Structural model
Next, a structural model was estimated modeling video game
co-playing as a predictor of adolescents’ internalizing problems,
aggression, delinquency, prosocial behavior, and connection with
parents (Figure 1). Adolescents’ overall frequency of video game
play and age-inappropriateness of games co-played were used as
control variables. To test for group differences as a function of
gender of the child, a series of multigroup models were estimated
and compared using 2 difference tests. Structural paths were examined
by comparing a model where paths were free to vary across
gender with one where paths were constrained to be equal across
gender, constraining one path at a time, and then comparing the
fully constrained model with the fully unconstrained model.