Connection, meaning, and distraction: A qualitative study of video game play and mental health recovery in veterans treated for mental and/or behavioral health problems
Open accessAbstract
Rationale Mental and behavioral health recovery includes concepts related not just to symptom improvement, but also to participating in activities that contribute to wellness and a meaningful life. Video game play can relieve stress and provide a way to connect, which may be especially important for military veterans.Objective We examined how military veterans used video game play to further their mental and behavioral health recovery by conducting an exploratory thematic analysis of the gaming habits of 20 United States military veterans who were in treatment for mental or behavioral health problems.Method We conducted semi-structured interviews in 2016 and used a framework analytic approach to determine salient themes linking video gaming to mental and behavioral health recovery.Results Veteran participants reported that video games helped not only with managing moods and stress, but also with three areas related to other aspects of recovery: adaptive coping (e.g. distraction, control, symptom substitution); eudaimonic well-being (confidence, insight, role functioning); and socializing (participation, support, brotherhood). Meaning derived from game narratives and characters, exciting or calming gameplay, and opportunities to connect, talk, and lead others were credited as benefits of gaming. Responses often related closely to military or veteran experiences. At times, excessive use of games led to life problems or feeling addicted, but some veterans with disabilities felt the advantages of extreme play outweighed these problems.Conclusion Video games seem to provide some veterans with a potent form of "personal medicine" that can promote recovery. Although reasons and results of gaming may vary within and among individuals, clinicians may wish to discuss video game play with their patients to help patients optimize their use of games to support recovery.
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Inclusion of both clinicians and users in mHealth app development can ensure strategies meet client needs, encouraging wider acceptability and utility and helping clinicians identify evidence-based features.
“the inclusion of both clinicians and users in their development can both ensure strategies meet the needs of their clients, thus encouraging wider acceptability and utility and helping clinicians better identify evidence-based features [30,57,58].”
From Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Quality of Resilience-Building Mobile Health Apps for Military, Veteran, and Public Safety Personnel Populations: Scoping Literature Review and App Evaluation (2022) · cites this paper as [58]
The Discussion recommends that experts in relevant fields and gamers themselves help decide what to include in game-based interventions. The Conclusions also advise clinicians to consider designs that foster connection and engagement. Neither passage establishes that including clinicians and users in mHealth app development ensures client needs are met, increases acceptability or utility, or helps clinicians identify evidence-based features. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA collaborative approach to development using both expert and user input has been noted in recent studies as an effective approach to increasing the success of apps.
“A collaborative approach to development, using both expert and user input, has been noted in recent studies as an effective approach to increasing the success of apps [57,58,60].”
From Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Quality of Resilience-Building Mobile Health Apps for Military, Veteran, and Public Safety Personnel Populations: Scoping Literature Review and App Evaluation (2022) · cites this paper as [58]
The Discussion recommends that design and health experts, along with gamers, help decide what to consider when creating game-based interventions. It does not report that this collaborative approach increases the success of apps; that effectiveness claim goes beyond the paper's recommendation. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Colder Carras, M., Kalbarczyk, A., Wells, K., Banks, J., Kowert, R., Gillespie, C., & Latkin, C.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- West Virginia University (US)
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 216
- Pages
- 124-132
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6193255
- OpenAlex
- W2894472757
- Cited by
- 128
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 20.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5T32MH014592-39)
- Johns Hopkins Military and Veterans Health Institute
- Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management
- Keywords
- video gaming, military veterans, mental health recovery, behavioral health, coping, eudaimonic well-being, social connectedness, game narrative, gaming addiction, disabled veterans, stress reduction
- MeSH terms
- Mental Health Recovery, Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Veterans, Video Games, Qualitative Research
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