Mobile Game Addiction and Academic Achievement among Senior High School Students: A Convergent Mixed-Methods Study in a Philippine Public School (ICPSR 309017)
Abstract
This study employed a Convergent Mixed-Methods Design to examine how mobile gaming influences students’ behaviour, study habits, physical well-being, and academic obligations within a senior high school educational context. The quantitative component involved 58 Grade 11 students from Section X in the Philippines who answered a 10-item Likert-scale survey assessing gaming habits, academic distractions, sleep problems, physical symptoms, and coping strategies. Data were analyzed using weighted means, frequency distributions, and Pearson’s correlations. The qualitative component consisted of semi-structured interviews with ten purposively selected participants. The thematic analysis revealed three major themes: (1) gaming for enjoyment and escape, (2) physical discomfort and sleep loss, and (3) difficulty managing academic responsibilities alongside failed attempts at self-regulation. Findings indicated that greater gaming involvement was associated with reduced focus, sleep deprivation, decreased motivation, and neglect of academic tasks. Quantitative results revealed a moderate negative relationship between mobile game addiction and academic performance (r = −.52, p < .001). Qualitative narratives further explained how sleep loss, cognitive fatigue, and reinforcement-driven habits contributed to academic disengagement despite students’ awareness of negative consequences. The study highlights the importance of digital literacy programs, structured guidance interventions, and school-based strategies that promote responsible gaming habits and academic self-regulation among learners.
Author Biography
Mhel Cedric D. Bendo, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Mhel Cedric D. Bendo is a student researcher specializing in educational psychology, curriculum and instruction, educational measurement and evaluation, psychometrics, educational technology, and business and financial technology (FinTech). He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. As of 2026, he is a member of the Editorial Board of SIAR Publications, an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Exploration (IJMRE), and an Editorial Board Member and Review and Technical Committee Member of the International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application (IJAMA), where he contributes to peer review, subject-area feedback, manuscript evaluation, and research assessment. He also serves as a Technical Editor for the Journal of Student-Run Clinics (JSRC), contributing to editorial review processes and the technical evaluation of submitted manuscripts. He is an invited peer reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals, including Cogent Education (Taylor & Francis), a peer-reviewed journal published by a leading global academic publisher, contributing to the evaluation of scholarly work in education and interdisciplinary research. His reviewing contributions cover education, psychology, artificial intelligence in education, educational technology, educational evaluation, interdisciplinary undergraduate research, health education, business, and entrepreneurship, including journals indexed in Web of Science (ESCI), Scopus (Q1–Q3), ERIC, and DOAJ.
Youth Development Study, 1988-2020 [St. Paul, Minnesota] (ICPSR 24881)
The Youth Development Study (YDS) was initiated as a school-based study of adolescent children and their parents to examine the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence for mental health, value formation, educational achievement, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. Particular attention was directed to the impacts of early work experience. Data were also obtained about parent-child and peer relationships and experiences in school. As the study continued, the focus shifted to adult development and attainment and, most recently, mid-life adjustment and health. This comprehensive longitudinal study now encompasses three generations: the initial cohort studied from adolescence to mid-life (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3). Data from three generations in the same families enable study of intergenerational relationships and differences in the experience of adolescence and transition to adulthood across parent and child cohorts. The YDS covers a wide range of topics of interest to sociologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, and life course scholars, including the development and impacts of agentic resources, socioeconomic attainment, processes of inter- and intra-generational mobility, objective and subjective work conditions, family relationships, intergenerational relationships, mental and physical health, and well-being.
In-school administration of paper surveys during the first four years of the study was supplemented by mailed surveys. Subsequent data collection took place entirely by mail, with 19 surveys conducted between 1988 and 2011. A final survey was conducted on-line in 2019. Survey data was obtained from the parents (G1) of this cohort during the first and fourth waves of the study (1988 and 1991). Surveys of the children (G3) began in 2009, continued in 2010 and 2011 (by mail) and in 2019-2020 (online).
The Youth Development Study measures a wide range of formative experiences and both psychological and behavioral variables, using survey methodology.
The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, the parents' own employment as teenagers, their current work experiences, and educational expectations for their children.
The G2 surveys during the high school years included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer groups, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains, mental health, and well-being. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and included questions about current family and living arrangements. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in previous surveys as well as information about career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 19 (1997-2011) included many of the same questions contained in earlier surveys and additional sections that focused on the respondents' educational experiences, family relationships, sources of living expenses, and health and well-being. The most recent G2 survey (2019), administered on-line, included questions about support of aging parents. The YDS is unique in its coverage of both objective and subjective work experiences from adolescence to mid-life.
The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 variables described above. Variables in each G2 and G3 wave are included in cross-wave codebooks, available at the Data Archive Codebook website.
For an overview of the Youth Development Study, see Mortimer, Jeylan T. (2012) "The Evolution, Contributions, and Prospects of the Youth Development Study: An Investigation in Life Course Social Psychology." Social Psychology Quarterly 75(1, March):5-27.
Improvement of School Climate Assessment in Virginia Secondary Schools, 2013-2020 (ICPSR 38022)
This study sought to advance understanding of how school climate is a critical factor in school safety and violence prevention. Middle school and high school students and staff were surveyed over the span of eight years from 2013-2020. Middle school students and staff were surveyed during odd years (4 waves of data collection), and high school students and staff were surveyed the other even years (again four years of data collection). All four years of data per group were combined into a single dataset. A final file was created pooling all eight years of data collection averaging student and staff responses by school.
Both the student and teacher/staff surveys covered two domains: school climate and safety conditions. The school climate domain included perceptions of the school's disciplinary practices, student support efforts, and degree of student engagement in school. The safety conditions domain covered reports of bullying, teasing, sexual harassment, and other forms of peer aggression, including threats of violence, physical assault, dating aggression, and gang activity.
Previous research conducted by the Principal Investigators showed that an authoritative school climate characterized by high structure (strict but fair discipline and high academic expectations) and high support (positive teacher-student relationships) is associated with many positive outcomes. Students who attend schools with an authoritative school climate demonstrated more engagement in school, have higher school attendance and academic achievement, and are more likely to graduate. Students who experience a structured and supportive school climate may be more willing to follow school rules, respond to their teachers, and treat one another in a respectful manner. This study continues that prior work.
Digital Scaffolding for English Language Arts, United States, 2016-2017 (ICPSR 37625)
The Digital Scaffolding for English Language Arts project examines the effect of Visual Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF) on reading and writing outcomes of 7th and 8th-grade students. VSTF is a technology which reformats text to facilitate reading comprehension. The study used a randomized control trial and was set in an urban school district.
The project considers both teachers and students in its implementation of VSTF within the classroom. Variables include demographics, classroom observations, survey responses, annual state assessment results and an end of the year on demand writing task.
Kidsteps II-Efficacy Trial of Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) Program: Promoting School Readiness through Social Emotional Skill Building in Preschool, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 2013-2017 (ICPSR 37521)
The Kidsteps II Project tested the efficacy of the Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) curriculum in improving children's social-emotional skills (SE), executive functioning (EF), and school readiness skills in preschool relative to usual curricular frameworks, and the predictive power of the intervention on kindergarten readiness and kindergarten success. Kidsteps II, a 4-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, included 67 classrooms randomly assigned to one of two, two-year cohorts. In each cohort, half of the classrooms were randomly assigned to receive the SSEL curriculum (intervention condition), and half continued usual practices (control/comparison condition). Teachers in intervention classrooms were provided with training and implementation support for two years. Teachers in both conditions completed social skills rating scales on participating children at the beginning and end of the year (n=1497). Parent reports of children's social skills were also obtained for 725 children. Four-year-old children entering kindergarten the following year (n=978) were individually tested on social skills, executive functioning, and academic skills at the beginning and end of their pre-k year. Additional classroom observation and coded lesson plans documented fidelity, implementation, classroom climate, and classroom quality. Intervention teachers also completed weekly measures of curriculum implementation. Pre-k children from the first three years of the study were followed into kindergarten, and kindergarten teachers completed social skills rating scales and academic readiness mid-year, and school records were obtained for kindergarten screening scores, special services received during kindergarten, and promotion to first grade. The study addressed the following questions:
- Does SSEL improve children's social emotional skills, executive functioning, and school readiness skills as measured by teachers and independent assessors in preschool compared to classrooms not using SSEL?
- Do children participating in SSEL classrooms have stronger school system administered kindergarten readiness screenings, better kindergarten teacher-rated social skills and academic competency, and higher 1st grade promotion compared to children entering from comparison classrooms?
- To what extent are kindergarten readiness screenings and kindergarten teacher's ratings of social skills and academic competence mediated by preschool children's social emotional skills and executive functioning?
- Is there an effect of SSEL on preschool classroom climate?
Millennium Cohort Study (ICPSR 36952)
California Families Project [Sacramento and Woodland, California] [Restricted-Use Files] (ICPSR 35476)
The California Families Project (CFP) is an ongoing longitudinal study of Mexican origin families in Northern California. This study uses community, school, family, and individual characteristics to examine developmental pathways that increase risk for and resilience to drug use in Mexican-origin youth. This study also examines the impact that economic disadvantage and cultural traditions have in Mexican-origin youth. The CFP includes a community-based sample of 674 families and children of Mexican origin living in Northern California, and includes annual assessments of parents and children. Participants with Mexican surnames were drawn at random from school rosters of students during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school year. Data collection included multi-method assessments of a broad range of psychological, familial, scholastic, cultural, and neighborhood factors. Initiation of the research at age 10 was designed to assess the focal children before the onset of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) use, thus enabling the evaluation of how hypothesized risk and resilience mechanisms operate to exacerbate early onset during adolescence or help prevent its occurrence. This study includes a diversity of families that represent a wide range of incomes, education, family history, and family structures, including two-parent and single-parent families.
The accompanying data file consists of 674 family cases with each case representing a focal child and at least one parent (Two-parent: n=549, 82 percent; Single-parent: n=125, 18 percent). Of the 3,139 total variables, 839 pertain to the focal child, 1,376 correspond to the mother, and 908 items pertain to the father.
Please note: While the California Families Project is a longitudinal study, only the baseline data are currently available in this data collection.