Research Hit: Gaming Improves Mental Wellbeing!
Large scale research in Japan showed a causal relationship with wellbeing during the pandemic but was dependent on console
Are you sure it improves mental wellbeing?
Well, this is according to this large-scale study in Japan with over 97’000 survey responses. Another study I reported on previously found no link also - or only a link with pre-existing conditions.
There are, as always, multiple caveats but it does contribute to a growing body of research which shows a more nuanced impact.
What are the caveats?
This was in Japan and during the pandemic - so gaming during these difficult times may have helped to relieve stress. However, it also looks at causal and not just correlational links. For example, there was a console lottery and so the researchers could track the impact of having a gaming console.
They researched all age groups also.
And you said different consoles had different effects.
Yes, that may also be surprising but there were markedly different effects of different consoles. What is also surprising to me is how large the effects were!
Owning a Nintendo Switch improved mental health by 0.60 standard deviations for adolescents
Owning a PlayStation 5 improved it by merely 0.12 standard
PlayStation 5 ownership increased life satisfaction by 0.23 standard deviations.
What, 0.6 standard deviations!
Yes, that is substantial and more than other studies have shown - but this could be pandemic specific. The surprise is that the console has such a large effect - great advertising for Nintendo!
So we should be gaming more?!
I’m not sure about that - or not if it impacts other factors in life such as decreasing social contact. Social contact is essential for mental health over life. So if it is in combination with social contact and doing real things in the real world it can be beneficial. As previous research has also shown gaming may not help with pre-existing mental health conditions.
But a bit of gaming seems beneficial!
Yes, indeed, I am also prone to a bit of online gaming - and we occasionally get the Nintendo out with the family - and after reading this research happy to say it is a Nintendo!
Hiroyuki Egami, Md. Shafiur Rahman, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Chihiro Egami, Takahisa Wakabayashi.
Causal effect of video gaming on mental well-being in Japan 2020–2022
Nature Human Behaviour, 2024
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01948-y