Spicer Stuart Gordon, Close James, Nicklin Laura Louise, Uther Maria, Whalley Ben, Fullwood Chris, Parke Jonathan, Lloyd Joanne, Lloyd Helen
Community and Primary Care Research Group (CPCRG), ITTC Building, Davy Road, Plymouth Science Park, Derriford, Plymouth PL6 8BX, UK.
Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health), University of Plymouth, Plymouth Devon PL4 8AA, UK.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Jan 3;11(1):231046. doi: 10.1098/rsos.231046. eCollection 2024 Jan.
In a pre-registered survey linked to this paper (Exploring the relationships between psychological variables and loot box engagement, part 1: pre-registered hypotheses), we confirmed bivariate associations between engagement with loot boxes (purchasable randomized rewards in video games) and measures of problem gambling, problem video gaming, impulsivity, gambling cognitions, experiences of game-related 'flow', psychological distress and reduced wellbeing. However, these variables have complex relationships, so to gain further insights, we analysed the dataset (1495 gamers who purchase loot boxes and 1223 purchasers of non-randomized content) in a series of Bayesian mixed-effects multiple regressions with a zero-inflation component. The results challenge some well-established results in the literature, including associations between loot box engagement and problematic gambling measures, instead suggesting that this relationship might be underpinned by shared variance with problem video gaming and gambling-related cognitions. An entirely novel discovery revealed a complex interaction between experiences of flow and loot box engagement. Distress and wellbeing are both (somewhat contradictorily) predictive of participants engaging with loot boxes, but neither correlate with increasing loot box risky engagement/spend (among those who engage). Our findings unravel some of the nuances underpinning loot box engagement, yet remain consistent with narratives that policy action on loot boxes will have benefits for harm minimization.
在与本文相关的一项预先注册的调查（探索心理变量与开箱玩法参与度之间的关系，第1部分：预先注册的假设）中，我们证实了开箱玩法（电子游戏中可购买的随机奖励）参与度与问题赌博、问题电子游戏、冲动性、赌博认知、游戏相关“心流”体验、心理困扰和幸福感降低等测量指标之间的双变量关联。然而，这些变量之间存在复杂的关系，因此为了获得更深入的见解，我们在一系列带有零膨胀成分的贝叶斯混合效应多元回归中分析了数据集（1495名购买开箱玩法的玩家和1223名非随机内容购买者）。研究结果对文献中的一些既定结果提出了挑战，包括开箱玩法参与度与问题赌博测量指标之间的关联，相反，这表明这种关系可能由与问题电子游戏和赌博相关认知的共同方差所支撑。一个全新的发现揭示了心流体验与开箱玩法参与度之间的复杂相互作用。困扰和幸福感都（有点矛盾地）预测了参与者参与开箱玩法的情况，但两者都与开箱玩法的风险参与度/支出增加（在参与的人群中）无关。我们的研究结果揭示了开箱玩法参与度背后的一些细微差别，但仍与关于对开箱玩法采取政策行动将有助于最大限度减少危害的观点一致。
