The therapeutic and health benefits of playing video games

Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2019. The therapeutic and health benefits of playing video games. In: Attrill-Smith, A, Fullwood, C, Keep, M and Kuss, DJ, eds., The Oxford handbook of cyberpsychology. Oxford library of psychology . Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 484-505. ISBN 9780198812746

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Abstract

Video game playing is a popular leisure activity for many people across the world. Despite some of the negative publicity and empirical research highlighting the more negative aspects of playing video games, there is also a large literature demonstrating the therapeutic capacity that video game playing can have. This chapter briefly examines a number of therapeutic uses of video games, including: (i) cognitive remediation, (ii) distractors in the role of pain management, (iii) physiotherapy and occupational therapy, (iv) the development of social and communication skills among the learning disabled, (v) psychotherapeutic settings, (vi) health compliance, (vii) stress, anxiety, and emotional regulation, and (viii) physical activity using “exergames.” It is clear from the studies outlined that in the right context, video games can have a positive therapeutic benefit to a large range of different sub-groups. There has been considerable success when games are specifically designed to address a specific problem or to teach a certain skill. However, generalizability outside the game-playing situations remains an important consideration.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Place of Publication:	Oxford
Date:	2019
ISBN:	9780198812746
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198812746.013.27 DOI 2187173 Other
Rights:	Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198812746.013.27 For permission to re-use this material, please visit https://global.oup.com/academic/rights.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	13 Aug 2024 10:21
Last Modified:	13 Aug 2024 10:21
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51985

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