Another winning episode of Addiction, brought to you by the titans at GLI…
Researcher Andrea Stašek joins hosts Jon Bruford and Dr. Michael Auer to examine how behavioural addictions are defined and measured, especially gaming disorder and problematic social media use. They discuss a study of roughly 33,000 adolescents across 10 countries, why symptom-level analysis matters, and the challenge of separating intense engagement from genuine impairment.
This episode comes to you courtesy of the excellent Gaming Laboratories International.
GLI is a world-class testing, inspections and certification company committed to delivering the highest quality land-based, lottery and iGaming testing and assessment services, working in more than 710 jurisdictions.
For more information, visit gaminglabs.com.
Things we talk about, but in a list:
- Andrea Stašek describes her work on defining and measuring behavioural addictions in digital contexts.
- Why clear conceptual definitions must come before screening tools, diagnosis, or intervention.
- How diagnostic labels and public language shift over time, with examples including hysteria, ADHD, trauma, and addiction.
- A study using data from about 33,000 adolescents across 10 countries examined gaming, social media use, well-being, loneliness, and psychosomatic symptoms.
- Network analysis mapped symptom-level connections; the cross-sectional design shows associations, not cause and effect.
- Escapism emerged as a possible bridge between well-being and loneliness measures and problematic gaming or social media symptoms.
- Stašek estimates clinically significant gaming disorder may affect around 1% of adults and perhaps 1-3% of adolescents, while emphasising measurement uncertainty.
- The distinction between heavy gaming and disorder centres on functional impairment and negative consequences, not hours alone.
- The hosts and guest discuss youth phone use, parental role modelling, school phone restrictions, and personal differences in susceptibility.
Choice quote:
“Today we have some kind of social media, ten years from now I guess there will be a different mechanism.”
Chapters, but add a chunk to this because of the intro and the ad read…
- 00:00 Jon Bruford and Dr. Michael Auer introduce the show
- 04:04 Andrea Stašek’s work on digital behavioural addiction
- 06:18 Why defining a disorder comes before measuring it
- 12:00 How social norms and diagnostic categories change
- 16:09 Social media, self-diagnosis, and labels losing precision
- 27:58 A 33,000-adolescent study across 10 countries
- 31:08 Network analysis maps symptoms, not causes
- 34:17 Escapism as a link between well-being and problematic use
- 38:04 How common is gaming disorder, and what counts as impairment?
- 43:12 The 12-month diagnostic window and changing symptoms
- 50:08 Phone restrictions, parenting, and modelling healthy use
- 59:53 Personal responsibility and managing risk
Andrea Stašek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-stasek-psych/
Resources & Links:
The Gambling Files on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-gambling-files-podcast/
Addiction: An Hour With Auer is a weekly podcast where hosts Dr Michael Auer – he of the title – and Jon Bruford talk about addiction in all its forms. Not just gambling addiction, they discuss all forms of addiction with experts, academics and researchers from around the world.
Dr Auer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-auer-51a48a/
Jon Bruford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-bruford-84346636/
Podcast homepage: https://www.thegamblingfiles.com/addiction/
Media behemoth homepage: https://www.thegamblingfiles.com/
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