The effect of smartphone application interventions on physical activity level among university/college students:A systematic review protocol

Introduction: Strong evidence has shown the benefits of engagement in recommended amount of physical activity. However, it is estimated that nearly half of university students do not participate in sufficient amount of physical activity. While entering university life is a transitional stage important for adopting a particular lifestyle, it is crucial to develop and implement novel strategies to promote physical activity among this population. A smartphone application is a potential media for delivering physical activity intervention. However, recent reviews in this area have demonstrated high levels of heterogeneity, potentially due to population diversity. To date there has been no attempt to synthesize the literature assessing the effectiveness of this particular intervention in university students.Aim: The primary aim of this review is to investigate the effectiveness of smartphone application intervention on physical activity level among university students. The secondary aim is examining the behavior change technique elements of smartphone applications used in available studies.Methods: Sixteen electronic databases will be searched for randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies reporting the effect of smartphone application intervention on physical activity outcomes among university students. Two reviewers will independently screen the potential studies and extract data from included studies. Active elements of smartphone applications used in included studies will be coded using the Behavior Change Technique taxonomy v1. Risk of bias and quality of evidence of individual studies will be assessed. The overall evidence will be presented in a narrative synthesis and quantitative synthesis

The mediating effect of motivations between psychiatric distress and gaming disorder among esport gamers and recreational gamers

Research examining the relationship between gaming disorder, gaming motivations, and mental health is increasing, but the types of gaming use, such as recreational gaming and esports are not commonly distinguished. The present study compared recreational gamers and esport gamers (N = 4284) on a number of variables including game time, gaming motivations, severity of gaming disorder, and psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the mediating effect of gaming motivations among esport and recreational gamers between psychiatric distress and problematic gaming was examined. Results showed that esport gamers spent significantly more time playing video games both on weekdays and weekend days than recreational gamers. Moreover, esport gamers had higher scores on social, competition, and skill development gaming motivations than recreational gamers. The mediation model demonstrated a significant positive direct and significant mediated effect via escapism (i.e., gaming excessively to avoid real life problems) between the higher levels of psychiatric distress and gaming disorder. However, esport and recreational gamers showed no significant differences in the model. The escapism motive appeared to be the common predictor of problematic gaming among both esport and recreational gamers. Future studies should focus on exploring escapism's mechanism in different subgroups of gamers in relation to problematic gaming to help the development of prevention, intervention, and treatment programs

Challenges and opportunities for the online gaming industry in Vietnam: A qualitative study on the thoughts of involved parties

This article examines the performance of the online gaming industry in Vietnam since its beginning. The findings were retrieved by analyzing the interview results with leaders and experts of notable game companies in Vietnam who know deeply and broadly about the industry, as well as officers of various administrative bodies that are directly in charge of governing online games. The main themes include the profile of those who established the industry, the game-related legal structure in Vietnam, and the endeavor of locally producing online games in Vietnam. The comments of interviewees on the future of online gaming in Vietnam are also analyzed in depth. The results retrieved from the interviews provide readers with the information regarding the development of the online gaming industry in Vietnam, which also entails a number of legal and economic challenges- those that arise in the specific post-war historical and political context