Perceived value of video games, but not hours played, predicts mental well-being in casual adult Nintendo players
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Ballou, Nick
Vuorre, Matti
Hakman, Thomas
Magnusson, Kristoffer
Przybylski, Andrew K
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Studies on video games and well-being often rely on self-report measures or data from a single game. Here, we study how 703 casually engaged US adults’ time spent playing for over 140 000 h across 150 Nintendo Switch games relates to their life satisfaction, affect, depressive symptoms and general mental well-being. We replicate previous findings that playtime over the past two weeks does not predict well-being, and extend these findings to a wider range of timescales (1 h to 1 year). Equivalence tests were inconclusive, and thus we do not find evidence of absence, but results suggest that practically meaningful effects lasting more than 2 h after gameplay are unlikely. Our non-causal findings suggest substantial confounding would be needed to shift a meaningful true effect to the observed null. Although playtime was not related to well-being, players’ assessments of the value of game time—so-called gaming life fit—were. Results emphasize the importance of defining the gaming population of interest, collecting data from more than one game, and focusing on how players integrate gaming into their lives rather than the amount of time spent.
Date Issued
2025-03-12
Date Acceptance
2025-01-14
Citation
Royal Society Open Science, 2025, 12 (3)
ISSN
2054-5703
Publisher
The Royal Society
Start Page
24117
Journal / Book Title
Royal Society Open Science
Volume
12
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40078920
PII: rsos241174
Subjects
digital trace data
video games
well-being
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
241174
Date Publish Online
2025-03-12