Policy and prevention approaches for disordered and hazardous gaming and internet use: an international perspective

Problems related to high levels of gaming and Internet usage are increasingly recognized as a potential public health burden across the developed world. The aim of this review was to present an international perspective on prevention strategies for Internet gaming disorder and related health conditions (e.g., Internet addiction), as well as hazardous gaming and Internet use. A systematic review of quantitative research evidence was conducted, followed by a search of governmental reports, policy and position statements, and health guidelines in the last decade. The regional scope included the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Prevention studies have mainly involved school-based programs to train healthier Internet use habits in adolescents. The efficacy of selective prevention is promising but warrants further empirical attention. On an international scale, the formal recognition of gaming or Internet use as a disorder or as having quantifiable harms at certain levels of usage has been foundational to developing structured prevention responses. The South Korean model, in particular, is an exemplar of a coordinated response to a public health threat, with extensive government initiatives and long-term strategic plans at all three levels of prevention (i.e., universal, selective, and indicated). Western regions, by comparison, are dominated by prevention approaches led by non-profit organizations and private enterprise. The future of prevention of gaming and Internet problems ultimately relies upon all stakeholders working collaboratively in the public interest, confronting the reality of the evidence base and developing practical, ethical, and sustainable countermeasures

An Exploration Of Resilience Among Native Hawaiians

D.P.H. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Spontaneous Communities of Learning: Cooperative Learning Ecosystems Surrounding Virtual Worlds

This thesis is the culmination of a five year research project exploring online gamers and the cultures they engage with, both virtually in the many massively multiplayer games and virtual worlds online, and in the physical spaces they inhabit in various play spaces around the world. The primary research questions concerned social learning in such spaces, i.e. how do players learn from one another what they need to be successful, and what are the associated norms and practices for doing so? What sorts of peripheral skills are gained, and are they applicable to physical world contexts? Finally, what does participation in such spaces mean for individuals who may have lacked other mechanisms for social learning, and what impacts might such findings have on existing educational structures? I anticipate that this thesis will generate as many questions as it will answer, and I hope, that as a snapshot of a gaming culture in time, will be looked upon as a monograph in the classic ethnographic tradition

The Way We Play: Exploring the specifics of formation, action and competition in digital gameplay among World of Warcraft raiders

This thesis explores the specific practices of group gameplay (called ‘raiding’) in the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMO). In particular, it presents ethnographic research conducted by the author between 2009 and 2012 where she studied raiding in World of Warcraft (WoW), a game environment that is a complicated and malleable space with many pathways of play built into it, not the least of which are the particular ways that raiders choose to shape and sustain their play experience. Building on Galloway’s ‘four moments of gamic action’ as a theoretical framework from which to consider gamic representation among raiders and through ethnographic research on raiding gameplay practices, this thesis considers the ways that formation, competition and gamic action have distinguished raiding within the online, persistent game environment, forming to become a set of interwoven principles that work in concert to sustain long-term raiding activity. The objective of this thesis is twofold: first, to contribute to the gap in games research on raiding gameplay practices in MMOs; and second, to consider how the study of online group play through the context of MMO raiding can impact further geographical research into the digital game, particularly within the contexts of the virtual and playful. Conclusions drawn from this work suggest that the study of game raiding (and its persistence) offers an important perspective to understanding the nature of the complex online game environment; an environment that is at once controlled and malleable, multisensory and immersive, engaging yet sustaining, and complex yet localized, creating many simultaneous moments in gamic action where these representations of space, action, formation and competition function not so much to define gameplay but more so to shape and enable it

Adults with intellectual disabilities’ lived experiences of wellbeing and the Internet : a descriptive phenomenological study

Internet usage continues to increase among adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs), but many are scared to use the internet or are denied access by those who care for them. The internet offers many opportunities, such as the ability to increase social networks and independence, and gain access to health information and support, all of which could contribute to the wellbeing of those with IDs. Due to the lack of qualitative research into the everyday lived online experiences of adults with IDs living in the United Kingdom (UK), decisions around adults with IDs’ internet access and use are often based on reported stories in the media, those without IDs’ experiences, and child-related internet information. This has resulted in an overly paternal and negative approach and a lack of understanding into how best to support adults with IDs’ enjoyable, safe and independent internet use.Taking a descriptive-empirical phenomenological approach, 8 participants with IDs aged between 19-62 from the Yorkshire and Humber region, were interviewed multiple times using semi-structured and adapted methods about their experiences of wellbeing and the internet. The qualitative data was analysed in two phases: data relating to the individual participant’s context was analysed using inductive thematic analysis (TA), informed by methods set out by Braun and Clarke (2006, 2013), whilst data relating to the concrete lived experiences of the phenomenon was analysed using descriptive-empirical phenomenological methods set out by Giorgi (2009). The essential structure of the phenomenon: internet and wellbeing, was composed of seven constituents:• The internet as a mirror.• The internet enables visibility and invisibility.• The internet as liberating.• The internet meets unmet needs.• The internet creates a decision maker and expert.• The internet as friend and foe.• The body connects to, and disconnects from, the internet.The participants’ sense of wellbeing, as well as suffering, was often integral to the internet experience and entwined with their offline context and ID related identities

Parent and Child Wellbeing in a Humanitarian Context By Flora Cohen,

There are increasingly more children and families affected by conflict and displacement. Conflict and displacement can cause severe mental health challenges and social fragmentation. Programs that support the mental health and wellbeing of communities and families living in humanitarian contexts are vital to improving future outcomes. This dissertation utilizes evidence from a psychosocial support intervention designed to support caregivers living in Kiryandongo refugee settlement, Uganda. Findings from this study highlight the importance of utilizing children’s voices in the development of programs, equipping researchers with instruments that have been tested for reliability and validity in differing contexts, and evaluating differing program outcomes for population subgroups. Study findings are vital to enhancing mental health and psychosocial policies, programming, and research for the burgeoning population experiencing forced displacement

Does Gaming Create Partner Agro Online Gamings Impact on Partner Intimacy

This study explored the impact online gaming has on a couples relational intimacy. Gaming has become one of the most popular entertainment Medias in the United States with forty-six percent of American homes having a gaming counsel (Nielsen, 2013). Some of these games are online and gameplay cannot be interrupted and takes up much of the user’s time. Therefore, this study set out to discover if this time commitment had an impact on a relationship’s intimacy levels. This study used data that had been collected in a previous study and reanalyzed it looking for any correlations between the amount of time spent gaming by either partner and the amount of intimacy reported using both the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) and Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR). To discover the correlations both a linear regression and a quadratic regression were used. Results from the tests found that the correlations varied dependent on which regression analysis was used with both having contradictory results. The quadratic regression showing a positive correlation and the linear regression showing a negative correlation

Risks and opportunities for youth in the digital era: a cyber-developmental approach to mental health

Due to continued groundbreaking digital advancements, Internet use has increased significantly. This has led to a heated debate in relation to weighing the many advantages of the technology against its potentially deleterious effects. To address such questions, experts converge on the need for greater knowledge around the way individual differences, partly shaped by an individual’s unique experiences of engaging with the medium, and partly by other real-life experiences, lead to different developmental trajectories. Consequently, the goals of the present review are to (i) broadly describe differences in digital media applications, users, and usage; (ii) introduce the Cyber-Developmental Framework (CDF), as an overarching framework for understanding individual differences in adaptive and maladaptive digital media use among youth; (iii) delineate the cyber-component of this framework in relation to users’ experience of the digital context, their activity within it, as well as their digital self-presence, which may have an impact on their digital media use; and (iv) summarize priorities and future directions through the lens of this CDF. Within this context, this review particularly emphasizes the effect of digital media use on youth’s psychological well-being. It is argued that the trajectory youth will follow in their use of the Internet is a function of the interplay between their characteristics, their proximate and distal contexts, and the particular features of the digital application(s) that the individual is engaged in. The review points to the need to conduct research focusing on better understanding the developmental and digital-context-related influences on youth’s trajectories of Internet use

Player attitudes to avatar development in digital games: an exploratory study of single-player role-playing games and other genres

Digital games incorporate systems that allow players to customise and develop their controllable in-game representative (avatar) over the course of a game. Avatar customisation systems represent a point at which the goals and values of players interface with the intentions of the game developer forming a dynamic and complex relationship between system and user. With the proliferation of customisable avatars through digital games and the ongoing monetisation of customisation options through digital content delivery platforms it is important to understand the relationship between player and avatar in order to provide a better user experience and to develop an understanding of the cultural impact of the avatar. Previous research on avatar customisation has focused on the users of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, leaving single-player avatar experiences. These past studies have also typically focused on one particular aspect of avatar customisation and those that have looked at all factors involved in avatar customisation have done so with a very small sample. This research has aimed to address this gap in the literature by focusing primarily on avatar customisation features in single-player games, aiming to investigate the relationship between player and customisation systems from the perspective of the players of digital games. To fulfill the research aims and objectives, the qualitative approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted. Thirty participants were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling (the criteria being that participants had played games featuring customisable avatars) and accounts of their experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Through this research, strategies of avatar customisation were explored in order to demonstrate how people use such systems. The shortcomings in game mechanics and user interfaces were highlighted so that future games can improve the avatar customisation experience