IMPACT OF EXCESSIVE USE OF VIDEO GAMES ON ACADEMIC MOTIVATION; MEDIATING ROLE OF SLEEP QUALITY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

In an era where video games have captured the hearts of people of all ages, a striking phenomenon is emerging – a surge in gaming among university students. However, this gaming trend may be casting a dark shadow on their academic pursuits. This study delves deep into the lives of these students, investigating the consequences of their gaming habits. Objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between excessive use of video games , academic motivation and determine the mediating role of sleep quality  . Sample included university students (N=400, m=139,f=261 distinguishing them into excessive and non-excessive gamers, The sample was taken from IIUI and UOW universities. The comprehensive Sleep Quality Scale comprised of 25 items, to assess their sleep quality. To investigate the gaming time, Gaming addiction scale ( short version) containing 7 items was applied and academic motivation scale containing 28 items was used to measure academic motivation.. These scales were used to determine whether excessive gaming affected academic motivation and whether sleep quality played a mediating role between game time and academic motivation. Findings indicated that there was not a significant relationship of excessive use of video games with academic motivation and sleep quality did not mediate the relation between these two variables. This implies that excessive use of video games by students will not reduce sleep quality as well as academic motivation.