Abstract
Online game addiction and psychological distress are two continuously developing problems in the Philippines with Filipinos aged 18 to 24 being the second largest age group to overuse interactive online related games. This sequential explanatory mixed method research aimed to assess the young adult’s level of gaming addiction and perceived psychological distress during the Covid19 pandemic, as well as identifying the other factors contributing to the respondents’ frequent engagement in online interactive games, which served as a basis for preventative intervention program. The researcher administered the survey questionnaire of GAS and DASS-21 to 399 young adults aged 18-24 and a semi-structured interview guide to 20 addicted and non-addicted gamers. Key results showed that a small percentage among the respondents’ experience polythetic and serious monothetic addiction to interactive online games, whereas half of the respondents manifested mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety during the Covid19 pandemic. Major findings also found no significant gender differences on the level of online game addiction and psychological distress during the Covid19 pandemic, and the association was substantiated with a moderate level of relationship. Further results revealed that the negative compensatory factors were associated to addicted gamers’ frequent engagement to online games, whereas non-addicted gamers were associated with positive beneficial factors. Therefore, this study concluded that young adult male and female gamers experience similar levels of game addiction and psychological distress during the Covid19 pandemic with a moderate level of association and concluded that the gamer’s motives behind playing influence how frequently they engage in online interactive games. This phenomenon has hardly ever been the focus of in-depth research and the results of this study can be used to further refine the conceptualization of the IGD as a mental disorder and develop a more comprehensive treatment method.