Similarly, early studies of problematic video game use often did not propose specific psychological criteria for dependent or problem video game use (e.g. Selnow, 1984). Research studies tended to focus on factors such as amount of time or money spent on video games, or the extent to which video game playing displaced other activities, in their conceptual framing of problem behaviour. For example, Selnow’s (1984) study defined ‘heavy’ video game play according to the basis of frequency of visits to an arcade, average playing duration and amount of money spent on the video game machine.
In numerous studies, those individuals who played video games on a highly regular basis, or played video games instead of going to work or school, were thought to be ‘problem’ or ‘dependent’ users. This emphasis on time spent playing and the negative consequences of video game play over other more fundamental psychological criteria for addiction (such as impaired control) led to a large number of individuals being classified as ‘addicted’. It may be for this reason that some studies have reported prevalence rates of video game addiction in adolescents above 10%, an unusually high rate for addictive behaviours (e.g. Griffiths & Hunt, 1998).
