Excessive online gaming may do more than disrupt daily routines. It could also interfere with how people process their emotions, ultimately affecting their satisfaction with life. A new study involving 549 university students in Türkiye has revealed that emotional schemas play a critical role in explaining why online gaming addiction can lead to lower life satisfaction. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The research found that while there was no direct relationship between online gaming addiction and life satisfaction, emotional schemas completely mediated this connection. Emotional schemas are the beliefs and strategies people use to understand and manage their emotions. When these schemas are distorted or unhelpful, they can worsen the psychological effects of gaming addiction.
Participants in the study were mostly aged around 21 and played online games regularly. Researchers used established tools to measure gaming addiction, emotional schemas, and life satisfaction. They discovered that students who were more addicted to online gaming showed stronger links with unhelpful emotional schemas, such as feeling guilty about emotions, suppressing feelings, or seeing emotions as harmful.
On the other hand, students with healthier emotional schemas—those who could understand, express, and accept their emotions—tended to report higher levels of life satisfaction, even if they also played games regularly. This suggests that the way individuals interpret and manage their emotions may either worsen or buffer the psychological toll of online gaming.
The study used structural equation modelling to test how these emotional schemas influenced the relationship between gaming addiction and life satisfaction. Once emotional schemas were factored in, the direct link between gaming and life satisfaction disappeared, confirming the mediating role of these internal emotional patterns.
The findings align with the broader understanding of behavioural addictions, which now include not only substance use but also problematic behaviours such as gambling, social media use, and gaming. Prior research has shown that these behaviours often serve as emotional coping mechanisms, particularly when people struggle to regulate their inner states.
The study adds weight to psychological theories such as Self-Determination Theory, which suggests people turn to addictive behaviours when basic emotional needs go unmet. If individuals feel disconnected, powerless, or unsupported, they may turn to gaming to compensate for those emotional gaps. But if they also carry maladaptive emotional schemas, the coping becomes more harmful than helpful.
The researchers believe their findings could be useful for designing targeted mental health interventions. By identifying the emotional schemas that most often co-occur with gaming addiction, therapists may be able to help students and young adults build healthier emotional habits, reducing the need to rely on gaming as a form of escape.
Although the study was limited to Turkish university students and relied on self-reported data, the insights have broader relevance. Emotional awareness and regulation are critical skills in navigating not only digital temptations but also overall psychological well-being. Addressing emotional schemas may therefore be a promising avenue for supporting young people facing online gaming problems.