Motivations to play and mental health in video game players

ABSTRACT

Over decades research has been conducted to measure connections between playing video games and mental health. Fewer studies have examined individual differences in motivations to play video games as an explaining factor in negative mental health symptoms experienced by adult gamers. This study utilized the Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS) to capture the relationship between different types of motivation to play and negative mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and social phobia). Participants were 77 adults (age 18-40 81% male) who play 20 or more hours of video games a week. To mitigate the potential, influence the COVID-19 pandemic had on gaming habits, participants were asked to identify gaming habits prior to COVID-19 (between March 2019-Febuary 2020) and after (since March 2020). The study's hypotheses were that higher endorsements of "amotivation scores" on the GAMS will correlate with higher depression scores;that those who endorse higher "introjected regulation" will show higher levels of depression, anxiety, and social phobia scores;and that those who endorse higher "integrated regulation" will have lower levels of anxiety, social phobia, and depression scores. It was found that the GAMS was not a significant predictor of mental health problems, and no relationships were found between number of hours spent playing, motivation type, and mental health outcomes. Although the hypotheses were not supported, the results give rise to a possible interpretation: That adults who spent a large amount of time playing video games do not necessarily experience mental health problems. The overall levels of clinical depression, anxiety, or social phobia were in fact fairly low. Motivation to play video games and time spent playing do not necessarily correlate with mental health itself. Even though the number of hours spent playing video games increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, time spent playing did not correlate with negative mental health symptoms. With a history of stigma towards video games, the study's findings may reiterate the importance of comprehensive assessment to create stronger distinctions between clients who present with clinically significant uses and those who engage with gaming in the context of a passion or a hobby. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)