Self-Esteem and Game Addiction in adolescents with Thalassemia Disease at Ramathibodi Hospital

Abstract

Objectives :

To study the factors relatedto self-esteem and game addictionand their associations in Thai adolescents with thalassemia disease

Method :

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Participants were patients, age between 13 to 22 year, who were diagnosed with thalassemia disease and followed-up at Hematologic Division, Department of Pediatric, Ramathibodi hospital. This study was conducted from 1^{stAugust through October 31, 2015. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Revised version (RSES-Revised) Thai version and Problem Video Game Playing (PVP) questionnaires Thai version were used to measure self-esteem and game addiction, respectively.}

Results :

^{There were 88 participants with the mean age of 16.15 years (SD = 2.16) in this study. Most of them had Beta thalassemia/HbE disease (63.6%) with transfusion dependent (65.9%). Most of them played games everyday (67.1%) Low self-esteem was found in 38 participants (43.2%). Prevalence of game addiction was 6.8%, (female to male ratio was 2:1). The study found that factors such as caregiver with lower education, daily game playing, transfusion dependence, type of iron chelating, complication and greater numbers of school leave day per year were statistically significant associated with game addiction (p = 0.013, 0.007, 0.032, 0.007, 0.015 and 0.024 respectively). However, there were no any factors associated with self esteem nor any association between self-esteem and game addiction.}

Conclusion :

^{Level of caregivereducation, daily game playing and factors related to Thalassemia were associated with game addiction. This data might be useful for health care personnel, who take care of patients with thalassemia, to screening for game addiction in patients.}