The Relation Between Gaming and the Development of Emotion Regulation Skills Adam Lobel the Relation Between Gaming and the Deve
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GAME ON Hanneke Scholten // [email protected] 06-2372-1158 Martin Perescis // [email protected] 06-4711-2810 Aula, Comeniuslaan 2 Radboud University Defense Party 6525 HP Nijmegen 14:30 sharp @ INVITATION Contact paranymphs: The Relation Between Gaming Soul, Funk, & Rock ‘n Roll and the Development of 6512 EN Nijmegen Emotion Regulation Skills Leemptstraat 34 Emotion Regulation Skills American BBQ + Thieme Loods, Adam Lobel 18:30 @ Adam Lobel 20 17 14349_Adam Lobel_Cover.indd 1 13-12-16 11:25 Game on: The relation between gaming & emotion regulation development Adam Lobel The studies described in this thesis were funded by the Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen. Publication of this thesis was financially supported by the Radboud University Nijmegen. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Crackman by Typodermic Fonts, Inc. Pokemon GB by Jackster Productions. Roboto Condensed Font by Christian Robertson. Cover & bookmark design by David Auden Nash. Nevermind screenshot (Chapter VII title page) courtesy of Erin Reynolds, Flying Mollusk. Printed by Ridderprint with special thanks to Robert Kanters. ISBN: 978-94-6299-514-7 © Adam Lobel, December 2016 For my Mishpacha & For my Savta Rita, who would have been so proud to read the books of her offspring Game on: De relatie tussen gamen en de ontwikkeling van emotieregulatie waardigheden Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. dr. J.H.J.M. van Krieken, volgens besluit van het college van decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag, 18 januari, 2017, om 14:30 uur precies door Adam Lobel Geboren op 13 juli 1987 te New York, New York, Verenigde Staten Promotors: prof. dr. Isabela Granic (Radboud University) and prof. dr. Rutger C. M. E. Engels (Trimbos Institute) Manuscript committee: prof. dr. Monique Buijzen, chair (Radboud University) prof. dr. Marcel A. G. van Aken (University Utrecht) prof. dr. Eni S. Becker (Radboud University) Marientina Gotsis, MFA, Research Assistant Professor (University of Southern California) dr. Regan L. Mandryk, Associate Professor (University of Saskatchewan) Abstract Now a cultural mainstay, video games offer highly engaging and emotion-eliciting experiences. This dissertation promotes an emotion regulation-focused approach for investigating the effects of video game playing. Calling on research and classical theories in the fields of play and psychosocial development, this dissertation argues that video games can provide a valuable domain for the development of healthy emotion regulation skills, particularly among children. Three streams of research are presented to support this argument. First, the known benefits of play in general, and of gaming more specifically are synthesized in a comprehensive review. Second, three studies embedded in a longitudinal research project investigated the relationship between gaming and (changes in) children’s psychosocial development. Third, two observational studies explored the psychophysiological processes that underlie emotion regulation processes during gaming in adults; these studies focused in particular on interoceptive awareness as a skill that video games can train to benefit real world emotion regulation skills. Taken together, these streams of research indicate that (a) among children, the risks of gaming are likely low, whereas there may be psychosocial benefits, particularly when gaming is performed with peers; and (b) interoceptive awareness is a worthwhile skill to consider for game developers who strive to build games that train emotion regulation skills. Important considerations for future emotion regulation-focused gaming research and the future development of games for psychosocial health are discussed. Level Select Tutorial The importance of researching the emotion regulation benefits of gaming……. 15-73 Chapter I: General introduction………………………………………………………………………… 17-39 Chapter II: The benefits of gaming................................................................. 41-73 World I A longitudinal project into the long-term relationships between gaming and psychosocial development in children ………………………………………………………. 75-142 Chapter III: Correlations between gaming and psychosocial health, and the importance of using multiple reporters in gaming research…………….…………. 77-91 Chapter IV: Longitudinal associations between children’s psychosocial health and gaming, violent gaming, and cooperative and competitive gaming…. 93-121 Chapter V: The benefits of playing competitive video games for children’s social development: A longitudinal study........................................................... 123-142 World II Stressful video games as training for real-world emotion regulation skills… 143-171 Chapter VI: Associations between in-game and real world emotion regulation skills among experienced Starcraft players............................................. 145-160 Chapter VII: Designing and utilizing biofeedback games for emotion regulation: The case of Nevermind ……………………………………………………………………………… 161-171 FINALE Chapter VII: General discussion………………………………………………………………….. 173-196 EXTRAS References ......................................................................................... 199-238 Glossary ............................................................................................. 239-243 Publications ...................................................................................... 244-246 Presentations ............................................................................................ 247 Credits ............................................................................................... 248-256 Curriculum Vitae ....................................................................................... 257 Tutorial The importance of researching the emotion regulation benefits of gaming Chapter I General introduction General introduction We have witnessed a cultural genesis in the rise of video games. In this dissertation, I argue that video games provide a valuable context for the development of healthy emotion regulation skills. To do so, I call on classic psychological theories that describe the emotion regulation benefits of play in child development. These theories highlight play as an important context for children to not only develop cognitive skills and to experience positive emotions (Nicolopoulou, 1993), but perhaps more importantly, to also work through negative emotions within a safe context. Because video games have emerged as a modern domain for play, it seems imperative to similarly investigate video games as a domain for the development of emotion regulation skills. For the purpose of this dissertation, emotion regulation refers to both the deliberate and the automatic means by which individuals monitor and alter their affective states (Webb, Miles, & Sheeran, 2012). Emotion regulation skills are crucial for psychosocial health as they help individuals resolve their negative emotions (Gross, 1998) and amicably resolve conflicts with others (Jordan & Troth, 2004). This dissertation describes how playing video games may test and train these skills in a number of ways. To do so, this dissertation presents three arms of research. These arms of research become progressively narrower in scope, beginning with a literature review, continuing with developmental research that focuses broadly on gaming and the development of children’s psychosocial health, and concluding with correlational research into psychophysiological processes that underlie emotion regulation skills. The first arm of research, Chapter II, is a review of past work that demonstrates the cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social benefits of playing video games. This review also highlights the need for more developmental research into the benefits of video game play in children, and an analysis of how emotion regulation strategies enacted during video game play may generalize to 18 Chapter I real world behavior. The other arms of research in this dissertation follow the suggestions put forward in the review. Chapters III, IV, and V present developmental research derived from a longitudinal study among Dutch pre- adolescent children. This study examined the co-development of children’s psychosocial health and gaming behavior by looking at the co-development of gaming and children’s conduct problems, internalizing problems, attention problems, peer relationships, and prosocial behavior. Chapters VI and VII present research performed among adult gamers who played highly stress-inducing video games in a lab setting. These studies examined the link between being able to recognize and manage physiological stress during video game play and the ability to adaptively regulate emotions during real world stressful situations. In all, these arms of research shed light on gaming as a potential context for emotion regulation training for both children and adults. In this Introduction chapter, I begin by illustrating gaming’s widespread use and the characteristics of modern video games that are most responsible for this popularity. I then illustrate how popular forms of video game playing mirror traditional forms of play that are known to have emotion regulation benefits. Finally, I summarize the extant psychological research on gaming and emotion regulation skills and highlight the gaps in this literature which the studies in this dissertation aim to address. In this dissertation,