Self-Control Shapes How Gaming Hours and Addiction Symptoms Tie to Teen Grades

A structural equation modeling study of 3,086 high school adolescents has mapped how self-control, weekly gaming time, and internet gaming disorder symptoms travel together with academic performance. The research, published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, treated self-control as the independent variable, IGD symptoms and weekly gaming hours as mediating variables, and school achievement as the dependent variable, drawing academic grades from official school records rather than self-reports.

The modeling strategy treated IGD as a latent construct indicated by six symptom dimensions. The structural model showed acceptable fit to the data, and its paths indicated that self-control and weekly gaming hours were both directly and indirectly associated with academic performance.

Higher self-control showed a direct association with better academic performance. It also showed statistically significant cross-sectional indirect associations operating through IGD symptoms and through weekly gaming hours, with indirect effects estimated using bootstrapped 95 percent confidence intervals. Lower self-control was concurrently associated with more IGD symptoms and poorer school outcomes.

Weekly gaming hours produced a more nuanced pattern. Greater weekly gaming time showed a small positive direct association with academic performance, yet it also carried a statistically significant cross-sectional indirect association with poorer academic performance through its association with IGD symptoms. In this sample, greater weekly gaming hours showed a small positive direct association with academic performance, while the indirect association through IGD symptoms was linked to poorer academic performance.

The authors frame the contribution as a more comprehensive understanding of how digital leisure relates to adolescents’ academic functioning. Because the design is cross-sectional, the reported associations describe concurrent patterns among variables measured at the same time and cannot establish causal direction. The indirect effects were estimated using bootstrapped 95 percent confidence intervals, and the cross-sectional design means the reported associations cannot establish causal direction.

The study used a large sample of 3,086 adolescents, modeled IGD as a latent construct indicated by six symptom dimensions, and estimated indirect effects using bootstrapped 95 percent confidence intervals. Academic performance was obtained from official school records rather than self-reports. The study examined adolescents enrolled in high schools, so the findings describe that population and age range.

The latent IGD construct was indicated by six symptom dimensions.

Overall, the model indicated that self-control and weekly gaming hours were directly and indirectly associated with academic performance, with greater weekly gaming hours showing a small positive direct association and an indirect association with poorer academic performance through IGD symptoms. The researchers note that the joint configuration of self-control, gaming behavior, and school achievement is still not fully understood, and the study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how digital leisure is related to adolescents' academic functioning.

Subject of Research: Structural equation modeling of self-control, weekly gaming time, and internet gaming disorder symptoms in relation to academic performance among 3,086 high school adolescents.

Article Title: Self-Control, Weekly Gaming Time, Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms, and Academic Performance in Adolescents: A Structural Equation Modeling Study

Article References: Alonso-García, S., Ayllón-Salas, P., Fernández-Martín, F. D., & Aznar-Díaz, I. (2026). Self-Control, Weekly Gaming Time, Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms, and Academic Performance in Adolescents: A Structural Equation Modeling Study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-026-01759-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s11469-026-01759-4

Keywords: internet gaming disorder, self-control, adolescents, academic performance, structural equation modeling, weekly gaming hours, latent variable, bootstrapped confidence intervals, school records, digital leisure, cross-sectional study, high school students