Chapter 4: Video Gaming For Your Well-Being: What We Know From 20 Years of Research

Video games (VGs) represent a very widespread activity among people. According to the Statista report 2021,¹ there are 3.24 billion gamers across the globe. Most of them are adolescents and children: In Europe 76% of children aged 6–14 and 90% of teens aged 13–17² in the United States play VGs.

Despite the risks associated with their use (see Chapter 2, this volume), the enjoyment and intrinsic motivation make VGs a valuable and attractive medium able to promote well-being and even offer psychological support to people (Pallavicini, et al., 2018). During the lockdown period due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, the number of gamers and the time spent 53 in playing has dramatically increased (Johannes, et al., 2021; Wiederhold, 2021). In fact, VGs represented a fun way to spend time and to stay connected with other people, overcoming the sense of isolation. Moreover, for good or ill, they have offered a unique mood-boosting and stress-reducing solution to deal with anxiety and uncertainty (Johannes, et al., 2021; Wiederhold, 2021), loneliness (Kaye, et al., 2017), and the negative emotional effects experienced due to pandemic issues (Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2021; Viana & Barbosa de Lira, 2020).