Loneliness among gamers: Social-psychological factors that could heighten the sense of loneliness among online gamers in a post-pandemic context.

Loneliness has been defined as an aversive response to the discrepancy between desired andachieved social contact, which is associated with various physical and mental health problems.During the COVID-19 pandemic, the perception of loneliness increased globally, a context inwhich the social use of online games emerged as a tool to mitigate loneliness among users.This study (N = 302) aimed to identify the social-psychological factors that would impact theperception of loneliness among Chilean online gamers in a post-pandemic context. Findingssuggest that loneliness among gamers might be related to higher levels of internet addiction,social anxiety, and the video game genre they predominantly engage with (MMORPGs vs.FPS). Also, the perception of loneliness tended to be lower among older players and those whocommunicated with friends (vs strangers) via voice chat during gameplay. More importantly,our analyses demonstrated that a significant portion of the effect of social anxiety on lonelinesswas mediated by internet addiction, while the effect of internet addiction on loneliness wasnegatively moderated by greater weekly gaming time. The implications of our findings foronline gamers’ well-being and mental health are discussed.