Impact of video game addiction on social interaction: An observational review examining loneliness, social anxiety, and social activity

doi:10.5498/wjp.v15.i12.110653

Advanced Search

BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge

Home / Archive / Volume 15, Issue 12

This Article

Academic Content and Language Evaluation of This Article

CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article

Academic Rules and Norms of This Article

Citation of this article

Corresponding Author of This Article

Research Domain of This Article

Article-Type of This Article

Open-Access Policy of This Article

Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article

Number of Hits and Downloads for This Article

Total Article Views (305)

All Articles published online

The chart showing PDF series, HTML series, Figures (1-1) series, Tables (1-2) series.

Item

Count

PDF

HTML

209

Figures (1-1)

Tables (1-2)

Sum=243

Publishing Process of This Article

The chart showing Browse series, Download series.

Item

Count

Browse

Download

Sum=82

Dec 19, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 9, 2025

Times Cited of This Article

Times Cited (0)

Journal Information of This Article

Publication Name

World Journal of Psychiatry

ISSN

2220-3206

Publisher of This Article

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Systematic Reviews

World J Psychiatry. Dec 19, 2025; 15(12): 110653
Published online Dec 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i12.110653

Impact of video game addiction on social interaction: An observational review examining loneliness, social anxiety, and social activity

Haewon Byeon

Haewon Byeon, Worker’s Care and Digital Health Lab, Department of Future Technology, Korea University of Technology and Education, Cheonan 31253, South Korea

Author contributions: Byeon H contributed to this paper; involved in data interpretation; developed methodology; and wrote the article.

Supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea Funded by the Ministry of Education, No. NRF- RS-2023-00237287.

Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.

Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Corresponding author: Haewon Byeon, PhD, Associate Professor, Director, Worker’s Care and Digital Health Lab, Department of Future Technology, Korea University of Technology and Education, KUTE Main Campus: 1600 Chungjeol-ro, Cheonan 31253, South Korea. bhwpuma@naver.com

Received: June 12, 2025
Revised: July 7, 2025
Accepted: October 15, 2025
Published online: December 19, 2025
Processing time: 169 Days and 1.6 Hours

Core Tip

Core Tip: This review of observational studies (2000-2025) reveals a significant association between internet gaming disorder and decreased real-life social interaction. Addicted gamers experience more loneliness, social anxiety, and reduced social support. While online socializing increases, it doesn’t replace the benefits of face-to-face relationships. The findings suggest that excessive gaming often leads to social withdrawal and poorer quality social connections, highlighting the importance of addressing gaming addiction to improve individuals’ social well-being.