Title: PUBG addiction: the effects on the social engagement, mental health and academic performance of the millennials

Authors: Shilpi Gupta; Ishfaq Hussain Bhat

Addresses: Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India ' Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India

Abstract: The popularity of PUBG game has created a massive impact on India's gaming audience, by making competitive gaming accessible to casual players. Although PUBG game has a far-reaching impact and massive popularity, it has got certain addiction connotations as well. Therefore, the study examines the effects of PUBG addiction on the mental health and academic performance of the millennials. The study also investigates the mediation effect of social engagement between PUBG addiction and mental health. The moderation effect of gender of the respondents has also been investigated on the grounded model. The study has used an online standardised questionnaire on a sample of 300 students, chosen through purposive sampling technique. The findings of the study reveal that PUBG addiction has an inverse effect on the academic performance and mental health of the millennials. Partial mediation effect of social engagement has also been found. The study has also found that males are more addicted to the PUBG game as compared to their female counterparts. The study helps the academicians, parents and policymakers in gauging the addictive effects of PUBG game and thus designing policies to combat the usage of the game.

Keywords: PUBG addiction; social engagement; mental health; academic performance gratification.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2023.131269

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2023 Vol.34 No.1, pp.28 - 42

Received: 14 Oct 2019
Accepted: 22 Jan 2020
Published online: 05 Jun 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article