Self-Regulation as a Mediator of the Associations Between Passion for Video Games and Well-Being
Open accessAbstract
Video games can satisfy people's basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This may lead them to develop a passion for the activity, which can be harmonious or obsessive. These different types of passions are associated with different well-being outcomes: harmonious passion (HP) is associated with positive effects such as Satisfaction with Life (SWL), obsessive passion (OP) is associated with adverse effects such as psychological distress. Although time spent playing video games has sometimes been found to be a predictor of poor well-being, there is a lack of understanding in its role in explaining the relationship between passion and well-being compared with other factors. Self-regulation is an important factor in predicting habits, including video game play. In this cross-sectional study (N = 182), we investigated whether self-regulation or playtime better mediated the associations between different passion orientations and well-being (i.e., SWL, global subjective well-being, and psychological distress) among video game players. A path analysis revealed that people with higher HP for video games reported higher levels of self-regulation and those with higher OP for video games reported lower levels of self-regulation. Our findings also indicate that self-regulation provides a more comprehensive explanation for the relationship between passion and well-being. Overall, this study provides further support for the importance of self-regulation as a determinant of well-being in video game players rather than more arguably surface-level metrics such as time spent playing. These findings have implications for game developers and clinicians who design interventions for individuals who may experience unregulated video game play.
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Individuals with harmonious passion for video gaming experienced greater overall life satisfaction, whereas those with obsessive passion experienced more psychological distress, with self-regulation as a major mediator.
“For example, one study found that those with larger amounts of harmonious passion for video gaming (stemming from a sense of deep interest and volition) experienced greater overall satisfaction with life, whereas those with obsessive passion (compulsive and overvalued compared to other aspects of one’s life) experienced more psychological distress, with self-regulation as a major mediator of these”
From Health Benefits of Video Games in Adolescents and Young Adults (2026) · cites this paper as [16]
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Health Benefits of Video Games in Adolescents and Young Adults
Nagata, J. M., Nayak, S., Choi, W., Potes, C., Heuer, A., Memon, Z., Talebloo, J., Li, E. J., Bao, K., Helmer, C. K., et al. (2026) · Current Pediatrics Reports · doi:10.1007/s40124-026-00376-y · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Emerging research has begun to examine how the effects of video games may be explained by preexisting mental illness, obsessive tendencies, self-regulation, and the type of passion for video games [16, 17].”
- Authors
- Luxford, E., Türkay, S., Frommel, J., Tobin, S. J., Mandryk, R. L., Formosa, J., & Johnson, D.
- Affiliations
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- University of Saskatchewan (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Daniel
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2022-05-01
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 310-315
- ISSN
- 2152-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 2152-2723
- OpenAlex
- W4229025341
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 5.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.qut.edu.au
- Locations
- Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Keywords
- video games, self-regulation, harmonious passion, obsessive passion, well-being, life satisfaction, psychological distress, playtime, basic psychological needs, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Self-Control, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Motivation, Surveys and Questionnaires, Video Games
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