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Two sides of the same virtual coin: Investigating psychosocial effects of video game play, including stress relief motivations as a gateway to problematic video game usage
Farmer, George
Farmer, George
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2024-04-02
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healthcare-12-00772.pdf
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Abstract
Video gamers can play to negate the psychological impact of stress, which may become problematic when users over-rely on the stress relief potential of gaming. This study used a repeated measures experimental design to investigate the relationships between stress, video gaming, and problematic video gaming behaviours in a convenience sample of 40 students at a UK university. The results indicated that positive affect increased and negative affect decreased, whilst a biological stress measure (instantaneous pulse rate) also decreased after a short video gaming session (t(36) = 4.82, p < 0.001, d = 0.79). The results also suggested that video gaming can act as a short-term buffer against the physiological impact of stress. Further research should focus on testing individuals who have been tested for gaming disorder, as opposed to the general population. Research could also utilise variations of the methodological framework used in this study to examine the intensity of a stress relief effect under different social situations. The study’s findings in relation to published works are also discussed.
Citation
Farmer G., and Lloyd J. (2024) Two Sides of the Same Virtual Coin: Investigating Psychosocial Effects of Video Game Play, including Stress Relief Motivations as a Gateway to Problematic Video Game Usage. Healthcare. 12(7):772. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12070772
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Journal article
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en
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© 2024 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12070772
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2227-9032
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2227-9032