Through childhood, I’ve always been passionate about games. However, parents usually always shutdown that passion. When discovered gaming in second grade in elementary school, I have loved gaming since. In the pandemic of 2020, I used video games and streamers as a distraction to problems, and I felt the need to justify my playing of video games and absurd hours of increase.
Due to the widespread self-isolation and citywide lockdowns, The World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged increased digital social activities such as video game play, as represented in the article Video Gaming Growth Soars Thanks to Pandemic. In the peak of pandemic, games like Minecraft and Among Us was becoming popular, causing hundreds of thousands of gamers play these games for hours and hours each day. AS stream charts suggested, the average concurrent players of Among us in the month of September, October and November is around 150,000 and peaked around 400,000 daily.
However, there is heat about the potential for video game overuse and addiction, and myth about the effects of self-isolation and quarantine on excessive gaming.
In a study, participants completed the Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale, Problem Gambling Severity Index, Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist, a measure of risky engagement with loot boxes, concern about contamination, and reported money spent on loot boxes in the past month, as well as whether they were quarantined or under self-isolation during the pandemic.
Although, in our data, excessive gaming and loot box spending were not higher for isolated (self-isolated/ quarantined) compared to non-isolated gamers(aha!), the established association between problem gambling symptomology and loot box spending was stronger among isolated gamers than those not isolated. More generally, the results suggest that social isolation during the pandemic may inflate the effect size of some media psychology and gaming effects.
It seems like the hours of increase does not associate with social isolation but rather with other symptoms of depression.
Reference:
Fischer, S. (2020). Axios: Video gaming growth soars thanks to pandemic. Arlington: Newstex. Retrieved from http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/blogs-podcasts-websites/axios-video-gaming-growth-soars-thanks-pandemic/docview/2430943123/se-2?accountid=14749
