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A new study has revealed that video games can boost mental well-being and life satisfaction.
The popularity of video games has long sparked concerns about the potential negative impact on mental health, however, that narrative is being challenged by this new research.
A study by researchers from prominent Japanese universities analyzed the effects of gaming on consoles, including the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing responses from over 97,000 participants across various age groups, the study found that playing video games on consoles like Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 can lead to significant improvements in mental well-being and overall life satisfaction.
Playing video games for a couple of hours a day can improve mental health, according to a study on gamers in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results were published today in Nature Human Behaviour.https://t.co/ahKsPom5UO
— Raja Adnan Ahmed (@drraja_) August 21, 2024
The results show that gaming, particularly on the Nintendo Switch, positively impacts mental well-being, with significant improvements observed in adolescents. This supports a larger trend of video gaming statistics, which show that 88% of gamers make new friends through gaming, reducing loneliness and boosting mental health.
However, this study went further, using a natural experimental design to establish a causal link between gaming and mental health benefits.
By analyzing data from game console lotteries during the pandemic, researchers found that owning and playing games on the Nintendo Switch improved mental health by 0.60 standard deviation. At the same time, PlayStation 5 owners saw a 0.12 standard deviation increase.
Standard deviation (SD) measures how spread out values are in a dataset. In this context, it represents the amount of change in mental health scores. A 0.60 SD improvement means that, on average, Nintendo Switch players showed a moderate to large improvement in their mental health scores. In contrast, a 0.12 SD indicates a small but significant improvement in mental health for PS5 players.
The research challenged the stereotype that gaming is harmful, highlighting its potential to foster emotional resilience and social connections.
Exploring the Positive Impacts of Video Games
The study’s lead researcher, Hiroyuki Egami, Ph.D., emphasized that the results demonstrate the real mental health benefits of gaming.
The research found that different consoles offer varying degrees of mental health improvement, with the Nintendo Switch showing the most significant impact, particularly among younger players. The study also noted that gaming can improve social interactions and provide a sense of achievement, essential factors for mental well-being.
Some experts have criticized the study for not considering important factors that could affect its findings. Josh McGiff, a lecturer at the University of Limerick, believes that the relationship between mental health and gaming is complex and involves many factors that were not explored by the researchers.
According to McGiff, the study has several major flaws. First, it doesn’t analyze how different types of games (such as action games like Best Assassin’s Creed Games, puzzles, or role-playing) impact mental health. Second, it fails to distinguish between social, single-player experiences and multiplayer games, which are crucial factors to consider.
Finally, the study’s narrow focus on PS5 and Switch consoles, while neglecting other popular platforms like PC, Xbox, and mobile games, constitutes a severe methodological limitation. Due to these significant limitations, McGiff advises caution when interpreting the study’s findings.
