The relationships between positive/negative metacognitions and Internet gaming disorder among Chinese adult gamers: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence

Previous research investigating Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in China involved mainly youth samples despite the large population of adult gamers. Drawing on the self-regulatory executive function model, this study aimed to demonstrate the psychometric robustness of negative and positive gaming-specific metacognitions assessed by the short-form Metacognitions about Online Gaming Scale (MOGS; Study 1). Then, Study 2 aimed to explore bidirectional associations between these two factors of the MOGS and IGD among a broad age spectrum of Chinese adult gamers. Through online surveys, we obtained data from Chinese community adults: Study 1 surveyed 409 past-month gamers (Mage = 42.45, SD = 11.66; 53.8 % female) and Study 2 surveyed 266 past- month gamers (Mage = 34.76, SD = 11.78; 65.8 % female). Results of Study 1 supported the robustness of the two-factor structure, demonstrated the short-form MOGS’ satisfactory convergent validity and reliability, and displayed its scalar invariance between community adults and university students. Study 2 found bidirectional associations between negative metacognitions only and IGD, in which baseline negative metacognitions were associated with higher levels of individuals’ follow-up vulnerability to developing IGD. In contrast, IGD had a prospective effect on negative metacognitions 6 months later. IGD also showed a significant prospective effect on positive metacognitions. These findings demonstrate that the short-form MOGS is a cost-effective tool for measuring gaming-specific metacognitions in Chinese adults, highlighting the prominent role of negative metacognitions in the vicious circle of maladaptive metacognitions and IGD, which has implications for IGD preventions.