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

Farmer, G. and Lloyd, J. 2024. 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. Preprints.org. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1890.v1

TitlePreprint: 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
AuthorsFarmer, G. and Lloyd, J.
Description

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.

Year2024
Output mediaPreprints.org
KeywordsVideo Games
Stress
Motivation
Problematic Gaming
Stress-relief
PublisherPreprints.org
Publication dates
Published26 Jan 2024
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1890.v1
Web address (URL)https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202401.1890/v1

Related outputs

Preprint: “It’s a good distraction from the mayhem of reality”: An exploratory qualitative study on video gaming during the COVID-19 lockdown.
George Farmer, Nina Higson-Sweeney and Chris Fullwood 2024. Preprint: “It’s a good distraction from the mayhem of reality”: An exploratory qualitative study on video gaming during the COVID-19 lockdown. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/f43e2

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, 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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