Validation of the metacognitions about online gaming scale (MOGS) among Chinese gamers

Le Dang; Juliet Honglei Chen; Hui Zhou; Marcantonio M Spada; Anise M S Wu

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107255

Validation of the metacognitions about online gaming scale (MOGS) among Chinese gamers

Addict Behav. 2022 Jun:129:107255. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107255. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Le Dang¹, Juliet Honglei Chen², Hui Zhou², Marcantonio M Spada³, Anise M S Wu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, University of Macau, Macao, China; Faculty of Teacher Education, Pingdingshan University, Pingdingshan, China.
² Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, University of Macau, Macao, China.
³ School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, University of Macau, Macao, China. Electronic address: anisewu@um.edu.mo.

PMID: 35091197
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107255

Abstract

With the largest online gamer population worldwide and a heightened rate of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), China has a long-lasting need to identify salient correlates of IGD and provide corresponding assessment tools to support cost-effective IGD screening and interventions. To respond to such a need, the present study aimed to validate the Metacognitions about Online Gaming Scale (MOGS) among Chinese gamers to provide an additional tool for promoting studies investigating metacognition, a promising and newly emerged correlate of IGD, in China. To evaluate the psychometric properties of MOGS, we collected data from 1340 Chinese university students with gaming experiences (59.3% female, M_age = 19.84 years), in which 262 of them also participated in the one-month retest. Our results indicated that the Chinese version of MOGS has a two-factor structure and satisfactory reliabilities (α = 0.90 and 0.92, ICC = 0.60 and 0.64, AVE = 0.56 and 0.70, ρ_c = 0.88 and 0.92). Moreover, MOGS's convergent validity was evidenced by the expected, positive associations with generic metacognitions, stress, and IGD tendency (r (1338) = 0.29-0.55, p < 0.001) as well as significant MOGS differences between probable IGD and non-IGD gamers (p < 0.001). A 6-item, short-form MOGS, which displayed equivalent psychometric soundness as its full-scale counterpart, was also developed. As the first study to validate MOGS among Chinese gamers, the present study attested to the readiness of this measure in facilitating further studies of gaming-specific metacognitions for early identification of and tailored interventions for high-risk gamers in China.

Keywords: Chinese; Gaming disorder; Generic metacognitions; Internet Gaming Disorder; Metacognitions about online gaming; Psychometric properties.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Behavior, Addictive* / diagnosis
China
Female
Humans
Internet
Male
Metacognition*
Reproducibility of Results
Video Games*
Young Adult