The time spent playing computer games during the Covid-19 pandemic increased to a small extent and had no-neither positive or negative-a relationship with mental health-showed an extensive meta-analysis carried out by scientists from the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań.
– In the first period of lockdown, it was about encouraging people to physically distance themselves from others. It was not easy because it limited one of the basic human needs – direct social contacts that are of great importance for mental health. Computer games began to be seen as a potential substitute for everyday, positive experiences related to entertainment, relaxation and reduction of stress – told PAP dr hab. Łukasz Kaczmarek, prof. UAM.
– At the same time, fears began to appear, whether it was a gaming “medicine” will not have negative consequences. If people really start playing more, which is still often associated with various problems, such as addiction, depression, and aggression, we will not do more harm than good – he added.
To decide how it was in reality and see if the gaming activity actually increased during lockdown and whether the amount of time spent playing was associated with mental well -being, prof. Kaczmarek and his colleagues decided to analyze all available scientific research on this subject. They took into account 17 publications taking into account the game time (about 18,000 people participated in these studies) and 22 publications on mental health (with the participation of approx. 19,000 people).
The results surprised scientists. It turned out that although gaming activity increased, it was a statistically small change (D = 0.26). – A change in this type is considered difficult to notice in everyday life without a detailed analysis. For illustration: if you translate this value into the body weight of men, which in Poland is about 80 kg, it would be an increase of about 3.5 kg, which is something that can be seen, but it definitely does not notice – emphasized the researcher.
The second examined aspect, i.e. the influence of playing time on mental health, was completely statistically irrelevant. – From a population perspective, it was not confirmed that playing can significantly improve or deteriorate well -being in conditions of insulation. Although there were individual studies indicating the benefits of games derived or an increase in risk, we did not observe any relationship in general. Among the people who during the pandemic period felt less satisfaction with life, were both those who played a lot and those who played very little. And vice versa – among people who felt very good during Lockdown, there were also die -hard players and non -playing people – explained prof. Kaczmarek.
– This result is also very interesting, because there were a lot of research in which players expressed the belief that games significantly supported their mental health during a pandemic. Perhaps subjectively these effects are overestimated or seen too unilaterally, and maybe even wishful. Certainly they are not marked at the population level – he added.
The study analyzed several positive indicators of mental well -being (e.g. a sense of happiness, positive emotions, relaxation) and several negative (e.g. symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress or loneliness). None of them had related to the number of hours spent playing. The effects were similar regardless of age, gender, world region or quality of research.
In the opinion of prof. Kaczmarek is a very important observation because it shows that the topic of the impact of gaming activity on human well -being and mental health may be unjustly demonized or glorified.
– There are probably other issues that are more important for the protection of our society's mental health than just encouraging to play more or less. In particular, as our analysis also shows, this applies to the amount of playing time, the role of which is discounted. This does not mean that gaming does not affect welfare and mental health at all. Most of the research, however, indicate that it is crucial not how much we play, but what quality our gaming experience is and what motivation we approach to play – he emphasized. – Is it engaging and enriching experience or intellectual fast -food – he added.
He explained, among others About what type of games we like to play, what our way of playing is, what it directs us and what we feel during the game.
– If a given game satisfies the need for autonomy, competence and contact with others, and does not bind to hate, violence or exaggerated competition, we can probably say that even a periodic increase in time spent on it will not be associated with negative consequences. It will simply be one of the forms of entertainment and effective satisfying of typical human needs – explained the researcher.
He also pointed out that the results obtained by his team are important in the context of future social crises. He emphasized that Pandemia showed how quickly people's lifestyle could change and how important is the search for scientifically confirmed ways to maintain mental health in conditions of limited contact with others.
– Nobody expected coronavirus or lockdown. We cannot rule out that in the future there will be other events that will force us to similar changes in everyday functioning. That is why it is important to know which activities and what aspects actually have in this context influence on mental health, and which, as it turns out, does not play a major role here – he concluded.
The publication with the results of the team's research from the Adam Mickiewicz University appeared in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, published by “Nature Portfolio”.
Katarzyna Czechowicz (PAP)
kap/ bar/ ktl/
