Evaluating the effect of detached mindfulness techniques on gaming-related urges and intentions to play

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dc.contributor.authorNuske, J.
dc.contributor.authorNuske, L.
dc.contributor.authorHides, L.
dc.contributor.authorKing, D.L.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractIndividuals who struggle to regulate their gaming involvement, particularly those with gaming disorder, often report strong subjective urges to play games. Desire thinking has been proposed to be an active driver of urge, and therefore disrupting desire thinking processes may reduce urges to play. Detached mindfulness, a metacognitive therapy technique, is a candidate option for reducing desire thinking, but the available research in relation to gaming is limited. To address this gap, this pre-registered study employed a 3 (Group: mindfulness, relaxation, control) x 3 (Time: baseline, pre-task, post-task) mixed experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of different techniques to reduce gaming urges. Gamers (N = 337) were recruited via the crowd-sourcing platform Prolific. Participants were administered interactive video-based tasks that induced gaming-related desire thinking and were then randomly delivered one of three techniques. Results showed that the desire thinking exercise significantly increased gaming urge. However, the detached mindfulness technique had no significant effect on urge to play, whereas relaxation significantly reduced urge compared to control. The effect of relaxation on urge was stronger for those with moderate to high impulsivity. These results support the proposed link between desire thinking and gaming urge. Gaming urges may be reliably induced using a brief selfguided protocol, which has applications for interventions involving exposure exercises without the use of physical gaming stimuli. Relaxation techniques may have short-term utility in reducing gaming-related urges. Further research should examine other meta-cognitive therapy-based techniques to support a broader research program on CBT for gaming disorder.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityJaime Nuske, Luke Nuske, Leanne Hides, Daniel L. King
dc.identifier.citationAddictive Behaviors, 2025; 163:108258-1-108258-9
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108258
dc.identifier.issn0306-4603
dc.identifier.issn1873-6327
dc.identifier.orcidKing, D.L. [0000-0002-1762-2581]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/145724
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.grantNHMRC
dc.rights© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108258
dc.subjectDetached mindfulness; desire thinking; gaming; gaming disorder; urge; impulsivity
dc.subject.meshHumans
dc.subject.meshIntention
dc.subject.meshVideo Games
dc.subject.meshAdolescent
dc.subject.meshAdult
dc.subject.meshFemale
dc.subject.meshMale
dc.subject.meshRelaxation Therapy
dc.subject.meshYoung Adult
dc.subject.meshMindfulness
dc.subject.meshInternet Addiction Disorder
dc.titleEvaluating the effect of detached mindfulness techniques on gaming-related urges and intentions to play
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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