ReviewBrain sciences2026
Global Prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence and Implications for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Review in Brain sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Preliminary Outcomes of a Five-Session Motivation-Centered Program for Internet Gaming Disorder: A Completer Analysis of a Randomized Trial.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesInternet gaming has become a widespread global activity, raising concerns about the prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). However, existing meta-analyses report highly variable prevalence estimates. This umbrella review aims to clarify the prevalence and variability of IGD by synthesizing evidence from meta-analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of IGD prevalence across populations, age groups, and regions.
methodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, systematic searches were carried out across five published literature databases and two supplementary search sources. Title and abstract screening, followed by full-text eligibility assessment, were conducted independently by three authors. The same three authors then performed data extraction and quality assessment for the nine included meta-analyses.
resultsAfter screening, nine eligible meta-analyses were included. The overall median prevalence of IGD was 6.20%, with an interquartile range of 4.25% to 8.30%. Subgroup analyses indicated a higher prevalence among males compared to females. Evidence for age differences between adolescents and adults was limited and should be interpreted cautiously because age groups were inconsistently defined across meta-analyses. Regional comparisons suggested higher prevalence estimates in Asia than in Europe, and gamer profile comparisons suggested higher prevalence estimates in gamers than in the general population, although evidence for these differences was limited and not consistent across meta-analyses.
conclusionsOverall, the findings indicate that IGD affects a sizeable proportion of the population, but prevalence estimates vary depending on demographic and regional characteristics. Greater consistency in diagnostic criteria, assessment tools, and reporting standards is needed to improve the comparability and interpretability of IGD prevalence research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.