Playing for Wellness: A Diary Study of Videogame Usage and Adolescent Wellbeing

Paper Title

Playing for Wellness: A Diary Study of Videogame Usage and Adolescent Wellbeing

Publication Info

• Topic area: Adolescent emotion regulation through videogames in naturalistic settings.
• Keywords: Adolescents, emotion regulation, videogames, social gaming, wellbeing, diary study, multimodal methods, stress recovery, peer dynamics, affective niches.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing research on emotion regulation (ER) often relies on lab-based interventions or survey methods, which fail to capture how adolescents use technology, particularly videogames, for ER in their everyday social contexts.
• Significance: Adolescents experience emotional volatility and seek support, but often avoid formal interventions. Understanding how they naturally integrate videogames into their emotional practices can inform the design of more effective and socially embedded wellbeing technologies.
• Motivation and related work: Prior studies have shown videogames can support stress recovery and social connection in adults, but research on adolescents is limited and often methodologically constrained. This study addresses the gap by exploring how adolescents use mainstream videogames for ER in real-world settings.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A two-week multimodal diary study combined with semi-structured interviews to investigate how adolescents use commercially available videogames for emotion regulation in everyday contexts.
• Novelty:
  1. Empirical insights into adolescents’ use of mainstream videogames for emotion regulation and social connection.
  2. Introduction of a multimodal diary method to capture authentic adolescent perspectives in naturalistic settings.
  3. Implications for designing socially embedded and agency-oriented wellbeing technologies.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Recruited 11 adolescents (ages 14–16) who regularly play videogames.
  • Participants documented gaming sessions using a custom-designed physical diary (EmoDi), creative materials (e.g., clay, drawings), and a self-tracking app.
  • Follow-up interviews were conducted to elaborate on diary entries and explore emergent themes.
  • Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze diary and interview data, focusing on emotion regulation mechanisms and social dynamics.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Adolescents used videogames strategically for emotion regulation, selecting games based on desired emotional outcomes (e.g., relaxation, stimulation).
  • Gaming supported both individual and social ER processes, including stress recovery, mood enhancement, and social connection.
  • Participants demonstrated regulatory flexibility, adapting in-game activities or switching games when initial strategies failed.
  • Gaming elicited complex emotional responses, including mixed affect (e.g., frustration and enjoyment) and achievement-related pride.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • The study highlights the nuanced, socially embedded nature of adolescent gaming practices, which are not captured by traditional lab-based or survey methods.
  • It identifies how adolescents actively use games for both individual and interpersonal emotion regulation, challenging individualistic models of ER.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Conducted with 11 participants over two weeks, documenting 4–5 gaming sessions per week.
  • Data sources included diaries, interviews, and creative outputs (e.g., drawings, heart-rate reflections).
  • Analysis focused on themes such as game selection, emotional outcomes, and social dynamics.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Small sample size limits generalizability; findings may not represent all gaming genres or adolescent experiences.
  • Self-reported data and diary fatigue may introduce recall bias.
  • Future research should explore longitudinal effects, cultural differences, and co-design interventions with adolescents.

Summary

This study investigates how adolescents use mainstream videogames for emotion regulation in everyday contexts, revealing that gaming serves as a flexible tool for managing emotions and fostering social connection. Using a multimodal diary method, the research highlights adolescents’ strategic game selection, regulatory flexibility, and the role of social dynamics in shaping emotional outcomes. Findings challenge individualistic models of emotion regulation, emphasizing the importance of socially embedded practices. The study provides actionable insights for designing wellbeing technologies that align with adolescents’ natural gaming practices and social contexts.