Abstract
Technological advancements have made it possible for people to play digital games conveniently, anywhere, and at any time. This has made digital gaming one of the most popular forms of entertainment, particularly among adolescents in the Philippines. This descriptive quantitative research investigated the effects and relationship between adolescent gaming habits and mental health and behavioral status of 59 junior high and senior high school students from a private university in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The collected data had been counted and tabulated using statistical software with the assistance of a statistician. The researchers made use of the four-point Likert scale to measure the mental health and behavioral status of adolescence. The analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between the number of gaming hours per day and both the mental health (r = 0.539, p < 0.05), and behavioral status of adolescents (r = 0.460, p < 0.05). However, there were no significant relationships found between age, sex, or type of gaming device and mental health or behavioral status. Thus, the study found that violent digital gaming positively affected the adolescent's mood. Violent digital gaming served as a coping mechanism for adolescents who experienced loneliness and provided a sense of connection and social interactions that deal with negative emotions, release anger, or alleviate stress. However, it was noted that participants showed aggressiveness when their gameplay was interrupted.
