Title: Psychosocial and electrophysiological factors involved in video game and cannabis addiction in young people
Funded by: Fundación Canaria Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Canarias (FIISC)
Granted amount: €10,000.00
Duration: 2 years (2025–2026)
Principal investigators: Lilisbeth Perestelo Pérez (PI), Rosario J. Marrero Quevedo (Co-PI)
Associated researchers: Wenceslao Peñate, Iván Padrón, Ascensión Fumero Hernández, Melany León Méndez, Enrique Armas Vargas
Background:
There is ongoing debate about whether excessive video game use (IGD) can be considered an addiction comparable to substance use disorders (SUD). Over the past decades, the internet has become essential for information access and human connection. However, excessive use—particularly among digital-native youth—can lead to mental health issues. The World Health Organization (ICD-11, 2022) defines gaming disorder as a persistent and recurrent gaming behavior pattern (online or offline) characterized by impaired control over gaming, prioritizing gaming over other interests and activities, and continuation or escalation despite negative consequences. These behaviors must persist for at least 12 months to be clinically significant.
Cannabis use disorder (CUD), classified in the DSM-5 (2014), shares symptoms with gaming addiction, including salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse. However, the DSM’s validity for detecting less severe cannabis-related consequences has been questioned, prompting researchers to propose the category of “problematic use” as a subclinical threshold with health or social impacts. Similarly, the physiological harm from video game addiction has been debated, challenging its comparability to cannabis use.
Objective:
This project aims to identify the similarities and differences between behavioral addictions and substance addictions in young individuals who meet clinical criteria or present subclinical symptoms. It specifically compares video game addiction as a behavioral addiction and cannabis abuse as a substance addiction. The main goal is to conceptualize both behaviors—at clinical and subclinical levels—by identifying common and distinct elements through EEG neuromarkers and self-reported psychosocial measures in youth, applying a person-centered approach.
Methodology:
A case-control design will be used, including clinical, subclinical, and control groups. Participants will be young people aged 16–25, including those with clinical/subclinical symptoms and a comparison group without addictive behaviors. Screening tools include the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF), alongside psychosocial self-report measures. The target sample is 800–1,000 university students of all genders, based on an estimated prevalence of around 10% in the Canary Islands. Clinical participants will be recruited from both the student population and from youth attending addiction services at Asociación San Miguel Adicciones and primary care centers. Control participants will be those with no identified addictive behaviors.
According to G*Power, a sample of 45 participants per group and condition (clinical, subclinical, control; video game, cannabis) will allow for ANOVAs to detect medium effect sizes (.25) with .05 error and .80 power, accounting for attrition.
In the first phase, self-reports will assess cognitive function, personality traits, emotional regulation deficits, clinical symptoms, family/social support, and well-being. In the second phase, EEG recordings will be conducted on clinical and subclinical participants, as well as matched controls, at the neuroscience lab at the University of La Laguna. EEGs will be taken at rest and during a go/no-go task to assess inhibitory control.
ANOVA will be used to examine differences and shared factors between behavioral and substance addictions, identifying risks for developing more severe clinical disorders. The project has potential impact across clinical, educational, and public health domains, supporting more accurate diagnoses, tailored interventions, and awareness strategies for youth, families, educators, and healthcare professionals. Understanding the overlap and divergence between video game and cannabis addiction is key to improving prevention and treatment strategies.
Contact: Lilisbeth Perestelo Pérez (lilisbeth.peresteloperez@sescs.es)