Many people play games after work to relax, but a study has just proven that these could help reduce the risk of burnout among young adults. According to the study published in JMIR Publications, popular titles like Super Mario Bros. foster “childlike wonder” and increase the overall happiness in life of the participants. The study was conducted through in-depth interviews among 41 university students to gather qualitative data, with the respondents having an average of 22 to 23 years. 46.3% involved in the study were female, and 51.2% were male, while the remaining 2.4% preferred to not disclose their sex. The research team also conducted cross-sectional survey among 336 participants for quantitative data.
All the respondents played the mentioned titles, and analysis showed that the games brought back good childhood memories among the players, giving them happiness. This in turn reduced their feeling of burnout and helped improve the status of their mental health. The study also found that “childlike wonder” did not have direct impact on addressing burnout — instead, it’s the increased happiness from the memory that has a significant effect on reducing mental stress.
JMIR say that this is one of the first studies to look at childlike wonder and how mainstream video games use this in reducing the effects of burnout and improving the emotional well-being of its players. This goes beyond the widely accepted ideas that gaming lets players escape from their problems for a while and have some relaxation. “By moving beyond escapism and nostalgia, it offers a new perspective on how well-designed, globally familiar games can function as accessible, resilience-building digital microenvironments,” the authors said in their report. “These findings contributed to research bridging gaming and mental health and have practical implications for game designers, educators, and health professionals interested in promoting mental wellness through everyday play.”
Gamers have likely experienced these effects for decades now, but, as the publication says, this seems to be the first time that nostalgia and childhood memories have been quantified in a study.
However, other studies have looked at the effect of video games on stress and mental health. A 2021 meta-analysis of research performed between 2006 and 2021 found that games reduce stress across a variety of genres. It concludes, "Efficacy in reducing stress and anxiety has been demonstrated not only for exergames and casual video games but also for other genres such as action games, action-adventure games, and augmented reality games. Various gaming platforms, including consoles, PCs, smartphones, mobile consoles, and virtual reality systems, have been used with positive results. Finally, even single and short sessions of play had benefits in reducing stress and anxiety."
Although the research suggests a positive correlation between video games and happiness, further research is still needed. A 2014 study linked poor sleep to video game play before bed, and a 2022 meta-analysis found that previous studies included a "high risk of bias," and "low quality" research.
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