Engajamento em videojogos, bem-estar subjetivo, resiliência e stress percebido

Abstract

Research on videogames use tends to take a negative approach. Many studies indicate the harmful effects of video game use. However, literature that analyzes the relationship between games and mental health dimensions, is scarcer. To explore “other sides” of videogames, we aimed to study the interconnection that occurs between them and the human being, with a focus on engagement. Most engagement theories identify pleasure as an associated experience of the engagement effect. These positive correlates allow inferring possible positive relationships with subjective well-being and psychological resilience, and negative with perceived stress. To explore this, an investigation was developed with a sample of 107 participants (gamers and non-gamers), through a survey using a questionnaire composed of sociodemographic items and video game usage habits, the Game Engagement Questionaire (GEQ), the subjective well-being scale Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). The results replicated the relationship between resilience, perceived stress, and subjective well- being found in the literature, while also showing differences between players and non- players in terms of subjective well-being; indicated gender differences in terms of engagement levels and also differences in subjective well-being when grouped average hours of play per session were compared. These differences point to the need for more future research in these domains.

Date of Award	29 Nov 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rui Filipe Gaspar de Carvalho (Supervisor)