College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education (SHEE), Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 20;17(22):8617. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228617.
A significant proportion of trans and gender diverse (TGD) young people report membership of the gaming community and resultant benefits to wellbeing. To date their experiences and needs regarding a key feature of games, the avatar, are largely unexplored, despite increasing interest in the therapeutic role of avatars in the general population. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of the avatar in gaming, its impact on TGD young people's mental health, and their unique needs regarding avatar design. N = 17 TGD young people aged 11-22 years (M = 16.3 years) participated in four focus groups. A general inductive approach was used to thematically analyze the transcribed data. TGD young people report considerable therapeutic benefits of using avatars with positive mental health implications. Importantly, TGD young people use avatars to explore, develop and rehearse their experienced gender identities, often as a precursor to coming out in the offline world. They also report negative experiences of feeling excluded due to the constraints of conventional notions of gender that are widely reflected in game design. Participants described simple design features to better reflect gender diversity, such as increased customization. Such changes would facilitate the positive gains reported by participants and better reflect the diversity of young people who use games. The findings have important implications for both recreational and serious or therapeutic game design.
相当一部分跨性别和性别多样化（TGD）的年轻人表示他们是游戏社区的成员，并因此获得了幸福感。迄今为止，尽管人们越来越关注游戏中化身的治疗作用，但他们在游戏的关键特征化身方面的体验和需求在很大程度上仍未得到探索。本研究旨在更好地了解化身在游戏中的作用、它对 TGD 年轻人心理健康的影响，以及他们在化身设计方面的独特需求。共有 17 名年龄在 11 至 22 岁之间（M = 16.3 岁）的 TGD 年轻人参与了四个焦点小组。使用一般归纳方法对转录数据进行主题分析。TGD 年轻人报告说，使用化身具有重要的治疗益处，对心理健康有积极影响。重要的是，TGD 年轻人使用化身来探索、发展和练习他们所经历的性别认同，这通常是他们在线下世界出柜的前奏。他们还报告了因性别观念的限制而感到被排斥的负面经历，这些观念在游戏设计中广泛存在。参与者描述了一些简单的设计特征，以更好地反映性别多样性，例如增加自定义。这些变化将促进参与者报告的积极收益，并更好地反映使用游戏的年轻人的多样性。研究结果对娱乐和严肃或治疗性游戏设计都有重要意义。
