion
The results of the statistical analyses indicated that the four types of gamers identified in our study differed significantly in their self-image, the ways they cope with stress and their level of aggression.Gamers who were severely addicted to video games (Type 1) had high levels of self-image characteristics such as negative self-esteem, cantankerousness, impulsiveness, stubbornness, risk-taking, distrust, sense of being rejected, need for aggression, lack of perseverance in performing tasks; lack of autonomy, responsibility and ability to cope with everyday tasks; hostility towards oneself and others, a tendency to humiliate and criticize others, and low adaptability.In moderately addicted gamers (Type 2 -individuals who prefer violent games), those traits were slightly less pronounced.
Compared to the remaining groups, Type 2 gamers were characterized by the most intense need for exhibitionism and manipulating others to remain in the center of attention; they were also more self-centered and showed a stronger desire to act against authority, to break social norms and rules, to obtain quick gratification and to seek new experiences; at the same time, they were less self-disciplined and responsible.
The self-image traits listed above were substantially less prominent in Type 3 (mildly addicted) and Type 4 (not addicted) gamers.
With regard to coping styles, it should be emphasized that Type 1 (severely addicted) gamers were more likely to use avoidance-focused and emotion-focused coping, compared to the remaining groups of gamers (Types: 2, 3 and 4).Type 1 gamers were statistically significantly more likely to respond to stress by isolating themselves, showing aggression towards themselves and others, having a sense of helplessness and failure, running away from problems and using psychoactive drugs.Type 2 gamers (who preferred violent games and were moderately addicted) were significantly more likely than Type 3 (mildly addicted) gamers to react with aggression in a stressful situation, and significantly more likely than Type 4 (non-addicted) gamers to use psychoactive drugs to cope with stress.
An analysis of the severity and types of aggression the individual types of gamers were prone to display showed that severely addicted (Type 1) gamers were significantly more likely than moderately addicted, mildly addicted and non-addicted persons to respond to stress with physical, indirect aggression, and self-aggression, and significantly less likely to express aggression in socially acceptable ways.Severely addicted (Type 1) and moderately addicted (Type 2) gamers did not differ only in the level of verbal aggression they used.Both Type 1 and Type 2 gamers were significantly more likely to use all of the previously mentioned types of aggression to deal with stress compared with their mildly addicted and nonaddicted peers.
The results obtained in this study are consistent with the findings of other researchers, who point out that there is a relationship between Internet gaming addiction and an increased need to search for new experiences [41,42], negative self-esteem [11,43], and a weaker sense of social competence [10].Collins et al. [44] believe that increased impulsivity and low levels of self-regulation can be factors which both trigger and sustain the symptoms of Internet gaming addiction.According to Yen and colleagues [24] and Walther and colleagues [45], addiction to online gaming co-occurs with increased hostility and aggression.Thalemann [16] emphasizes that people who pathologically play computer games are less likely to use adaptive coping strategies than non-gaming individuals, and are more likely to cope with difficulties by using the media, i.e. by watching TV and using the computer and the Internet.Grüsser et al. [13] point out that gaming represents a non-adaptive stress-coping strategy and that it allows gamers to escape from being hurt.
The results obtained in the present study closely correspond with the opinion of the authors [46,47,48] that adolescents who pathologically engage in online gaming are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and use psychoactive drugs.Ream et al. [49] employ the terms "parallel" or "competitive use" to refer to engaging in online gaming while taking psychoactive substances.The use of psychoactive substances during online gaming is motivated by the need to regulate negative emotions, enhance the positive experiences of gaming, and eliminate the unpleasant emotional impact of the game by using psychoactive substances, or vice versa 49].
In the search for the etiology of Internet gaming addiction, special attention should be paid to the results reported by Wan and Chiou [50] and Bostan and Kaplancali [51], who conducted detailed analyses of what motivated players to play various online games.Wan and Chiou [50] name several groups of emotional needs which motivate individuals to engage in gaming: the need for entertainment, coping with loneliness, a sense of isolation, the need to relieve anger, to escape from reality, and to make friends, the need for affiliation, and the need for achievement, power and a sense of superiority.According to these authors [50], gaming can be used by players as an emotional coping strategy.Bostan and Kaplancali [51] believe that gaming also satisfies the need for recognition, exhibitionism, sex, aggression, and domination.Chumbley and Griffiths [12], Grüsser et al. [52], and Wan and Chiou [50] emphasize that computer games represent to young people an alternative world which gives them the possibility of coping with negative emotions, reducing internal stress escaping the real world, and, above all, satisfying many emotional needs.Failure to satisfy these needs in the family and in relationships with peers, the inability to constructively cope with stress and negative emotions, the inability to express aggression in a socially acceptable way, and a negative self-image may, according to research, be important factors promoting the development of Internet gaming addiction in adolescents.

Conclusions
1. Individuals severely addicted to Internet gaming, significantly more often than those addicted moderately, mildly or not addicted at all, used escapist and emotional coping strategies and responded with auto-aggression, and physical and displaced aggression.Compared to respondents not addicted to online gaming, they had a more negative self-esteem and were characterized by greater impulsivity, proneness to conflict, adaptation difficulties, hostility, self-centeredness, and less responsibility and autonomy.2. Adolescents moderately addicted to gaming, compared to their non-addicted peers, were characterized by greater hostility, impulsivity, proneness to conflict, tendency to humiliate others and verbal, physical and indirect aggression.3. Young people with mild online gaming addiction, significantly more often than non-addicted adolescents, used psychoactive drugs, showed selfaggressive behavior and responded with displaced aggression in situations of stress.

Table 2 .
Mean scores obtained by the four groups (types) of gamers on SVF scales Note: Type 1 -Addicted gamers, Type 2 -Gamers who play to satisfy the need for aggression, domination and rivalry and who like to go against social norms, Type 3 -Gamers who play to eliminate boredom, boost their mood, and seek new stimuli, Type 4 -Individuals who play online games from time to time only (not at risk of Internet gaming addiction) Levels of significance *p<0.05;**p<0.01;***p<0.001

Table 3 .
Mean scores obtained by the four groups (types) of gamers on IPSA scales (4)e: Type 1 -Addicted gamers, Type 2 -Gamers who play to satisfy the need for aggression, domination and rivalry and who like to go against social norms, Type 3 -Gamers who play to eliminate boredom, boost their mood, and seek new stimuli, Type 4 -Individuals who play online games from time to time only (not at risk of Internet gaming addiction) Levels of significance *p<0.05;**p<0.01;***p<0.001CurrProbl Psychiatry 2022;23(4)