Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of existential meaninglessness on gaming disorder in adults and to examine the moderated mediating effect of game-related beliefs on the pathway from emptiness to gaming disorder. In Study 1, we translated and validated the Existential meaninglessness Scale (EMS) into Korean using a domestic sample. We then, conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to verify its psychometric properties. In Study 2, we used the validated EMS to test the proposed model. A total of 500 participants’ data were collected and analyzed. Results of Study 1 confirmed that the three-factor(incomprehension, purposelessness, and insignificance) structure of the EMS had satisfactory reliability and validity. In Study 2, existential meaninglessness did not directly predict gaming disorder. However, the interaction between emptiness and game-related beliefs had a significant moderated mediation effect on gaming disorder. Finally, thise study discusseds how the relationship among existential meaninglessness, emptiness, gaming-related beliefs, and gaming disorder could be applied in clinical practice.