In this way, depressive symptoms,
loneliness and negative self-esteem might decrease
for some gamers as they find refuge in online games; on
the other hand, these correlates may increase for others
because relying exclusively on online relationships may
fail to provide the full spectrum of social contacts and
support the gamer’s needs in real life. This hypothesis fits
well with earlier theoretical work on ‘problematic internet
use’ by Caplan [17,18].