The Nigerian Picture of Gaming Disorder in Adolescents

Gaming has evolved to be an integral part of human activities. For most individuals, an innovation that seeks originally to achieve an easier way of doing things has increasingly become a necessity for living. Different terms have been used in literature to describe abnormal use of internet stimulating activities: internet gaming, smartphone addiction, pathological internet use, etc. The worldwide prevalence of Gaming Disorder is 0.7-27.5% with the highest prevalence recorded in Asia. There is a higher male prevalence for GD and a particular study showed differences in neuroimaging of male and female subjects. Despite the increase of studies on GD and technology-related disorders around the world, this topic remains understudied in Africa. While no exact data currently exists for the prevalence of GD among adolescents in Nigeria, studies have shown that sociocultural differences may not be associated with GD which means that identified statistics, risk factors and clinical features from non-localized studies could apply. As more details of GD continue to surface, researchers, clinicians and policymakers need to focus on this emerging condition, especially in a country like Nigeria, with the aims of obtaining relevant data, developing relevant clinical tools and designing public health policies to manage the disorder with regards to the local population’s needs.