Preprint: 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

Video gamers can play to negate the psychological impact of stress (Pine et al., 2020), 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. 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 < .001, d = 0.79). Results also suggest 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 a 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 work are also discussed.