For many years, countless studies have been published about the risks that video game use can entail, mostly focused on the consequences that their use can have on children and adolescents. However, nowadays, it has been proven that the phenomenon is no longer exclusive to adolescents. Video games have transcended the age barrier, as shown by studies by Griffiths (2003) and Yee (2006), which revealed that the average age was 25 years, with a range spanning from 11 to 68 years, with only 25% of them being adolescents.
One aspect that has aroused much controversy in recent decades is the supposed correlation between video game use and the violent behaviors of their users. It is quite common to encounter biased opinions on the matter that link and associate being a video game enthusiast with violence. We cannot deny that video games can act as catalysts by presenting aggressive behaviors as “normal” (Huesmann 1998), facilitating better access to scripts that use aggression instead of problem-solving (Bushman & Anderson 2002), a greater perception that the world is a terrifying or unsafe place (Cantor 2003; Donnerstein et al 1994), and an attribution bias when interpreting innocent or ambiguous behaviors as deliberately harmful (Anderson et al, 2010 Moller & Krahé, 2009).
On the other hand, it is important to highlight positive aspects of their use, such as their usefulness for distracting and relaxing children during painful medical procedures (Kirsch 2010), their ability to improve visuospatial skills with certain games like the well-known Tetris (Green & Bavelier, 2006; Okagaki & Frensch 1994), and their progressive inclusion in simulators, such as training programs for airline pilots.
Returning to the negative aspects and focusing on the possible risk factors that increase the probability of suffering an abuse problem, loneliness becomes vitally important. Isolated and depressed people often frequently resort to relieving stress using online resources, with the aim of entertaining themselves, having social interaction, or even finding sexual gratification (Bell, 2007). In this way, we find a fairly uniform personality pattern in addicted players that entails low self-esteem; increased isolation and suicidal and depressive ideation; and increased shyness, which facilitates the development of an external locus of control, meaning these people attribute what happens in their lives as being outside their control and imposed from outside.
There are a series of consequences that allow us to detect when gaming is becoming problematic. These can be divided into physical consequences (lack of sleep, physical exhaustion, sedentary lifestyle) and psychological consequences (irritability when stopping the game, rumination about it when performing other activities, increased hours of play). An important factor to highlight is that today our lives are irretrievably “connected” to the Internet. The vast majority of video game designers, aware of this, have incorporated the option to play online into their content. This fact has created a set of peculiarities around the player, since obviously the vast majority of video games have incorporated this option into their content, and this entails the creation of a parallel online life, a different identity, from the name to the physical appearance, through the creation of virtual avatars in computer-simulated environments. This series of attractive elements of anonymity, freedom, and idealism carries the risk of alarmingly increasing the number of hours spent playing, often at unusual hours, an element that favors continued play, generating feelings of camaraderie and social reinforcement that older “offline” games did not have, and it is not uncommon for people who become dependent on video games to increase their use so as not to disappoint their playmates or to keep up with them (Yee 2006 Sanders et al 2009 Oquist 2009). When this happens and time needed for sleep, work, or normal social relationships is taken away to dedicate to gaming, we are facing a possible sign of dependence.
As a result of these factors, psychological intervention is absolutely essential. It is no coincidence that several centers dedicated solely to treating the consequences that new technologies are producing in the population are beginning to proliferate in Spain, from adolescents dependent on social networks and instant messaging, to unemployed people of working age who, in the face of the severe crisis, have found themselves increasingly resorting to online life as the sole source of stress relief. Here, by way of summary, we will cite some of the most important factors by which video game dependence behavior is perpetuated and aggravated:
– Variable reinforcement programs (VR) are present in the vast majority of games. The classic example is MMORPG´s (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), which maintain a system based on “levels” and “events” represented in experience bars, which “level up” the player’s avatar and grant individual and/or collective rewards. From the perspective of the functional analysis of behavior, it is a factor quite similar to those that maintain gambling behaviors but granting a greater degree of control. This type of conditioning program works in such a way that many players admit and express that rewards are easier to obtain in the virtual world, since everyone starts from the same level there. This reinforces the player’s sense of control, and even more so when these reinforcements provided by the game become more powerful as the individual receives fewer reinforcements from their real life.
– Social reinforcement: the act of interacting with other players who are real people on the other side of the computer helps create significant and unconditional support relationships (the game is designed for collaboration) and, in many cases, also leads to a disconnection from real-life problems.
– Manipulation: today’s video games, depending on their theme, can allow users to deceive, mock, and dominate other users, undoubtedly a factor that facilitates transgression, which is frowned upon or penalized in the real world.
– Immersion factor: as a result of increasingly improved graphics, video games make it easier to recreate real environments or simulate fantastic environments with higher quality. Additionally, by introducing a story, they give the player the power to manipulate the environment, allowing them to feel like the “protagonist” of their own adventure.
– Escapism: environments allow users to deny, forget, or temporarily escape from the stressful problems that real life can entail. This becomes more problematic in sectors or populations suffering from discrimination or high crime areas. Testimonies from ex-players often involve “rationalizations” to prioritize staying home and playing, following common arguments such as “it’s safer/cheaper to stay home playing than to go out in the neighborhood given how things are”.
– Achievement factor: as the player progresses in the video game, they usually gain rank, acquire items, or earn merits that give them a more prominent role in the game and, above all, confer power over newcomers. If we contrast this with conditions that expose individuals to a high level of daily frustration, the appeal is evident.