Table 4.
General overview of psychosocial domain
| References | Publication type | Addiction | Anxiety | Emotional effects | IGD | Prosocial/ social behaviour | Study summary and Authors’ conclusions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adjorlu and Serafin (2019) | Research article | * | The authors’ presented a study investigating the feasibility of using VR to reduce disruptive classroom behaviour of a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study provides guidelines to educators and designers who plan to develop applications for educating children with ASD regarding social skills | ||||
| 2 | Carbonell (2017) | Review article | * | * | The author discussed the confusion in DSM-5 diagnosis for Internet Gaming Disorder due to the weak criteria. The release of new genres of video games, VR, online video gaming, different video game mechanics and social structures, and the emergence of smartphones as the main platform are some of the new challenges for scholars | |||
| 3 | Festl et al. (2013) | Research article | * | Playing digital games has been associated with forms of addictive behaviour. Following Gaming Addiction Short Scale (GAS) criteria, addiction is currently not a widespread phenomenon among adolescents and adults in Germany. GAS scores are associated with intensive use and certain problematic aspects of individuals' personalities and social lives | ||||
| 4 | Granic et al. (2014) | Review article | * | * | The authors summarized the research on the positive effects of playing video games, focusing on four main domains: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social. They proposed some candidate mechanisms by which playing video games may foster real-world psychosocial benefits | |||
| 5 | Kaimara et al. (2020a, b) | Review article | * | * | * | The author’s main objective was to research brain-computer interfaces (BCI) concrete components and potential advances as well as depict potential limitations while using technological devices. Within this context, requirements, advantages, possible addiction risks, and boundaries regarding the specifications for BCI and technology are discussed | ||
| 6 | Kardefelt-Winther (2017) | Review article | * | * | * | Videogame playing was associated with prosocial behaviour, life satisfaction, and lower levels of conduct, emotional and peer problems, and hyperactivity. The popular scientific claim that time spent on digital technology could make children addicted is a misrepresentation of existing knowledge | ||
| 7 | Kuss et al. (2017) | Review article | * | * | "Internet addiction" has been criticized for its lack of specificity given the heterogeneity of potentially problematic behaviours. Internet addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) are not the same, and distinguishing between the two is conceptually meaningful. The DSM-5 has caused more confusion than clarity regarding the disorder | |||
| 8 | Lavoie et al. (2020) | Research article | * | The authors designed an interactive scenario intended to elicit low to moderate amounts of negative emotion, wherein participants played out the scenario in either VR (using the HTC Vive) or on a laptop computer. VR gameplay has the potential to elicit strong negative emotional responses that could be harmful to users if not managed properly | ||||
| 9 | Lobel et al (2017) | Research article | * | * | The effects of games on children’s psychosocial development: Gaming at time were related to increases in emotion problems and decreases in social behaviour, for children involved in high-frequency competitive gaming. Neither violent games were associated with psychosocial changes nor cooperative games with changes in prosocial behaviour | |||
| 10 | Madary and Metzinger (2016) | Review article | * | * | The goal of this article was to present a first list of ethical concerns that may arise from research and personal use of VR and related technology and to offer concrete recommendations for minimizing those risks. The neurophysiological underpinnings of VR addiction may differ from that of internet use disorder | |||
| 11 | Malihi et al (2020) | Research article | * | The aim of this study was to examine the safety and usability of these systems for children with ASD. The authors argued that levels of anxiety and negative effects experienced by children with ASD while wearing HMDs or watching a monitor-displayed video were not significantly different | ||||
| 12 | Männikkö et al. (2015) | Research article | * | The aim of this study was to identify problematic gaming behaviour among Finnish adolescents and young adults, and evaluate its connection to a variety of psychological, social, and physical health symptoms. Problematic gaming behaviour was found to relate to psychological and health problems, namely depression and anxiety symptoms | ||||
| 13 | Mesa-Gresa et al (2018) | Review article | * | * | VR has emerged as an effective tool for intervention in the health field and treatment for individuals with ASD. The clinical focus of most of the reviewed studies was on emotional and/or social skills, including emotion recognition, collaboration, and social interaction tasks | |||
| 14 | Newbutt et al. (2020) | Research article—Journal | * | The authors sought to place children with ASD examining the potential of VR HMDs used in classrooms and suggested that low-tech options such as smartphone-based HMDs could be a suitable tool for relaxing, exploring an environment just before visiting the real world. HMDs were reported by children as enjoyable, physically and visually comfortable | ||||
| 15 | Newbutt et al. (2017) | Review article | * | * | This review was focused on the potentially useful application of VRTs to train and support people with an ASD in developing life-skills (i.e. social skills, job skills, independent living skills) and where there has been successful implementation in applied contexts. The authors also discussed the ethical approaches in using HMDs with this population | |||
| 16 | Palaus et al (2017) | Review article | * | The authors aimed to understand the relationship between the use of video games and their neural correlates. Regarding addiction, the role of the reward system is always present when we talk about VGs, due to the way they are designed | ||||
| 17 | Pallavicini and Pepe (2020) | Research article | * | * | The introduction of immersive technologies, especially virtual reality, into the gaming market, has dramatically altered the traditional concept of video games. The main principle findings of this study are as follows: VR video games appear to be effective tools to elicit positive emotions and to decrease negative emotions and state anxiety in individuals | |||
| 18 | Paulus et al. (2018) | Review article | * | * | * | The authors reviewed the scientific literature on IGD to provide an overview focusing on definitions, symptoms, prevalence, and aetiology. Developing IGD requires several interacting internal factors such as deficient self, mood and reward regulation, problems of decision-making, and external factors such as deficient family background and social skills | ||
| 19 | Przybylski (2014) | Research article | * | * | Τhis study explored how time spent playing electronic games accounts for significant variation in the positive and negative psychosocial adjustment of children. The low engagement was associated with higher life satisfaction and prosocial behaviour and lower externalizing and internalizing problems, the opposite was found for high levels of play | |||
| 20 | Reid Chassiakos et al (2016) | Review article | * | Digital media use has evidence-based benefits including opportunities for social contact, support and access to health information. Risks are a higher incidence of depression, exposure to inaccurate/unsafe content and contacts and compromised privacy. American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Use Plan is recommended | ||||
| 21 | Rossi et al. (2018) | Research article | * | The authors proposed the use of VR Games in the context of sensory processing disorders treatment (SPD). SPD often co-occurs with other disorders, e.g. ASD or ADHD. Therapists reported that in general, the game had a positive effect on their treatments also reported signs of relaxation, increased concentration and changes in behaviour | ||||
| 22 | Schneider et al. (2017) | Review article | * | Familial influences are known to affect the likelihood of an adolescent becoming a problem gamer. This systematic review examined some of the key findings in empirical research on family factors related to adolescent problem gaming. Family-related factors included parent status, parent–child relationship, parental influence on gaming and family environment | ||||
| 23 | Stavropoulos et al. (2017) | Research article | * | * | Internet Addiction (IA) symptoms in adolescents were investigated longitudinally. More hostile adolescents continue to present higher IA symptom severity, the relationship of MMORPG and IA symptoms holds over time and is similar to other forms of addictions, and the effect of MMORPG may differentiate between individual and classroom level | |||
| 24 | Steve and Grubb (2018) | Review article | * | * | This study reviewed of ADHD to ascertain why its prevalence continues to rise in American society. Children at-risk for IA tend to fit some of the criteria for ADHD. Increased rates of ADHD is based on a linkage of events created by a lack of parent–child interactions that lead to an increase technology use which develops behaviours that mimic ADHD-like traits | |||
| 25 | Turel et al. (2016) | Research article | * | * | The objective of this study was to examine possible associations among growing problems in adolescents, as a means to point to plausible interventions. Videogame addiction among adolescents was negatively associated with sleep duration. Interventions aimed at problematic video-gaming could improve adolescents’ long-term cardio-metabolic health | |||
| 26 | Weinstein (2017) | Review article | * | * | Adolescents with IGD have shown an increased functional connectivity of several executive control brain regions that may related to comorbidity with ADHD and depression. The evidence supports the behavioural addiction model of IGD by showing structural and functional changes in the mechanisms of reward and craving (but not withdrawal) in IGD | |||
| 27 | Weinstein and Lejoyeux (2020) | Review article | * | * | This review summarized studies on the neurobiological correlates of IGD and addictive internet use in adolescents and young adults. Brain imaging has shown that IGD shares neurobiological alterations that are typical for other addictions. Comorbidity studies indicate that executive control networks in ADHD may increase the susceptibility to develop IGD | |||
| 28 | Weiss et al. (2011) | Review article | * | The objective of this article was to review the research on ADHD as a risk factor for Internet addiction and gaming, its complications, and what research and methodological questions remain to be addressed. Internet and offline gaming overuse and addiction are serious concerns for ADHD youth | ||||
| 29 | Wichstrøm et al. (2019) | Research article | * | * | DSM-5-defined IGD is already present in some 10-year-olds, with a strong male preponderance. Symptoms of IGD are only marginally associated with symptoms of other psychiatric disorders and only predicted by social skills and emotion regulation deficits. Low social competence and poor emotion regulation skills predict more IGD-symptoms |