Farmer George, Higson-Sweeney Nina, Fullwood Chris
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
Front Digit Health. 2025 Aug 18;7:1608322. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1608322. eCollection 2025.
Video games have been shown to offer psychological benefits to gamers during times of stress. One recent, salient example of a stress-inducing event was the COVID-19 pandemic, which created periods of social isolation and uncertainty on a global scale. The current study offers a glimpse into the lives of video gamers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of video games in navigating day-to-day stresses during a crisis.
Participants ( = 13) were recruited online via volunteer sampling and conducted text-based structured interviews via Skype or via email. Using an interview guide developed for this study, participants were asked questions regarding demographic traits such as age, gender, and employment status, as well as questions regarding their current video game play at the time of the interview and general questions, such as whether video games offered any perceived benefits during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Reflexive thematic analysis of 13 interviews generated three themes that focus on video games, coping, and well-being. For many participants, video games provided what the lockdown took away: permitting the restoration of agency, community, and a sense of purpose. Immersing oneself in video games was a proactive coping mechanism for some but protective for others, suggesting a range of strategies that likely differed in effectiveness. Finally, gamers discussed the tension between viewing gaming as a beneficial and valuable activity versus unproductive time-wasting.
Qualitative results are evaluated through the lens of self-determination theory. The use of video games to deal with the day-to-day stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates teachable moments that speak to video gaming as a compensatory activity during times of crisis, which applies to future global health events beyond COVID-19.
研究表明，电子游戏在压力时期能给玩家带来心理益处。近期一个引发压力的突出事件是新冠疫情，它在全球范围内造成了社交隔离和不确定性的时期。本研究让我们得以一窥新冠疫情期间电子游戏玩家的生活，以及电子游戏在应对危机期间日常压力方面所起的作用。
通过志愿抽样在网上招募了13名参与者，并通过Skype或电子邮件进行基于文本的结构化访谈。使用为本研究制定的访谈指南，询问参与者关于年龄、性别和就业状况等人口统计学特征的问题，以及关于访谈时他们当前的电子游戏玩法的问题，还有一些一般性问题，比如电子游戏在新冠疫情封锁期间是否带来了任何可感知的益处。
对13次访谈进行反思性主题分析产生了三个主题，分别聚焦于电子游戏、应对方式和幸福感。对许多参与者来说，电子游戏提供了封锁期间所缺失的东西：使能动性、社交圈子和目标感得以恢复。沉浸于电子游戏对一些人来说是一种积极的应对机制，但对另一些人则起到保护作用，这表明一系列策略的效果可能有所不同。最后，玩家们讨论了将游戏视为有益且有价值的活动与无意义的浪费时间之间的矛盾。
通过自我决定理论的视角对定性结果进行评估。利用电子游戏来应对新冠疫情期间的日常压力，体现了一些可借鉴的经验，这些经验表明电子游戏在危机时期是一种补偿性活动，这也适用于新冠疫情之外的未来全球卫生事件。
