Where Do Online Games Fit into the Health Behaviour Ecology of Emerging Adults: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Online video games are a common pastime for emerging adults (EAs). EAs are an age group that is of interest in health communication because habits formed during this life stage can cause or prevent disease later in life. Guided by three research questions, this scoping review identifies the current state of research into socio-ecological influences on physical activity and diet behaviours of EAs. The review also examines the role that online video games play within this behavioural ecology. In total, 112 articles were found that focused on behavioural ecological influences for physical activity and diet behaviour among EAs. Seven of these articles focused on the impact of online video games, although only in conjunction with their influence on physical activity, identifying a gap in understanding the influence of online games on diet. Results show that online video games are currently under-researched in terms of impacts on physical activity and diet despite the prevalence of the use of these games within the EA cohort.

Improving the Health of Emerging Adult Gamers—A Scoping Review of Influences

“…Stress markers during video gameplay have been shown to increase the number of calories consumed, with a preference for fatty and sweet foods [ 11 ]. Whilst research currently shows a link between video gameplay and negative health outcomes, the use of online games as a potential mechanism for engaging EAs in healthy behaviours is an area that is currently under-researched [ 12 ].…”

“…A four-level BEM [ 21 ] was previously used to understand the influences on the physical activities and dietary behaviours of EAs [ 12 ]. This included (1) sociocultural influences, such as culture, social norms, and gender; (2) community influences, such as media, social media, and micro-celebrities; (3) local influences, e.g., schools, workplace, and physical environments; and (4) individual influences, such as peers, intimate partners, home environments, and parents.…”

“…This included (1) sociocultural influences, such as culture, social norms, and gender; (2) community influences, such as media, social media, and micro-celebrities; (3) local influences, e.g., schools, workplace, and physical environments; and (4) individual influences, such as peers, intimate partners, home environments, and parents. Recently Micallef, Brennan, Parker, Shivinski and Jackson’s [ 12 ] research identified systemic impacts on the physical activities and dietary behaviours of EAs, such as the impacts of peer influence and social media. However, they found that there was little research into where online games fit into the health behaviour ecologies of EAs, despite games being such significant components of EAs’ lives.…”

Is the proposed distinction of gaming disorder into a predominantly online vs. offline form meaningful? Empirical evidence from a large German speaking gamer sample

“…Although this study did not observe differences in behaviours across the gender of gamers (here we touch upon interaction effects with our main research questions; well-known main effects of gender on several variables are presented in Table 1 ), our findings evidenced that the age of gamers was significantly associated with all gaming variables and investigated attention problems. The literature indicates that emerging adulthood is a critical point in the prevention of psychiatric disorders and future chronic disease ( Micallef et al, 2021 ). This is of great concern as young gamers, if unassisted, may spend long hours playing video games, which may trigger disordered gaming symptoms such as withdrawal ( Coyne et al, 2015 ) and loss of control in the activity ( Antons et al, 2020 ) - both core drivers of IGD as evidenced in the literature ( Pontes et al, 2019 ).…”

Disordered gaming, loneliness, and family harmony in gamers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…leading to daily-life impairment. Disordered gaming has been linked to loneliness (Montag, Schivinski, et al, 2021; Zeliha, 2019 ), depression ( King et al, 2019 ; Montag, Schivinski, et al, 2021), health anxiety ( Elhai et al, 2021 ), eating disorders ( Micallef et al, 2021 ), as well as other digital technology based problematic behaviors ( Rozgonjuk et al, 2021 ). Importantly, at a family level, disordered gaming has been linked to poorer family relationships ( Şahin et al, 2019 ) and less harmony in the family ( Ekşi et al, 2020 ).…”