Table 1.

Description of key survey measures.

Variable	Source
Respondents' general life satisfaction using	The 11-point, single item scale ranging from 0 = “completely dissatisfied” 10 = “completely satisfied” in reponse to the statement, “thinking about your own life and your personal circumstances, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?” originally developed by Diener et al. (1985), well-validated (Lucas and Donnellan, 2012; Jovanović, 2016). Using the reported population average from the VicHealth Indicators Survey (Victoria State Government, 2015, p. 29) for adults (M = 7.80), responses above 7 on the scale of life satisfaction were coded as “high,” and those below the state average were coded as “low.”
Social connection with others	Levels of agreement with the statement “I feel connected with others” on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1= “strongly disagree” to 6= “strongly agree” (Nicholson and O'Halloran, 2019). In the version of the survey completed by children, a pictorial representation of social connection using overlapping circles was used.
Medical consultation linked to gaming	Respondents indicated whether they had ever (within their lifetime) visited a health expert in relation to a health condition they considered to be linked to their gaming (including any visits to a physiotherapist, optometrist, psychologist, or general practice doctor in relation to a physical or mental health issue).
Physical Activity	• The number of days in a typical week that rigorous activity was engaged in for at least 1 h derived from a single item physical activity measure (O'Halloran et al., 2020). • Types of physical activities with which respondents engaged • 3. The number of hours spent sitting down on a typical weekday/weekend
Soft drink consumption	Ordinal variable ranging from none to more than five cups per day.
Alcohol Consumption	• Consumed an alcoholic drink in the 12 months prior • Frequency of partaking in heavy drinking (five or more standard drinks in a single session) which was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from never to daily. • Occurrence of underage drinking based on the responses given by both the parents reporting on their child's drinking habits and children reporting about their own drinking habits.
Incidence of smoking	Frequency of smoking was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from never to daily.
The incidence of experiencing trouble sleeping	Recorded on a 5-point ordinal scale ranging from never to three to four times per week.
Bullying as a result of gaming	Respondents were asked whether they had experienced any bullying that occurred at any point in time either online (e.g., on social media, during gaming sessions, etc.) or in person at school or at work. Examples of bullying were provided in the survey. The extent of bullying was dichotomised into high/low levels for those who had experienced bullying, with low frequency defined as “less than once or twice” and high frequency as “more than every few weeks” within the 4 weeks prior to completing the survey.
Mitigation strategies	A simple binary response to whether each of a list of mitigation strategies were being used (parents) (e.g., the setting of time limits on their child's gaming, ensuring physical activity, encouraging open lines of communication).
Gaming addiction	Gaming and Addiction Scale (adapted) for Adolescents (Lemmens et al., 2009). The responses were recorded on the scale from 1= never to 5 = very often with respect to the incidence of various behaviors associated with gaming addiction. The scale items used were are listed below. • Have you ever thought about playing a game for most of the day? • You spend increasing amounts of time on games? • Sometimes, you play games to forget about real life? • Others have unsuccessfully tried to reduce your game use? • You felt bad when you were unable to play? • Have you ever had fights with others (e.g., family, friends) over your time spent on games? • Have you ever found yourself anticipating when you would go online again? • Have you chosen to spend more time gaming instead spending time with others in person? • Have you grades or schoolwork suffer because of the amount of time you spent gaming? [Minors only] • Has your work suffered because of the amount of time you spent gaming? [Young Adults only] • Has your study suffered because of the amount of time you spent gaming? [Young Adults only]