Interactive gaming can help teens combat loneliness amid coronavirus lockdown: Study

A new study has found that interactive video games can help children combat loneliness amid the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. According to the study, playing interactive video games with friends can help teens battle loneliness, which researchers say helps children refine some social and emotional skills that may not happen while playing solo games. The study, published in the journal American Psychological Association, states that interactive gaming can have positive effects on the mental health of children who have been socially isolated due to the pandemic. 

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The research was conducted by Geert Verheijen, MSc, a behavioral psychologist and video gamer in the Netherlands, who studied 705 Dutch children for a period of over 3 years. Verheijen collected data from female and male students of classes 7 to 10 and concluded that interactive gaming can have a positive effect on  minds of kids as opposed to solo gaming, which tends to create a sense of loneliness. Interactive gaming has been dubbed better because it generates an opportunity for children to both celebrate the joy of triumph and share the misery of loss together with friends. 

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'Social connection forms' 

"I work in an inpatient psychiatric unit and have at least one to two new young patients every day who have this very issue. They have become depressed and even suicidal. Because of this, we need to become more open to a variety of social contacts which does include interactive gaming. Even though the people are not in the room together, a social connection inevitably forms which helps to combat social isolation," Dr. Shana Feibel, DO, a staff psychiatrist at the Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason, Ohio told Healthline.

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The study examined the association between distinct aspects of video game play behaviour and adolescent adjustment. Researchers focused on five aspects, namely, gaming frequency, the social context, gamer identification, type of game, and motivation for playing. Researchers did highlight that gaming for a long period of time does have a negative effect on the mind of adolescents. 

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