Network reorganization of gaming disorder, depression, and anxiety across the transition to emerging adulthood: a longitudinal symptom-level analysis.

Authors

Yinan Ji, Hui Hu, Xinfeng Tang

Published in

BMC psychiatry. Jul 17, 2026. Epub Jul 17, 2026.

Abstract

The transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood is a critical period of psychological and neurobiological change. Gaming disorder (GD), depression, and anxiety often co-occur, yet little is known about how their comorbidity structures reorganize across developmental stages.
A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted with 663 Chinese adolescents assessed during late adolescence (T₀, mean age = 17.52) and 620 participants reassessed three years later in emerging adulthood (T₁, mean age = 20.53). Validated self-report scales measured symptoms of GD, depression, and anxiety. Symptom networks were estimated separately at each wave using regularized Gaussian graphical models. Expected influence (EI) and bridge expected influence (BEI) were computed to assess central and bridging symptoms, network stability was evaluated using bootstrap procedures, and Network Comparison Tests were conducted to compare global strength and network structure between waves.
From T₀ to T₁, network sparsity decreased from 0.80 to 0.75, density increased from 0.20 to 0.25, and global strength increased from 19.55 to 22.50. At T₀, the highest EI nodes were GAD1 (nervousness, 1.23) and GD6 (persistent gaming, 1.11), and the highest BEI nodes were GAD1 (0.50) and PHQ6 (worthlessness, 0.41). At T₁, the highest EI nodes were GAD5 (restlessness, 1.22) and GAD3 (excessive worry, 1.19), and the highest BEI nodes were GAD5 (0.64) and PHQ9 (suicidal thoughts, 0.62). Network Comparison Tests indicated that global EI increased by 1.28 (p = 0.02). Centrality invariance testing revealed significant EI increases for GAD3 (0.58, p < 0.01) and GAD5 (0.57, p < 0.01). For BEI, GAD7 (catastrophizing, 0.42, p = 0.02) and GAD3 (0.40, p < 0.01) showed significant increases.
The longitudinal network analysis showed that the comorbidity of GD, depression, and anxiety reorganized from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. Cognitive-affective symptoms became central and bridging, whereas gaming-related emotional and behavioral links weakened, reflecting a possible developmental shift from reactive, behavior-based coping in adolescence to internally sustained, cognitively driven symptom networks in emerging adulthood. Interventions should focus on strengthening adaptive coping and targeting core cognitive-affective symptoms to reduce long-term psychopathological risk.
Not applicable.

PMID:
42469740
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 18 Jul 2026.

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