Scientific Evidence for the Relationship between Gaming and Health
This article summarizes the benefits of "gaming" as studied in medicine, psychology, and other fields.
These conclusions may or may not be applicable to everyone, as it is necessary to read them as if they can be reproduced under the conditions of the study. Therefore, please use your knowledge at your own discretion.
Evidence of Game Dependence and Procrastination
Over 500 participants were included in two studies, two surveys on video game habits and a measurement of procrastination tendencies.
According to the results of Study 1, the amount of time spent playing video games had little to do with procrastination or reward reduction.
And according to the results of Study 2, hours of video games were not strongly associated with either procrastination or delayed rewards.
However, those who played games to escape reality and reduce stress were found to have more problems with procrastination than those who played for entertainment, reward, or social reasons.
Nordby K, Løkken RA, Pfuhl G. Playing a video game is more than mere procrastination. BMC Psychol. 2019;7(1):33. published 2019 Jun 13. doi:10.1186/s 40359-019-0309-9
Games reduce mind irritability
The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Psychopharmacology in 2016 and investigated what was reported as a potential treatment for children by letting them judge the ambiguity of their facial expressions.
This is a method that has been targeted as a promising treatment for disruptive mood disorders, as well as for mood and attention disorders.
The method involves reading the facial expressions of a person on a screen for a myriad of expressions. The method is to read the facial expressions of a number of people on a screen, and although the emotions to be read can vary, this study tried to read positive facial expressions.
However, the results may or may not be positive, and the intervention may need to be adjusted.
Evidence for Avatar Therapy
This study reviewed 195 participants and three short-term studies. Avatar therapy for schizophrenia was compared with usual care and counseling therapies, and the results from these trials are not of high quality evidence.
Although there were a few reports of positive effects, the results are too equivocal to make sense as front-line care, and the risk of bias in each result is too high to confirm these effects.
The risk of Avatar therapy causing problems for patients cannot be ignored.
Aali G, Kariotis T, Shokraneh F. Avatar therapy for people with schizophrenia or related disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020, No. 5. Art. No.: CD011898. doi: 10.1002 /14651858.CD011898.pub2.
Evidence for VR and video game interventions in rehabilitation.
We reviewed 72 trials involving stroke patients, 2470 participants, each with a generally small study sample size, and the interventions differed in terms of both the goals of treatment and the virtual reality devices used.
The control group typically received neither interventions nor treatments based on standard treatment approaches.
The main result was that there was a statistically significant difference between the groups when virtual reality was used in addition to usual care, although the results for upper limb function were not statistically significant.
In this conclusion, we found evidence that rehabilitation provided by VR and video games is not more beneficial than traditional treatment approaches.
However, the use of VR as an adjunct to usual care did help to improve upper limb function and activities of daily living function. And, as with customized virtual reality programs, there was a trend suggesting that higher doses (more than 15 hours of total intervention) were desirable.
Laver KE, Lange B, George S, Deutsch JE, Saposnik G, Crotty M. Virtual reality in stroke rehabilitation.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue 11. art. No.: CD008349. doi: 10.1002 / 14651858.CD008349.pub4.
Are sports and games effective in the treatment of PTSD? Evidence that
A study that reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that considered sports or games for the purpose of alleviating or reducing PTSD symptoms found that these interventions did not reduce or alleviate PTSD symptoms.
Sports and games in this intervention were defined as organized physical activities performed alone or in groups, and non-physical activities performed alone or in groups, such as computer games and card games.
Psychological interventions such as music therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, and behavioral therapy were also excluded.
Lawrence S, De Silva M, Henley R. Sports and games for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1. Number: CD007171. doi: 10.1002 / 14651858.CD007171.pub2.
