JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The issue of internet gaming disorder (IGD) among college students has become increasingly prevalent，while the prevalence of insomnia and social jetlag in this population is also gradually rising.

Objective:

This study aims to investigate the core and bridge symptoms of IGD, social jetlag, and insomnia among college students, and to explore the network structure and cross-symptom connectivity among them.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study targeted a national sample of Chinese college students. A total of 1,346 participants were included in this study, with a mean age of 19.35 ± 1.35 years, including 668 males (49.60%) and 678 females (50.40%). All participants completed a general information questionnaire, the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9-SF), the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Network analysis was employed to investigate the network structure, identify central and bridge symptoms, and assess network stability. Expected Influence (EI) and Bridge Expected Influence (BEI) were used to measure centrality.

Results:

The insomnia symptom 'subjective sleep quality' (P1) (strength: 0.903) and the IGD symptom 'loss' (I9) (strength: 2.463) were the most central nodes in the network, constituting the core indicators of this study. ‘Withdrawal’(I2) exhibited a bridge strength significantly higher than other nodes in the network structure (1.295). As the core bridging symptom between the insomnia and IGD clusters, I2 had the strongest edge connection with ‘daytime dysfunction’(P7), with an edge weight of 0.329. The connections involving the social jetlag cluster (S1) are concentrated on ‘continue despite problems’(I6)(0.182), while the connections between the insomnia symptom cluster and S1 are all low.

Conclusions:

Distinct from previous studies that focused on bivariate associations or single disorders, our findings reveal that I2 serves as the core bridging symptom connecting insomnia and IGD, while P1 and I9 are central nodes within their respective communities. This result provides a novel perspective on the comorbidity of insomnia and internet gaming disorder. In real‑world practice, interventions targeting withdrawal symptoms should be prioritized, as they may alleviate comorbid symptoms simultaneously. The role of S1 was relatively limited, suggesting that managing circadian rhythm disruption may indirectly reduce IGD risk. These findings provide actionable symptom targets for prevention and treatment programs in university settings.