TY - JOUR
T1 - Commercial video games as therapy
T2 - A new research agenda to unlock the potential of a global pastime
AU - Carras, Michelle Colder
AU - Van Rooij, Antonius J.
AU - Spruijt-Metz, Donna
AU - Kvedar, Joseph
AU - Griffiths, Mark D.
AU - Carabas, Yorghos
AU - Labrique, Alain
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Colder Carras, Van Rooij, Spruijt-Metz, Kvedar, Griffiths, Carabas and Labrique.
PY - 2018/1/22
Y1 - 2018/1/22
N2 - Emerging research suggests that commercial, off-the-shelf video games have potential applications in preventive and therapeutic medicine. Despite these promising findings, systematic efforts to characterize and better understand this potential have not been undertaken. Serious academic study of the therapeutic potential of commercial video games faces several challenges, including a lack of standard terminology, rapidly changing technology, societal attitudes toward video games, and understanding and accounting for complex interactions between individual, social, and cultural health determinants. As a vehicle to launch a new interdisciplinary research agenda, the present paper provides background information on the use of commercial video games for the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental and other health conditions, and discusses ongoing grassroots efforts by online communities to use video games for healing and recovery.
AB - Emerging research suggests that commercial, off-the-shelf video games have potential applications in preventive and therapeutic medicine. Despite these promising findings, systematic efforts to characterize and better understand this potential have not been undertaken. Serious academic study of the therapeutic potential of commercial video games faces several challenges, including a lack of standard terminology, rapidly changing technology, societal attitudes toward video games, and understanding and accounting for complex interactions between individual, social, and cultural health determinants. As a vehicle to launch a new interdisciplinary research agenda, the present paper provides background information on the use of commercial video games for the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental and other health conditions, and discusses ongoing grassroots efforts by online communities to use video games for healing and recovery.
KW - EHealth
KW - Internet
KW - Mental health
KW - Prevention
KW - Social media
KW - Social support
KW - Technology
KW - Video games
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040813318&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85040813318&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00300
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00300
M3 - Short survey
C2 - 29403398
AN - SCOPUS:85040813318
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 8
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
IS - JAN
M1 - 300
ER -