Exploring Mobile Game Addiction, Cyberbullying, and its Effects on Academic Performance among Tertiary Students in one University in the Philippines

Mobile gaming addiction is a growing concern that increases the user's risk for physical and psychological health problems. Video game addiction is part of the so-called Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and is often associated with Gambling Addiction. In general, IGD has been linked to a poorer academic performance of students in educational institutions. However, a study conducted by Samaha and Hawi (2016) revealed that there is no relationship between smartphone addiction risk and academic performance. This denotes a disparity on the result of academic performance between IGD and mobile phone addiction. Cyber-bullying, on the other hand, is also an ethical concern that has affected several young adolescents and adults. Previous studies on traditional bullying and cyberbullying revealed that both can greatly impact school performance of students among others. As far as the present study is concerned, no studies have been conducted which determines whether mobile game addiction and cyberbullying are causal factors for the academic performance of students. It is now the objective of the present study to determine whether both can negatively affect the academic performance of students. This study employed a quantitative approach to determine a possible correlation between mobile game addiction and cyberbullying with student academic performance. A total of eighty-five (85) respondents from National University - Philippines answered two questionnaires through Google Forms, namely, the Game Addiction Questionnaire and Cyberbullying Questionnaire. Convenience Sampling was used to gather the respondents of the two surveys. Both cyberbullying and mobile game addiction (constructs) were neglected as causal factors for the students' academic performance. However, it can be concluded that those who have been a victim of cyberbullying are most likely to perpetrate or initiate cyberbullying. Other results are further discussed in the paper.