Youth Socialization online and offline: implications for health and wellbeing

电子游戏正变得越来越受欢迎，全球估计有30亿玩家（Clement, 2022），多亏了云游戏，电子游戏比以往任何时候都更容易上手。然而，随着数字设备变得越来越无处不在，越来越多地成为面对面互动的替代品，我们必须考虑电子游戏如何影响幸福感和社交功能。考虑全球福祉尤为重要，因为关于这一问题的大多数研究似乎只关注心理健康，而忽略了社交圈、就业或财务等对健康的外部影响。对幸福感的影响过去的文献表明，游戏总体上对幸福感有积极的影响。在对神经型玩家的研究中，电子游戏对认知刺激、情绪调节和生活质量都有积极影响（Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2021; Zhao, 2022）。负面影响围绕侵略增加（Olejarnik和Romano， 2023）和线下社会资本减少（Tushya等，2023）等问题展开。就社交功能而言，游戏是一种允许社交互动的工具。这给神经型玩家带来了积极影响（Zhao, 2022），他们将社交作为游戏玩法的动机之一（Johnson et al, 2013）。积极的影响可能只有在在线互动不取代离线互动的情况下才能观察到（哈雷，2022）。差距：有什么要发现的？然而，我们目前对电子游戏对社会功能和幸福感影响的理解存在问题。最近的研究是在冠状病毒大流行期间进行的，当时人们对电子游戏的参与度最高，超过了大流行前的水平。没有调查在线和离线领域的不同行为。最后，没有调查考虑到自闭症和神经正常球员的不同影响。根据以下差距，我们形成了我们想要解决的研究问题：RQ1：长期视频玩法对幸福感有什么影响？RQ2：长期视频玩法对离线和在线社交功能有何影响？RQ3：有什么建议和干预措施可以促进电子游戏的积极影响，并针对其消极影响？计划是：我们如何回答这些问题？为了回答上述研究问题，我们为博士论文设计了一个四阶段计划：第一阶段：系统回顾电子游戏对社会功能和幸福感影响的文献，设计电子游戏对幸福感影响的理论框架；第二阶段：构建和验证全球幸福感问卷；第三阶段：使用调查中的定量数据分析纵向游戏行为、幸福感和社交数据；第四阶段：体内行为实验；混合现实社会互动

IntroductionVideo gaming is becoming more popular, with an estimated 3 billion gamers worldwide (Clement, 2022), and thanks to cloud gaming, video gaming is even more accessible than ever before. However, as digital devices are becoming more omnipresent, and as they become more of a replacement for face-to-face interactions (Harley, 2022), we must consider how video games impact wellbeing and social functioning. It is especially paramount to consider global wellbeing, as most of research on this matter appears to have focused on psychological wellbeing only, discounting external influences on wellbeing like social circles, employment or finances.Impacts on wellbeingPast literature shows that gaming has an overall positive impact on wellbeing outcomes. In studies of neurotypical players, video gaming brought about positive effects on cognitive stimulation, emotional regulation and quality of life (Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2021; Zhao, 2022). Negative impacts revolve around the issues of increased aggression (Olejarnik and Romano, 2023) and decreased offline social capital (Tushya et al., 2023). Impacts on social functioningWith regard to social functioning, gaming is an instrument that allows for social interactions. This has brought about positive effects for neurotypical players (Zhao, 2022), where they report socialising as one of the motivations for gameplay (Johnson et al., 2013). The positive impacts might be only observable if online interactions do not replace offline interactions (Harley, 2022).The gap: what is there to find out?However, there are issues with our current understanding of video game impacts on social functioning and wellbeing. Recent studies were conducted during the coronavirus pandemic when engagement with video games was the highest and beyond pre-pandemic levels. There are no investigations into the different behaviours in the online and offline spheres. Finally, no investigations considered the differential impacts on autistic and neurotypical players. In line with the following gaps, we formed research questions that we want to tackle:RQ1: What impact does long-term video gameplay have on wellbeing?RQ2: What impact does long-term video gameplay have on offline and online social functioning?RQ3: What recommendations and interventions can be offered to promote the positive impacts and target the negative impacts of video games?The plan: how do we answer these questions?To answer the above research questions, we devised a four-stage plan for the PhD thesis:Stage 1: Systematic review of literature on the impact of video games on social functioning and wellbeing, devising a theoretical framework of video game impacts on wellbeingStage 2: Construction and validation of a global wellbeing questionnaireStage 3: Analysis of longitudinal gameplay behaviours, wellbeing and socialisation data using quantitative data from surveysStage 4: In-vivo behavioural experiments: mixed reality social interaction