The DOI matches its Crossref record; 71 of the 72 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 76 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
The benefits of playing video games.
Abstract
Video games are a ubiquitous part of almost all children's and adolescents' lives, with 97% playing for at least one hour per day in the United States. The vast majority of research by psychologists on the effects of "gaming" has been on its negative impact: the potential harm related to violence, addiction, and depression. We recognize the value of that research; however, we argue that a more balanced perspective is needed, one that considers not only the possible negative effects but also the benefits of playing these games. Considering these potential benefits is important, in part, because the nature of these games has changed dramatically in the last decade, becoming increasingly complex, diverse, realistic, and social in nature. A small but significant body of research has begun to emerge, mostly in the last five years, documenting these benefits. In this article, we summarize the research on the positive effects of playing video games, focusing on four main domains: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social. By integrating insights from developmental, positive, and social psychology, as well as media psychology, we propose some candidate mechanisms by which playing video games may foster real-world psychosocial benefits. Our aim is to provide strong enough evidence and a theoretical rationale to inspire new programs of research on the largely unexplored mental health benefits of gaming. Finally, we end with a call to intervention researchers and practitioners to test the positive uses of video games, and we suggest several promising directions for doing so.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This review argues that psychological research on video games has been overwhelmingly focused on harms (aggression, addiction, depression) and that a balanced perspective should also consider documented cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social benefits. The authors synthesize existing evidence across these four domains and call for intervention researchers to test video games as mental health tools.
Key findings
- Cognitive: training studies show shooter/"action" game players have faster and more accurate attention allocation, higher spatial resolution, and enhanced mental rotation; a meta-analysis (Uttal et al., 2013) found these spatial-skill gains comparable to formal high school/university courses and that they transfer to non-game spatial tasks. Effects are robust for shooter games but not for puzzle or role-playing games.
- Motivational: games provide immediate, concrete feedback and dynamically calibrated difficulty, which the authors propose trains an incremental theory of intelligence and persistence; Ventura et al. (2013) found extent of game use predicted how long participants persisted on difficult anagrams outside gaming.
- Emotional: puzzle games (e.g., *Angry Birds*, *Bejeweled II*) have been shown to improve mood, promote relaxation, and ward off anxiety; the authors propose games reward adaptive emotion-regulation strategies such as reappraisal, though they call this speculative.
- Social: over 70% of gamers play with a friend (ESA, 2012); prosocial games predict prosocial behavior (Gentile et al., 2009), and cooperative (vs. competitive) play of violent games is linked to increased helping and reduced aggressive cognitions. In health applications, the *Re-Mission* RCT across 34 medical centers found significantly greater treatment adherence, self-efficacy, and cancer knowledge in the intervention group, and the game has been distributed to over 200,000 patients; the *SPARX* CBT-based game RCT was as effective as therapist-administered CBT for depression.
- Harms acknowledged: 3% of Dutch and about 8% of U.S. youth who play games show pathological addiction symptoms; two meta-analyses on violent games and aggression reached conflicting conclusions.
Methods
Narrative review/integrative synthesis, not an original empirical study; no new data are collected. The authors summarize existing correlational, longitudinal, experimental, training, fMRI, and meta-analytic work across four domains (cognitive, motivational, emotional, social) and integrate developmental, positive, social, and media psychology theory to propose candidate mechanisms. They also review "serious games" in health and education (e.g., *Re-Mission*, *SPARX*) and outline future research and intervention directions.
Limitations
Stated by the authors: very few well-designed studies examine both positive and negative effects of the same games; most studies rely on survey/self-report rather than objective, psychophysiological, or neural measures; the field focuses almost exclusively on short-term effects with few longitudinal or diary studies; and most work examines single-player games despite over 70% of play being social. The authors explicitly note that claims about motivational, emotional, and social benefits are more speculative than cognitive ones, and that causal direction (selection vs. influence) remains unresolved. Evident from the text: as a narrative review it presents no systematic search or effect-size synthesis of its own, and several proposed mechanisms (e.g., reappraisal training, flow transferring to real-world outcomes) are described as untested hypotheses.
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Claims the paper makes
77 Not checked yet · 56 Own interpretation · 8 No basis given · 1 Own method
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In the paper
“It is important to stress that enhanced cognitive performance is not documented for all video game genres.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Indeed, problem solving seems central to all genres of video games (including those with violent content).”
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In the paper
“New evidence is emerging that playing any kind of video game, regardless of whether or not it is violent, enhances children's creative capacities.”
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In the paper
“Further, this recent meta-analysis showed that spatial skills can be trained with video games in a relatively brief period, that these training benefits last over an extended period of time, and crucially, that these skills transfer to other spatial tasks outside the video game context.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Uttal et al., 2013
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In the paper
“Moreover, it is virtually impossible to choose an appropriate control condition wherein all aspects of a game (e.g., visual stimulation, arousal induction, gameplay) are kept constant across conditions and only one cognitive challenge is manipulated (e.g., navigating three-dimensional space efficiently vs. inhibiting prepotent responses).”
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In the paper
“For example, among a sample of almost 500 12-year-old students, video game playing was positively associated with creativity (Jackson et al., 2012).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Jackson et al., 2012
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In the paper
“Preliminary research has also demonstrated that these cognitive advantages manifest in measurable changes in neural processing and efficiency.”
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In the paper
“A small but significant body of research has begun to emerge, mostly in the last five years, documenting these benefits.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“However, this study's cross-sectional design made it unclear whether playing video games develops creative skills or creative people prefer video games (or both).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Jackson et al., 2012
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Further, these experiences may have the potential to enhance mental health and well-being in children and adolescents.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Beyond social cognition, developmentalists have emphasized that play constitutes an emotionally significant context through which themes of power and dominance, aggression, nurturance, anxiety, pain, loss, growth, and joy can be enacted productively (e.g., Gottman, 1986).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Gottman, 1986
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In the paper
“We propose that, in addition to several unique factors, the same emotional themes identified in children's play experiences in general (e.g., dominance, nurturance, anxiety, and growth) are also explored in video games, allowing for important cognitive, emotional, and social competencies to be acquired.”
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In the paper
“Only two studies have explicitly tested the relation between playing video games and problem-solving abilities; in both, problemsolving was defined in the reflective sense (e.g., taking time to gather information, evaluate various options, formulate a plan, and consider changing strategies and/or goals before proceeding further).”
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In the paper
“Moreover, this latter study showed an indirect mediation effect such that playing strategic games predicted higher selfreported problem-solving skills, which, in turn, predicted better academic grades.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Adachi & Willoughby, 2013
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In the paper
“Similarly, Piaget (1962) theorized that make-believe play provides children opportunities to reproduce real-life conflicts, to work out ideal resolutions for their own pleasure, and to ameliorate negative feelings.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Piaget, 1962
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In the paper
“For example, a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study found that the mechanisms that control attention allocation (e.g., the fronto-parietal network) were less active during a challenging pattern-detection task in regular gamers than in nongamers, leading the researchers to suggest that shooter game players allocate their attentional resources more efficiently and filter out Irr”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bavelier et al., 2012
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In the paper
“Erikson (1977) proposed that play contexts allow children to experiment with social experiences and simulate alternative emotional consequences, which can then bring about feelings of resolution outside the play context.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Erikson, 1977
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In the paper
“She demonstrates that experiencing positive emotions may help broaden the number of behaviors one perceives as both possible and motivating and may build social relationships that provide support for goal pursuit and coping with failure.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Fredrickson, 2001
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In the paper
“Further, Fredrickson and colleagues propose that positive emotions help undo the detrimental and de-motivating results of negative emotions.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Fredrickson, 2001
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“It has further been suggested that some of the most intense positive emotional experiences are triggered in the context of playing video games (McGonigal, 2011).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites McGonigal, 2011
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“In summary, specific types of video games seem to enhance a suite of cognitive functions, some of which appear to generalize to real-world contexts.”
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In the paper
“Thus, game playing may promote the ability to flexibly and efficiently reappraise emotional experiences, teaching players the benefits of dealing with frustration and anxiety in adaptive ways.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“The structure had eluded researchers for over 10 years; however, the nonlinear, cooperative, and creative problem-solving techniques used by these gamers seemed to be precisely the skills needed to finally solve this elusive problem.”
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In the paper
“This motivational style, in turn, may generalize to school and work contexts.”
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In the paper
“In these virtual social communities, decisions need to be made on the fly about whom to trust, whom to reject, and how to most effectively lead a group.”
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In the paper
“Further, although correlational studies suggest that individuals consciously turn to these games to regulate their emotions (Olson, 2010), it may simply be that positive moods and game playing co-occur, and players report retrospectively that experiencing positive emotions was a conscious motivation that preceded play.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Olson, 2010
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In the paper
“Importantly, the type of contexts that most often pull for effective emotionregulation strategies-such as reappraisal-are social in nature.”
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In the paper
“For example, studies suggest that playing puzzle video games-games with minimal interfaces, short-term commitments, and a high degree of accessibility (e.g., Angry Birds , Bejewled II )-can improve players' moods, promote relaxation, and ward off anxiety (Russoniello et al., 2009).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Russoniello et al., 2009
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Immediate and concrete feedback in video games (e.g., through points, coins, dead ends in puzzles) serves to reward continual effort and keep players within what Vygotsky (1978, p. 86) coined the 'zone of proximal development.'”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Vygotsky, 1978
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Games do not elicit only positive emotions; video games also trigger a range of negative ones, including frustration, anger, anxiety, and sadness.”
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In the paper
“Moreover, contrary to what we might expect, these experiences of failure do not lead to anger, frustration, or sadness, although players often do feel these negative emotions intermittently.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Salminen & Ravaja, 2008
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In the paper
“When faced with failure, players are highly motivated to return to the task of winning, and they are 'relentlessly optimistic' about reaching their goals (McGonigal, 2011).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites McGonigal, 2011
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In the paper
“Flow or transportation is another positive emotional experience described by gamers, during which they are immersed in an intrinsically rewarding activity that elicits a high sense of control while simultaneously evoking a loss of self-consciousness (Sherry, 2004).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Sherry, 2004
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In the paper
“two large-scale survey studies have found that 3% of Dutch (van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011) and about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011
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In the paper
“the suitability ratings ascribed to games by the entertainment industry (e.g., E for 'everyone,' M for 'not appropriate for children under the age of 18') are based on little to no scientific evidence regarding potential harms or benefits.”
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In the paper
“Games that are fundamentally social and rely on varied social partners also provide a large amount of variability in game experiences, depending on who the player encounters each time she or he enters the gaming world.”
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In the paper
“Our expertise is in the area of developmental psychopathology, where we contend video games can have a particularly large impact.”
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In the paper
“most popularly played games today are complex and change dynamically (see the top half of Figure 1), which means that players' in-game behaviors change how the game itself progresses, feeding back to, and constraining, how the player continues to adapt to these changes in subsequently updated game contexts (Klimmt, Vorderer, & Ritterfeld, 2007).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Klimmt, Vorderer, & Ritterfeld, 2007
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In the paper
“there is one point that both sides are advocating with which we fervently agree: Video games hold immense potential to teach new forms of thought and behavior.”
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In the paper
“Finally, the cost-effectiveness of delivering mental health interventions is often a barrier to treatment delivery.”
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In the paper
“Many children and families cannot afford individual or group therapy, and schools worldwide are facing cuts in funding that have significantly decreased the number of programs that can be offered as part of the curriculum.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“there are very few, if any, well-designed published studies that examine both the positive and negative effects of the same games and the conditions under which these effects are most likely manifested, whether they are violent in nature or otherwise.”
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In the paper
“But these are mostly de-contextualized exercises that rarely involve the authentic emotional experiences during which most conflicts arise.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Both traditional and video games are fundamentally voluntary in nature”
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In the paper
“By dichotomizing video games into either 'good' or 'bad,' 'violent' or 'prosocial,' psychologists are largely (with the exception of media psychologists) overlooking the complex new playground of contemporary video games and the varied landscape of virtual interactions taking place in those games.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The second shortcoming is that medical practitioners, teachers, and researchers are not game designers, and as a result, they often develop products that miss the most essential mechanism of engagement in games-the fun.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: The most essential mechanism of engagement in games is fun.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Another limitation of past approaches is the almost exclusive focus on the short-term impact of games; very few longitudinal studies have been conducted in this area.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This gap between knowledge and behavior has long been recognized as a problem in the field, and thus many interventions incorporate role-playing, problem-solving exercises and homework assignments (e.g., P. C. Kendall, 2011 ).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites P. C. Kendall, 2011
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The most important reason is that very few of the games developed to improve health and learning outcomes are ever scientifically evaluated.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Given that video games have permeated almost all households, across almost all countries, it is striking how little attention has been paid to using this medium for purposes that go beyond entertainment and beyond demonstrated benefits for education and health care.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Gentile, 2009
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We propose that video games can uniquely and significantly address these limitations and, in turn, improve intervention effects across a broad spectrum of disorders.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Adherence to treatment protocol, self-efficacy, and cancer-related knowledge were all significantly greater in the intervention group.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kato et al., 2008
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We argue that this learning potential has been left largely untapped in the mental health arena, and addressing this gap holds a great deal of promise for a radical new approach to intervention.”
plainconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“a meta-analysis concluded that games can make important advances in the educational reform necessary to deal with the learning challenges of the next century (Vogel et al., 2006).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Vogel et al., 2006
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, no studies have assessed the daily patterns of gaming and the function that these patterns of use may serve.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, it is likely that games are associated with less stigma than conventional therapy, addressing another barrier.”
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“perhaps the most important lesson from these conflicting meta-analyses is that the picture is much more complex than popular press headlines suggest (Ferguson, 2013).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Ferguson, 2013
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Video games share many similarities with traditional games and likely provide benefits similar to those provided by play more generally.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Remarkably, there are very few video games that have been developed with these aims in mind.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Video games are socially interactive in a way never before afforded.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“we have become particularly inspired by the potential that these games hold for interventions that promote well-being, including the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in youth.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The large amount of time invested in playing video games may also mean that they provide qualitatively different experiences than conventional games.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“players immerse themselves in pretend worlds that are safe contexts in which negative emotions can be worked out”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These differences in space and time likely hold wholly new benefits and risks that have yet to be conceptualized.”
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“games allow a sense of control with just enough unpredictability to feel deep satisfaction and intense pride when formidable goals are finally reached”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Increasingly, players are gaming online, with friends, family, and complete strangers, crossing vast geographical distances and blurring not only cultural boundaries but also age and generation gaps, socioeconomic differences, and language barriers.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“they can include competitive and cooperative objectives”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
Most children and adolescents are enthralled with video games.
“Given how enthralled most children and adolescents are with video games, we believe that a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, clinicians, and game designers can work together to develop genuinely innovative approaches to mental health interventions.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The most essential mechanism of engagement in games is fun.
“they often develop products that miss the most essential mechanism of engagement in games-the fun.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Mobile health (mHealth) can play an important role in accurate recognition of symptoms and timely treatment [9-11].”
From A Smartphone Serious Game for Adolescents (Grow It! App): Development, Feasibility, and Acceptance Study (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“Such games offer an environment in which attractive learning tasks are presented in a way that addresses the difficulties that children with ADHD often have in engaging with “boring” and repetitive training tasks [36-38].”
In the citing paper
“video games are a ubiquitous part of our current society”
From Behavioral trainings and manipulations to reduce delay discounting: A systematic review (2019) · cites this paper as Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014
In the citing paper
“video games can promote long-term training by incorporating repetitive actions and encouraging repetitive gameplay without evoking boredom”
From Behavioral trainings and manipulations to reduce delay discounting: A systematic review (2019) · cites this paper as Granic et al., 2014
In the citing paper
“For the current and upcoming generation of youth who play video games and socialize online daily, the norm is digital experiences that are exquisitely designed to adjust to the pace, content preferences, and skill levels of their users [49].”
From Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint (2019) · cites this paper as [49]
In the citing paper
“They also provide a compelling virtual playground to not only gain knowledge, but also practice skills.”
From Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint (2019) · cites this paper as [49]
In the citing paper
“Finally, applied games can overcome the stigma associated with traditional and self-help interventions.”
From Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint (2019) · cites this paper as [49]
In the citing paper
“In short, well-designed applied games are intrinsically motivating, offer a strong sense of agency, and are simply fun.”
From Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint (2019) · cites this paper as [49]
Citations
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“In contrast, less adaptive strategies, such as rumination (Aldao et al., 2010), are less likely to be rewarded by video games because they impede players from reacting quickly and flexibly to constantly changing, often frustrating, challenges.”
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 401–500 of 1,001
Desarrollo de habilidades de lectura a través de los videojuegos: Estado del arte
Torres-Toukoumidis, A., Romero-Rodríguez, L. M., Rodríguez, M. A. P., & Björk, S. L. (2016) · Ocnos Revista de Estudios sobre Lectura · doi:10.18239/ocnos_2016.15.2.1124 · Cited by 30
Wols, A., Lichtwarck‐Aschoff, A., Schoneveld, E. A., & Granic, I. (2018) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-018-9684-4 · Cited by 34
Self-citationSantos, P. M. D., Dias, J., & Bairrada, C. M. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32047 · Cited by 42
“Games are known for their potential to influence players, offering them cognitive (e.g. more accurate attention allocation and enhanced creativity), social (e.g. social skills and prosocial behavior), and emotional (e.g. manage their moods and enhancing their emotional states) benefits [30].”
BackgroundMaxim, R. I., & Arnedo-Moreno, J. (2024) · JMIR Serious Games · doi:10.2196/54075 · Cited by 39
Media use and psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents
Limtrakul, N., Louthrenoo, O., Narkpongphun, A., Boonchooduang, N., & Chonchaiya, W. (2017) · Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health · doi:10.1111/jpc.13725 · Cited by 28
Poppelaars, A., Scholten, H., Granic, I., Veling, H., Johnson‐Glenberg, M. C., & Luijten, M. (2018) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2018.06.039 · Cited by 30
Self-citationGamification of physical activity : A systematic literature review of comparison studies
Koivisto, J., & Hamari, J. (2019) · Tampere University Institutional Repository (Tampere University) · Cited by 36
Social support, depressive symptoms, and online gaming network communication
Prochnow, T. M., Patterson, M. S., & Hartnell, L. (2020) · Mental Health and Social Inclusion · doi:10.1108/mhsi-11-2019-0033 · Cited by 29
León, A. M., Lazarraga, P. C., Guerrero-Puerta, M. A., Puerta, L. G., Alias, A., Trigueros, R., & Aguilar-Parra, J. M. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17114157 · Cited by 27
Francillette, Y., Boucher, E., Bouchard, B., Bouchard, K., & Gaboury, S. (2020) · Entertainment Computing · doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2020.100396 · Cited by 29
Leung, C. Y., & Torres, R. (2021) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2021.02.031 · Cited by 29
Unlocking the potential of gaming for anticipatory governance
Vervoort, J., Mangnus, A., McGreevy, S. R., Ota, K., Thompson, K. A., Rupprecht, C. D. D., Tamura, N., Moossdorff, C., Spiegelberg, M., & Kobayashi, M. (2021) · Earth System Governance · doi:10.1016/j.esg.2021.100130 · Cited by 31
Do Older Adults Hate Video Games until they Play them? A Proof-of-Concept Study
Ferguson, C. J., Nielsen, R. K. L., & Maguire, R. (2016) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9480-9 · Cited by 27
Game-based learning for maritime education and training: the case of Trader of the World
Nikitakos, N. V., Sirris, I., Dalaklis, D., et al. (2016) · WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs · doi:10.1007/s13437-016-0119-3 · Cited by 29
Stimulation of reflection and discussion in museum visits through the use of social media
Vassilakis, C., Antoniou, A., Lepouras, G., et al. (2017) · Social Network Analysis and Mining · doi:10.1007/s13278-017-0460-3 · Cited by 29
Do smokers devaluate smoking cues after go/no-go training?
Scholten, H., Granic, I., Chen, Z., Veling, H., & Luijten, M. (2019) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2018.1554184 · Cited by 25
Self-citationGeorgeson, A. R., Highlander, A., Loiselle, R., Zachary, C., & Jones, D. J. (2020) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101858 · Cited by 29
It’s Not Just a Game: Virtual Edgework and Subjective Well-Being in E-Sports
Raggiotto, F., & Scarpi, D. (2022) · Journal of Interactive Marketing · doi:10.1177/10949968221127897 · Cited by 30
“Previous studies suggest that video games can foster real-world psycho-social bene fi ts (Granic, Lobel, and Engels 2014).”
BackgroundCorona Larona: A 2.5D Mobile Game Advocating COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Mitigation Strategies
Cortes, L. P. T., Tandayu, S. K. T., Villan, K. R. R., et al. (2022) · IEEE International Conference on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control, Environment, and Management (HNICEM) · doi:10.1109/hnicem57413.2022.10109445 · Cited by 28
“For instance, gaming-related studies revealed potential emotional benefits of playing video games, particularly in dealing with stress and promoting recovery [21-23].”
BackgroundFong, T. C. T., Junus, A., Wen, M., & YIP, P. S. F. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.091 · Cited by 30
Bacalja, A., Nichols, T. P., Robinson, B., Bhatt, I., Kucharczyk, S., Zomer, C., Nash, B. L., Dupont, B., Cock, R. D., Zaman, B., et al. (2024) · Postdigital science and education · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-21035-7_5 · Cited by 41
Anto, A., Basu, A., Selim, R., Foscht, T., & Eisingerich, A. B. (2024) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/63760 · Cited by 24
“Previous studies [9,15] demonstrated that casual gaming could reduce stress and improve mood, suggesting that video games can serve as effective tools for relaxation.”
Tuijnman, A., Kleinjan, M., Hoogendoorn, E., Granic, I., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2018) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/11255 · Cited by 23
Self-citationInternet Gaming Disorder: Compensating as a Draenei in World of Warcraft
Morcos, M., Stavropoulos, V., Rennie, J., Clark, M., & Pontes, H. M. (2019) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-019-00098-x · Cited by 28
Hsieh, C., & Chen, T. (2019) · Journal of Educational Computing Research · doi:10.1177/0735633119854006 · Cited by 30
The Play of Champions: Toward a Theory of Skill in eSport
Larsen, L. J. (2020) · Sport Ethics and Philosophy · doi:10.1080/17511321.2020.1827453 · Cited by 31
Townsend, C. D., Humpston, C. S., Rogers, J. C., Goodyear, V. A., Lavis, A., & Michail, M. (2022) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2021.1078 · Cited by 28
“21 Granic et al 20 also detail how therapy-based video games can address the gap between knowledge and behaviour that exists in CBT approaches, as there is often a disconnect between ‘ what youth actually know and what they do in their everyday lives ’ (p. 75 ).”
Serious Games for and as Cultural Heritage
Bontchev, B. (2015) · Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage · doi:10.55630/dipp.2015.5.3 · Cited by 29
Roncancio-Ortiz, A. P., Ortiz-Carrera, M. F., Llano-Ruiz, H., Malpica-López, M. J., & Bocanegra-García, J. J. (2017) · Ingeniería Investigación y Desarrollo · doi:10.19053/1900771x.v17.n2.2017.7184 · Cited by 28
A comparative analysis of the processing speed between video game players and non-players
Pardina-Torner, H., Carbonell, X., & Castejón, M. (2019) · Aloma: revista de psicologia, ciències de l'educació i de l'esport Blanquerna · doi:10.51698/aloma.2019.37.1.13-20 · Cited by 23
Gamification and neuromarketing: A unified approach for improving user experience
Behl, A., Jayawardena, N. S., Shankar, A., Gupta, M., & Lăng, L. Đ. (2023) · Journal of Consumer Behaviour · doi:10.1002/cb.2178 · Cited by 28
Zioga, T., Ferentinos, A., Konsolaki, E., Nega, C., & Kourtesis, P. (2024) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs14100874 · Cited by 34
“The development of gaming culture has led to the creation of a gamer identity, characterized by choices in gaming platforms, genres, specific games, and playing styles [3–5].”
BackgroundSystems neuroscience in focus: from the human brain to the global brain?
Kyriazis, M. (2015) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2015.00007 · Cited by 27
Hwang, M. L., & Mamykina, L. (2017) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3025453.3026052 · Cited by 27
Dele-Ajayi, O., Strachan, R., Pickard, A., & Sanderson, J. (2018) · Frontiers in Education Conference · doi:10.1109/fie.2018.8658553 · Cited by 22
An Analysis of Computer Game Addiction in Primary School Children and Its Affecting Factors
Muslu, G. K., & Aygün, Ö. (2020) · Journal of Addictions Nursing · doi:10.1097/jan.0000000000000322 · Cited by 28
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“Others believe that computer games can provide opportunities for observational learning [2].”
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Hybridization Gamified: A Mobile App for Learning About Hybridization
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Cognitive and Affective Perspectives on Immersive Technology in Education
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Is computer gaming associated with cognitive abilities? A population study among German adolescents
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The impact of explicit mental health messages in video games on players’ motivation and affect
Poppelaars, M., Lichtwarck‐Aschoff, A., Kleinjan, M., & Granic, I. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.019 · Cited by 30
Self-citationVideo games as rich environments to foster brain plasticity
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Gamification: a new key for enhancing engagement in MOOCs on energy?
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Internet gaming disorder: A sign of the times, or time for our attention?
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Social genomics of healthy and disordered internet gaming
Snodgrass, J. G., Dengah, H. J. F., Lacy, M. G., Else, R. J., Polzer, E. R., Arevalo, J. M. G., & Cole, S. W. (2018) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.23146 · Cited by 24
Examining the Factors Contributing to Adolescents’ Online Game Addiction
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Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory model to analyze psychological effects on gamers
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“The vast majority play recreationally and report benefits in cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social domains (Granic et al., 2014).”
BackgroundOnline gaming and internet gaming disorder in Iran: patterns, motivations, and correlates
Rafiemanesh, H., Farnam, R., Sangchooli, A., Rahimi, J., Hamzehzadeh, M., Ghani, K., Jobehdar, M. M., Amin‐Esmaeili, M., Shadloo, B., Demetrovics, Z., et al. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02490-0 · Cited by 28
“Relatedly, it seems that many players are either not significantly impacted by video games or derive cognitive and psychosocial benefits from playing (Granic et al., 2014; Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016), while a growing body of research also suggests that a minority * Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar rahimia@tums.”
BackgroundReaction time and working memory in gamers and non-gamers
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Joyful Adventures and Frightening Places–Designing Emotion-Inducing Virtual Environments
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ADHD-Gaming Disorder Comorbidity in Children and Adolescents: A Narrative Review
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“Notwithstanding the negative consequences of gaming in youth with ADHD, there is increasing evidence supporting the notion that video games may enhance cognitive performance thanks to continuous feedback [46], thereby increasing attention [47], inhibitory control [48], and increasing arousal by promoting enhanced moti…”
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COVID-19 Pandemi Sürecinde Bilişim Teknolojileri Bağımlılığı
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“32 Expanding the sample population beyond but including college students is vital.”
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“These activities affect social skills, emotional development, intellectual abilities (Gökçearslan et al., 2023; Gökçearslan et al., 2021; Granic et al., 2014 ; Lobel et al., 2017).”
Sălceanu, C. (2014) · Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.323 · Cited by 25
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Aplikasi Game Pendidikan Berbasis Android Untuk Memperkenalkan Pakaian Adat Indonesia
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The Measurement of Intelligence in the XXI Century using Video Games
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“Studies looked at upholding factors and consequences of such behaviour and showed that limited online gaming experience is associated with an increment in cognitive abilities, motivation, and social functioning (Granic et al., 2014).”
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Revolutionising Role-Playing Games with ChatGPT
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Videogames as a learning tool: is game-based learning more effective?
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Meeting players where they are: Digital games and learning ecologies
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An Operational Study of Video Games’ Genres
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Self-citationVideo games for people with schizophrenia
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A novel UML-based methodology for modeling adventure-based educational games
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“Due to these reasons, education is one of the most prolific areas of application of serious games [20,26,28] and the domain of interest of this work.”
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“Nonetheless, while online gaming can indeed enrich people’s lives [2], it can also trigger addiction as players continue to participate [3–5].”
BackgroundPlaying the video games during COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on player's well-being
Noaman, S. B., Ibrahim, A. M., Ali, L., Iqbal, M. W., Ashraf, A., Haseeb, U., Muneer, S., Almajed, R., & Hamid, K. (2023) · International Conference on Business Analytics for Technology and Security (ICBATS) · doi:10.1109/icbats57792.2023.10111229 · Cited by 24
“At that time, gaming was a perfect solution to engage oneself while avoid the disease [6].”
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Relationships among Parents, Students, and Teachers: The Technology Wild Card
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Affective motives to play online games
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Analyzing EEG waves to support the design of serious games for cognitive training
Mondéjar, T., Hervás, R., Johnson, E., de la Franca, C. G. L., & Latorre, J. M. (2018) · Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing · doi:10.1007/s12652-018-0841-0 · Cited by 23
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Making the Case for Video Game Addiction: Does It Exist or Not?
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Emotional self-regulation, virtual reality and neurofeedback
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“(23) Experimental (ethnographic) Philippines 11 (6-10) 83.”
BackgroundInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. M. E.
- Affiliations
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 2014-01
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 66-78
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2063077274
- Semantic Scholar
- 12f6500480290c0d8ca6933382478f82883cde88
- Cited by
- 2,456
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 181 · 2025: 245 · 2024: 240 · 2023: 277 · 2022: 225 · 2021: 229 · 2020: 206 · 2019: 239 · 2018: 168 · 2017: 154 · 2016: 120 · 2015: 118 · 2014: 51
- FWCI
- 298.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- video games, children and adolescents, cognitive benefits, motivation, emotional benefits, social benefits, mental health, psychosocial development, media psychology, positive psychology, game-based intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Child, Child Behavior, Cognition, Emotions, Humans, Mental Health, Motivation, Social Behavior, Video Games
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