The diagnostic assessment of internet or computer game
dependency remains problematic. Different studies in different
countries have used different scales to assess prevalence
of computer game addiction. A national Harris Poll survey of
1,178 U.S. youths ages 8–18 years found that 8.5% of computer
gamers were pathological players according to standards established
for pathological gambling (Harris Interactive, 2007).
Among 323 German children ranging in age from 11 to 14
years, 9.3% (N = 30) met criteria for dependency and pathological
gaming using DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria (8). A second
study of 7069 computer-game players reported that 11.9% met
three of the diagnostic criteria for addiction (9). Finally, among
221 computer game players, 6.3% have met ICD-10 criterion of
addiction (10). Among 2327 Norwegian youth, 2.7% (4.2% of
the boys, 1.1% of the girls) fulfilled the criteria for pathological
playing following a “Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction
of Young;” 9.8% (14.5% of the boys, 5% of the girls)
were considered to be engaging in “at risk playing” (11). In the
United Kingdom, a survey of 387 adolescents (12–16 years of
age) found that 20% met computer dependence using a scale
adapted from the DSM-III-R criteria for pathological gambling
(12). A German National survey of 7000 gamers found that
12% met three of the criterion for internet addiction (9). Results
of a German nationwide survey of 44,610 male and female
ninth-graders in 2007 and 2008 have shown that 3% of the male
and.3% of the female students were diagnosed as dependent on