Adolescents are at particularly high risk of excessive use of digital technology, which can negatively impact their mental and physical health, the dynamics and quality of their interactions within their families, peer groups, schools and wider communities as well as behavioral problems (deviant behavior, self-harm). Hence, the impact that new technologies have on adolescents’ mental and physical health and well-being is a particular research challenge in the new digital age. The literature suggests that adolescents may develop gaming addictions similar to substance addictions. Alongside gambling disorder, gaming disorder is one of the few forms of problematic internet use that has been formally classified as a disorder. According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), it is defined as Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the DSM-5 with the notation “condition for further study”, according to the World Health Organization as Gaming Disorder (GD) in the ICD-11. This study aimed to examine the correlation between classmate support with the tendency for excessive or problematic online gaming. The main research question is formulated as: How is peer/classmate support related to the expression of Problematic Online Gaming behaviors among adolescents? A survey was conducted during 2021 and 2022 across 10 high schools in Macedonia using the Qualtrics platform, with 301 adolescents (49.8% male, 50.2% female) aged 15 to 18. A convenience sample was used, selected based on parental and student consent. The study used well-established psychometric instruments: the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF), and the Classmate Support Subscale from Child and Adolescent Classmate’s Support Scale (CASSS). Findings indicated that classmate support is associated with a lower tendency for Problematic Online Gaming (r = -0.21, p < 0.01). The CASSS subscales—emotional, instrumental, appraisal, and informational support—showed that emotional, instrumental, and appraisal support were negatively correlated with problematic internet gaming, whereas informational support was not significantly correlated with problematic internet gaming. It can be assumed that classroom/peer support can be identified as a protective factor (or, if insufficient, as risk factor) for prevention of Problematic Online Gaming among adolescents.
