Around 3% of Swiss teens are addicted to video games

© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The first ever nationwide survey of its kind has revealed that around 3% of 15-year-olds have a problematic relationship with video games. 

According to results of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study published by Addiction Switzerland on Monday, 31% of 15-year-old boys and 5% of 15-year-old girls play online video games every day. 

To assess problematic use, ten questions from the Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10) were put to students of this age. The questions included trying to spend less time playing video games but not succeeding, using video games to escape negative feelings, or lying to family or friends about playing games. Use is considered problematic when the answer to five (or more) of the questions is “often”. On this basis, the proportion of 15-year-old male and female gamers with problematic use is estimated to be around 3%; the rate is similar for girls and boys.

Problem use may, in some cases, indicate an addictive disorder. Video game use disorder is included in the World Health Organization’s classification of mental health conditions.

+ Video games addiction recognised as mental health problem

Social media

The report also revealed that eight out of ten boys and nine out of ten girls aged 15 go on social networks such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram every day. A significant minority of them make “problematic use” of them, according to Addiction Switzerland.

According to the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMDS), problematic use of social networks in Switzerland concerned 4% of 15-year-old boys in 2022. This proportion is much higher among girls: 10%. Social networks certainly create links, but many young people use them to escape negative feelings, warned Addiction Switzerland.

The Swiss section of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveyed 9,345 pupils aged 11 to 15. The study is financed by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and by most of the 26 cantons.