88 Spirituality Studies 10-1 Spring 2024 1 Introduction Internet Gaming Disorder (hereafter IGD) is understood as repetitive and persistent gaming using the Internet, often with other gamers in real time (American Psychiatric Association 2013, 792; King and Delfabbro 2014, 15). It is a superordinate term to other Internet-related disorders and addictions, such as internet addiction, pathological internet use, video-game addiction (King and Delfabbro 2014, 943). IGD belongs to the behavioural disorders, whereby behavioural patterns are disrupted in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and other important areas of functioning (Saunders et al. 2017, 273; Petry et al. 2014, 1402; King and Delfabbro 2018, 53). The risk period for the onset of Internet Gaming Disorder is adolescence, which is associated with the search for one’s own identity, the pursuit of individuality and a move away from authority figures’ views, and the consolidation of social support from peers (Rehbein et al. 2015, 842). The prevalence of the disorder during adolescence is reported to be 1.7–27.5% (Rehbein et al. 2015, 842; Müller et al. 2014, 568). Several scientific studies (Ostinelli et al. 2021, 138; Cudo et al. 2022, 4; Cheng et al. 2018, 160) confirm that Internet Gaming Disorder negatively impacts adolescents’ psychological and physical well-being by impairing eating and posture habits, disrupting sleep cycles, emerging anxiety and depressive experiences, difficulties in coping with stressful situations, loneliness, or a deterioration in perceived well-being. Spirituality is a concept that can be viewed from different perspectives. From a psychological perspective, spirituality is defined as “the search for meaning and purpose in life through connection to something larger than oneself, such as nature, humanity, or God” (American Psychological Association Dictionary 2007), from an existential perspective as “the human striving to find meaning in an apparently meaningless world” (Frankl 2013, 171), or from a philosophical perspective as “an ultimate concern that transcends immediate self-interest” (Smith 2013, 122). Within psychology, spirituality is linked to two psychological aspects, namely the search for meaning in life and self-transcendence. The search for meaning in life is associated with a belief in a higher power, a connection to something greater, and is directed inwardly towards the individual; it is more often associated with religiosity and faith. Self-transcendence is related to self-compassion, empathy, forgiveness, and acceptance, and is oriented towards the psyche, effort, and striving of the individual (Boźek et al. 2020, 2). Spirituality is negatively related to gaming (Braun et al. 2016, 5), and with higher levels of spirituality, a lower risk of both online and offline addictive gaming emerges. Existential well-being and peer support have been shown to be protective factors against the development of Internet Gaming Disorder (Utomo and Marianta 2023, 10). Adolescents with higher levels of spirituality were less likely to choose watching television or playing online games as a form of leisure activity, compared to adolescents with low levels of spirituality (Malinakova et al. 2018, 9). Scientific research more often focuses on other forms of electronic and online addictions or disorders, e.g., gambling disorder, video game addiction (Grant Weinandy and Grubbs 2021, 8; Barnet 1AD), and all have identically demonstrated a negative relationship of the disorder/addiction with measures of spirituality. Life satisfaction is understood as a personal characteristic that encompasses wealth, access to resources through relative standards and frames of reference with culture, where it addresses the issue of conformity to societal norms and social integration (Diener and Biswas-Diener 2011, 99). In the context of life satisfaction, a negative relationship with Internet Gaming Disorder emerges (Celik 2022, 7), with lower levels of life satisfaction associated with greater number and intensity of symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder (Mills et al. 2019, 56; Bargeron and Hormes 2017, 391). It is in the context of life satisfaction that Internet Gaming Disorder may function as a coping strategy to escape reality, whereby the individual avoids current problems and difficulties by spending time in the online space (Melodia et al. 2020, 21). In adolescents, spirituality is positively related to experiencing life satisfaction (Dankulicova Veselska et al. 2018, 6), with individuals with higher levels of spirituality more likely to experience better health, and to perceive their own health better. Spirituality and religiosity explain 29% of the total variance in life satisfaction, with this relationship being stronger in adolescents compared to adults (Kelley 2008, 81). The aim of our research is to examine Internet Gaming Disorder in the context of spirituality and life satisfaction in selected Slovak adolescents and subsequently to examine the protective effect of life satisfaction and spirituality in adolescents in the context of Internet Gaming Disorder.
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