Does Playing Apart Really Bring Us Together? Investigating the Link Between Perceived Loneliness and the Use of Video Games During a Period of Social Distancing

Steve Nebel; Manuel Ninaus

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.683842

Does Playing Apart Really Bring Us Together? Investigating the Link Between Perceived Loneliness and the Use of Video Games During a Period of Social Distancing

Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 11:13:683842. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.683842. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Steve Nebel¹, Manuel Ninaus^{2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Chair of Psychology of Learning With Digital Media, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Media Research, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany.
² Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
³ Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.
⁴ LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
⁵ Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries implemented social distancing measures to contain virus transmission. However, these vital safety measures have the potential to impair mental health or wellbeing, for instance, from increased perceived loneliness. Playing social video games may offer a way to continue to socialize while adhering to social distancing measures. To examine this issue further, the present online survey investigated social gaming during the pandemic and its association to perceived loneliness within a German-speaking sample. Results indicated a small positive correlation between general gaming frequency and perceived loneliness. Detailed analysis revealed a negative association between perceived loneliness and increased social forms of video gaming. Specifically, gamers with a higher social motive for gaming perceived less loneliness, but gamers with a dominant escape motive demonstrated a positive link to perceived loneliness. The use of social gaming in times of social distancing seems to play a small but significant factor in perceived loneliness compared to other demographical data. The findings are discussed with respect to methodological limitations, effect sizes, and sample characteristics. The results enrich the current knowledge on video gaming and its link to social wellbeing and provide a more nuanced picture than simplistic investigations of screen time.

Keywords: COVID-19; gaming frequency; gaming motives; loneliness; mental health; social gaming.