![]() According to the Finnish Player Barometer ( Mäyrä, Karvinen, & Ermi, 2016), the proportion of Finnish players playing mobile games at least once a month had increased significantly from 2011 to 2015 (from 21% to 37%). Similarly, the Global Consumer Survey ( Deloitte, 2014) reported that 65% of the Finnish population had a smartphone, 29% of Finnish smartphone owners played games on their phone weekly, and the highest penetration was found among 18- to 24-year-old adults. In 2015, Finland had 144.1 and Belgium 66.6 active mobile-broadband subscriptions (see ITU, 2016, pp. In Europe, Finland and Belgium are among the countries with the highest active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, which refer to the sum of these types of standard and dedicated subscriptions through handset-based or computer-based (USB/dongle) devices covering actual subscribers. Furthermore, the ITU has recently ranked Finland and Belgium among the higher scoring nations in the Information and communication technologies Development Index (IDI) in Europe, with Finland ranking 11th (IDI = 8.08) and Belgium 15th (IDI = 7.83) of 40 countries. ![]() In 2014, the Belgian mobile-broadband penetration was 34%, and mobile social media 36% ( European Digital Landscape, 2014). According to the ITU ( 2015), between 20, mobile-broadband subscriptions increased 12-fold from 4% to 47% globally. This study uses data from the Tech Use Disorders ( TUD, 2017) project, a prospective study involving a panel of European adults followed since 2014 exploring problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) in Belgian and Finnish smartphone users, because these two countries had not been studied before in such a context ( Deloitte, 2015), despite having a couple of the highest prevalence rates in mobile phone technology usage ( International Telecommunication Union, 2015).īelgium and Finland do not differ in mobile phone use. Similarly, a study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association ( ESA, 2015) stated gaming has partly shifted from being console and PC-based to being multiplatform and cross-platform (i.e., video games with an online component allowing gamers to use different hardware). Europeans have adopted mobile games, which have become the most downloaded applications (“apps”) on smartphones. According to a Deloitte ( 2014) report, mobile games represent one of the fastest growing sectors of the mobile application industry in Europe. In contrast, Europe represents a quarter of the global games market, according to the Global Games Market Report ( Newzoo, 2017), with 78% of European mobile gamers playing freemium games ( Deloitte, 2015). Some studies have focused on gaming through smartphones, especially in Asia ( Lee, 2017 Su et al., 2016). ![]() Moreover, the social elements of most mobile games are major features in current digital gaming because social networking sites (SNSs) are successfully integrated and used across many gaming platforms. Mobile games are video games played online via a mobile device, and are particularly popular when downloaded for free (e.g., “freemium game” – games played for free and where customers can pay for extra features), and can be single-player or multiplayer games ( Su, Chiang, Lee, & Chang, 2016). ![]() Given rapid developments in mobile technology, smartphone gaming requires an in-depth exploration to ascertain factors that may contribute to problematic use. Smartphone gaming has been one form of popular mobile entertainment engaged in on a variety of devices, accounting for more than 42% (i.e., 32% for smartphones and 10% for tablets) of the global games market (i.e., 47% Asia-pacific, 25% North America, 24% Europe, Middle-East and Africa, and 4% Latin-America Newzoo, 2017). Over the past two decades, the use of mobile technologies has evolved to comprise a set of behaviors that have become ubiquitous in people’s daily lives, especially for youth ( Hoffner, Lee, & Park, 2016 Okazaki, Skapa, & Grande, 2008). Interacting with mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets) has now become strongly embedded in contemporary societies across the world as many different types of activity can now be engaged in (e.g., gaming, gambling, and social networking). ![]()
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