Video Games in the Lives of Adolescents

Video Games in the Lives of Adolescents Kelli N. Dunlap, PsyD

@KelliNDunlapwww.dunlappsyd.comdunlappsyd@gmail.com

What is a Video Game?

Easy question, what comes to mind?

What is a Game?

Hard question - the core of video games is games, so what are games?

Why am I asking? To understand why people play games its helpful to know what it is theyre playing.

A system in which playersengage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.Salen & ZimmermanWhat is a Game?

A system in which playersengage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.Salen & ZimmermanWhat is a Game?

What is the system? (How are things connected, related?)What is the conflict? (Unnecessary obstacle)Rules? (What can you and cant you do?)How do you know how you did? (Score, level, etc)

System

RulesConflictOutcome

What is the system? (How are things connected, related?)What is the conflict? (Unnecessary obstacle)Rules? (What can you and cant you do?)How do you know how you did? (Score, level, etc)

Games serious? Deep? Art?

How Pac-Mans Ghosts Think & Hunt | Game/Show | PBS Digital Studios

Games are complicated. Understanding whats going on under the hood of a game can generate a different perspective and appreciation for games themselves and understanding for those who play them.

Who Plays Video Games?

155 millionZatkin (2016)

in 2015 - 155mill americans play video games. Thats over half the US population

42%3 hoursper weekZatkin (2016)

42% play at least 3 hours or more a week - meaning a quarter of the entire US population is playing 3 hours per week minimum

Game Playing Population of the US by GenderZatkin (2016)

Game Playing Population of the US by PlatformZatkin (2016)

Of all gamers, 26% are under 18

35The averagegame player isyears old.Game Playing Population of the US by AgeZatkin (2016)

Of all gamers, 26% are under 18

2015

84%59%72%% Teens Who Play Video GamesPew Research Center, 2015

Pew, teens 12-17

Why Play Video Games?

Nick Yee, PhD

- Went through academic / industry lit and extracted proposed motivations to create pilot is of survey items for gamer motivation.

Started with panel of 600 gamers to create a good enough model and then made a 5 min survey and compared the new responses to the initial model.

Using a bootstrap approach, Yee continually updated the motivational model replaced items that loaded poorly until robust model emerged

This is what it looked like to people taking the survey.

To date, > 222K unique data points / ISPs

Using factor analysis, Yee took all this data and identified 12 unique motivations and broke them into 6 pairs. Pairs are highly correlated, columns not so much.

Its a lot of information to take in, so he mapped out the data.

Motivation Map

Achievement / MasteryImmersion / CreativityAction / Social

Motivations which are highly correlated are placed closer, more loosely correlated are further apart. Found 3 main groupings appeared based on proximity.

discovery = bridge between immersion and stratspower is a bride between action and startsThis model appears consistent across the world

Cool story, but so what?

Motivation maps to personality

Yee took it one step further and mapped player motivation to the Big 5 Personalities.

The 3 groupings identified on the motivation correlated to extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness from the Big 5.

For example, players found in the action / social cluster scored high on Extraversion. Players who enjoyed games in the immersion / creativity cluster scored high on openness.

These are the correlates. Relatively small, but enough to connect personality to game types. Why is this important to clinicians?

Games are an identity management tool.

Games help us become more of who we really are.

- Nick Yee

one typical framing of gaming is that theyre escape, they play to be something theyre not. But the opposite seems to be true People play games that align with their core personality traits.

Knowing the kind of games your client likes to play can give insight into personality.

Exploration

Creativity

Building / Creating

Fantasy

Lets say your clients favorite game is Minecraft. Based on Yees research, what kind of insight does that offer you as a clinician?

First, you need to know kind of game Minecraft is. (Ask) What do you do in Minecraft?

Players who enjoy Minecraft likely fall in the immersion / creativity cluster which is correlated with the Openness personality trait.

So, if you have a client who plays Minecraft, theres a good chance theyre curious individuals who like to explore and experiment. They probably like to create or customize experiences, enjoy abstract thinking and interesting stories.

This information can help a clinician decide on activities and interventions. For example, this particular client would probably be open to interventions which are framed as experiments or explorations of ideas. They might want to help design and customize their treatment plan or determine how therapy proceeds. Because theyre high in openness, they also are more likely to be comfortable with abstract though, so therapeutic activities using insight, like asking the client to explain the feelings of a character and how it is like or dislike their experience could be enticing.

Compare this to someone who enjoys games in the action / social cluster (games like Halo, Call of Duty, etc) which are more closely aligned with high levels of extraversion.

This person would be motivated more by social validation, interventions framed as challenges or competition. As Action / Social players can be thrill-seeking, impulse control and other self-regulations would probably be helpful.

I want to emphasize that video games are not a magic wand, theyre the answer to all of lifes problems and they certainly are no replacement for empirical measures, assessment, and therapies.

But, they can give us a peek at whats going on internally and a pretty reliable reference point for understanding what values and motivations are important to the kid.

Socialization

Video games play a critical role in the development and maintenance of adolescent friendships

2015

84%59%72%% Teens Who Play Video GamesPew Research Center, 2015

Pew, teens 12-17

Frequency of Weekly Video Game Play with FriendsPew Research Center, 2015

% Teens Who Play Video Games with Others and FeelMore connectedto friendsRelaxed / HappyConnected to non-friendsAngry / FrustratedPew Research Center, 2015

Clinical Research

The Good, The Bad, The

The Good

The research behind different benefits of gaming is a presentation unto itself, so the following is just a brief over view.

distracting from nausea, pain, and anxietyimproved adherence to physical therapyimproved adherence to treatment plansdecreases in depression / anxiety related to illnesshttps://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/gpr-14-2-113.pdf

Anterior CingulatePrefrontalDaphne Bavelier, Ph.D.

Parietal

Parietal (orienting attention)Prefrontal (maintaining attention)AC (Regulating attention and resolving conflict)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=448naPYDVpA

The Bad

What does problematic gaming look like?

depends on who you ask

Internet Gaming DisorderDSM-V, Section IIIRepetitive use of Internet-based games, often with other players, that leads to significant issues with functioning.

Five of the following criteria must be met within one year:

Continued overuse of Internet games even with the knowledge of how much they impact a persons life.

Lied to others about his or her Internet game usage.

Uses Internet games to relieve anxiety or guilt.

The person has lost or put at risk and opportunity or relationship because of Internet games. Preoccupation or obsession with Internet games.

Withdrawal symptoms when not playing

Tolerancemore time needs to be spent playing the games.

The person has tried to stop or curb playing Internet games, but has failed

The person has had a loss of interest in other life activities, such as hobbies.

predicated on model of addiction, focus on tolerance, withdrawal, preoccupation,

Internet Games

not all games are played online, and some of the games that are expansive and you can easily sink hundreds of hours into are not online. - all game people laughed at the name

Addiction

addiction vs behavioral

Standardization

lack of standardization - model off of substance abuse criteria (questions about tolerance, withdrawal, etc), impulse control disorder (more like gambling), or more like OCD

What to do with Problematic Play?

Regardless of what its called, some struggle with balancing their recreation and their responsibilities. Keep in mind, games are not different from other recreations in this sense - anything done to excess can be negative consequences.

What to do with Problematic Play?

Sleeping

Eating

Sex

Education

The

Aggression

the impact of exposure to violent video game use on aggressive outcomes is robust.Technical Report on the Review of the Violent Video Game Literature

http://www.newsweek.com/apa-video-games-violence-364394

Open Statement to the APA Task Force on Violent Media

How We See Electronic GamesPryzybylski & Weinstein (2016)

Theres so much disagreement in the public and literature, people are actually studying why theres such disagreement.- Game experience is one factor

Who Believes Electronic Games Cause Real World Aggression?Pryzbylski (2014)

Pryzbylski (2014) contd.

Age also seems to play a role

Why the Research Divide?

Looking at the data in 2 very different ways / perspectives.

General Aggression Model (GAM)

Based upon social learning theories, excitation transfer, and cognitive neoassociation.

Catalyst Model

Based on genetics and proximal social factors; harder to study / control for

General Aggression Model

(Bivariate)AB

Catalyst Model

(Multivariate)AB

C

control variable could be parenting style, SES, intelligence, gender, etc.

Ferguson, 2015

Meta-analytic Results for Video Game Exposure on Outcome Variables for All Studies with Controlled ES and Bivariate ES

Multivariate Effect SizesBivariate Effect Sizes

k = # of studies, r+ = pooled effect size of studieswhen controls are used, relationship drops to near-zero

Controlling Variables

Parenting

Martins, Matthews, & Ratan (2015)

Martins, Matthews, & Ratan (2015)

Using techniques like setting timers, monitoring play time, minding ratings was inverse to delinquency -

Coyne, Padilla-Walker, Stockdale, & Day (2011)Coplaying

Journal of adolescent health - co-playing video games with parents was associated with decreased levels of internalizing and aggressive behaviors, and heightened prosocial behavior for girls only.

Dark Triad

Wright (2014)

Education

Pro Tips

pro tips for addressing problematic gaming

Keep gaming equipment in a shared room, (can be tough due to smartphones) - teens with consoles in their room play more frequently and with less supervision

Talk with teens about internet safety/expectations. Relates back to dark triad of aggression

family cohesion and relationship between teen and parent(s), guardian Liau, Choo, Dongdong, Douglas (2013)

Choo et al (2015)

Parent-ChildClosenessPathologicalSymptoms

Parental Restrictions

PathologicalSymptoms

2900 children 3rd - 8th grade; average age 11

Liau, Neo, Gentile, Choo, Sim, Li, Kooh (2011)

Self-regulation skills

Games In Therapy

rapport

expression

make a game - system, conflict, rules, outcome?

critical thinking

Resources for Clinicians

PBS Game / Show

Parental Controls

Questions?

Thank YouKelli N. Dunlap, PsyDMA Game Design FellowAmerican University@KelliNDunlapdunlappsyd@gmail.com