Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Nov 18, 2025
Date Accepted: Jul 1, 2026
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Core Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder, Social Jetlag and Insomnia Among College Students：A Network Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
The issue of internet gaming disorder (IGD) and insomnia among college students has become increasingly prevalent.
Objective:
This study aimed to explore the core symptoms of IGD, social jetlag, and insomnia in college students, as well as the interrelationships among these three conditions.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study targeted a national sample of Chinese college students. 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:
A total of 1,346 college students participated. Network analysis revealed that the insomnia symptom 'subjective sleep quality' (P1) (closeness: -0.058, strength: 0.903) and the IGD symptom 'loss' (I9) (closeness: 2.180, strength: 2.463) were the most central nodes in the network. The connection between the insomnia cluster and the IGD cluster was primarily bridged by P1 (subjective sleep quality), with the strongest edge weight observed between P1 and the IGD item I3（Sleep Duration） (weight: 0.354). Connections involving the S1 (Social Jetlag) were concentrated on sleep duration (P3) (weight: 0.240). The connection between the IGD cluster and the social jetlag cluster was solely facilitated by I9 (loss) (weight: 0.156). The model demonstrated a high level of stability.
Conclusions:
The high centrality of P1(Subjective Sleep Quality) and I9 (Loss) suggests that it is not merely a correlate but a potentially influential component within the comorbid network. Sleep Quality (P1) acted as the primary bridge symptom connecting the insomnia and IGD clusters, indicating a bidirectional relationship between sleep quality and IGD. The role of social jetlag (S1) was relatively limited, suggesting that its impact on IGD is likely indirect, potentially mediated through the disruption of the sleep-wake cycle.
Citation
