Abstract:

Background: Someone who plays online games continuously will experience feelings of extreme pleasure and want to play the games repeatedly, resulting in online game addiction. The high prevalence of online game addiction causes poor relationships between children and parents since children are too busy playing online games. A considerable amount of time spent playing online games also causes university students to lack opportunities for social interactions. This study aims to explore family communication experiences among university students addicted to online games. Methods: This study adopted a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach, involving eight respondents. The data were collected using in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation. The Indonesian Online Game Addiction Questionnaire was distributed to the participants to determine who fitted into the addiction criteria. Result: This study resulted in five themes as follows: students’ awareness of the importance of family communication; the intensity of communication between students and their parents; the changes in students’ contact with family due to online game addiction; the impact of parenting style on students’ online game addiction; and online game addiction as the cause of conflicts between students and their parents. Conclusion:  Parenting style contributes to online game addiction. Online game addiction among students causes changes, especially in the intensity and need for communication with parents despite students’ good awareness of the importance of maintaining contact with their parents.

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