Prevalence and socio-demographic, anthropometric, and cognitive correlates of internet gaming disorder among children in China

•14.6% of children are classified as having IGD.•Boys are more likely to have IGD than girls.•Engaging in online video game/watch/chat over an hour daily raises the risk of IGD.•Preference for online social interaction is positively associated with IGD.•Player-avatar identification is positively associated with IGD. This study aims to investigate the proportion and potential risk factors of Internet gaming disorder (IGD), including socio-demographic (sex, age, and grade), anthropometric (BMI, height, and weight), and cognitive (body esteem, self-esteem, preference for online social interaction (POSI), and player-avatar identification (PAI)) correlates, in a sample of Chinese children. The participants comprised of 201 primary school students (55.2% boys), aged 10.9 (SD = 1.2) years on average. They completed a self-report questionnaire assessing the abovementioned variables. In our sample, 14.6% were classified as having IGD. Boys had significantly higher IGD risk than girls. Self-esteem (ORu = 0.93), POSI (ORu = 1.09; ORa = 1.07; ORm = 1.07), feelings during play subscale (ORu = 1.17; ORa = 1.16; ORm = 1.15), absorption during play subscale (ORu = 1.16; ORa = 1.13; ORm = 1.14), and importance of the avatar to one’s self-identity subscale of PAI (ORu = 1.20; ORa = 1.18; ORm = 1.18) were significantly associated with the risk of IGD. The findings lend preliminary empirical support for the links between cognitive factors and IGD among children, which merit further investigations and may inform prevention and intervention of IGD in this population.