Assessing video game habits and pathological behaviour in children through a new scale: Psychometric properties of the Video-Gaming Scale - For Children (VGS-C)

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess video- gaming habits and pathological behavior in children. The Video Game Scale—For Children (VGS-C) was developed by adapting the VGS—For Adolescents (VGS-A). The final scale was composed of two sections: Section A, with unscored items, assessing a wide series of video-gaming habits, and Section B, with scored items, measuring pathological use of video games by adapting the DSM—5 criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder. Participants were 201 children attending primary school in Italy (47% males; mean age = 8.7 years). Concerning Section A, preferred video games, daily frequency of video-gaming, used devices, amount of time spent on video game sessions, gaming on Internet, preferred online video games, and social partners in playing video games, were analyzed. Regarding Section B, Confirmatory Factor Analysis attested the hypothesized one-factor structure, and an adequate reliability was found. The association of video-gaming habits with pathological video-gaming attested the validity of the scale. Tolerance and escape were the pathological symptoms more frequently experienced by children. Findings suggest that the VGS-C could be a valuable instrument to assess video- gaming habits and pathological behavior in children.