Evaluation of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) in a Recreational Video Game Playing Population

The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) identifies four personality dimensions related to reinforcement-specific patterns of substance use. Gaming literature has identified similar personalities and game-related reinforcement properties as core risk factors of problematic play. Given similarities, we investigated whether the SURPS model could be confirmed in a recreational video game playing population as a predictive model of problematic gaming. We recruited participants through gaming forums and Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an online survey that focused on the SURPS and indicators of problematic gaming. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the SURPS is a valid instrument measuring four distinct personality dimensions with minor modifications. Regression analyses did not confirm all four at-risk personality dimensions as predictors of problematic play. The Impulsive personality was a significant predictor of lifetime frequency and problematic gaming, whereas the Hopelessness personality was a significant predictor of time spent playing. Future studies will need to assess this model using outcome variables grouped based on reinforcement-related gaming taxonomy.