Alcohol Consumption in Chinese Young Adult Gamers: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)

Evidence linking alcohol consumption and gaming was inconsistent. This study aimed to explore this link in a sample of Chinese young adult gamers and to determine if the AUDIT was an adequate tool to assess alcohol consumption in this population. Data from 561 daily gamers and 557 weekly gamers reporting past 30-day alcohol use were analyzed (mean 25.3 years). Gaming behavior was assessed by the IGDT-10. Sample characteristics were compared between daily and weekly gamers. Confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance tests were performed to validate existing AUDIT models and its invariance across age, gender, marital status, gaming frequency, playing MMO games, playing for socializing, escaping, and immersion purposes. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify a factor solution consistent with the study sample. Compared with weekly gamers, daily gamers were more likely to engage in MMO games (41.0% vs 32.5%, p = 0.003), to score higher on IGDT-10 (mean = 7.51 vs 5.85, p = 0.000) and AUDIT (mean = 7.89 vs 7.13, p = 0.023), and to meet diagnostic criteria for internet gaming disorder (IGDT-10 ≥ 5, 5.9% vs 1.3%, p = 0.000) and alcohol use disorder (AUDIT ≥ 8, 43.9% vs 36.6%, p = 0.015). The bi-factor model was the best fitting solution and exhibited scalar invariance across key gaming characteristics, but was partially metric and scalar invariant across gender. Severity of gaming was strongly associated with harmful consequences of alcohol consumption, especially in female gamers. Future research may need to examine this association in larger samples of disordered gamers.