The Integrated Model of (Dys-) Functionality: Reconstructing Patterns of Gaming as Self-Medication in Biographical Interviews with Video Game Addicts

Bleckmann, Paula; Jukschat, Nadine

doi:10.17169/fqs-16.3.2276

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

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“…Being able to say “ that gaming is/isn’t addicted” is a premise for outlining any (non) ‘addictive’ design, and we need to agree upon what ‘addictive’ is to identify relevant designs. For example, it is unclear whether ‘addictive behaviour’ should equally apply to someone being distracted by checking their smartphone regularly (e.g., Conroy et al , 2023 ; Vainio et al , 2023 ), and another person playing a massive multiplayer online game for decades (e.g., Bleckmann & Jukschat, 2015 ; Domahidi & Quandt, 2015 ). Should ‘distractive design’ be separated from ‘addictive design’?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Karhulahti

2024

Open Res Europe

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For decades, research on technology use and mental health has been based on the assumption that identifiable structures of ‘design’ are psychologically relevant for their users. This has been central especially for the nosological emergence of ‘behavioural addictions’, which currently involve two formal diagnoses involving technology: problems related to playing gambling games (gambling disorder) and videogames (gaming disorder). Alas, the research on identifying ‘addictive’ design structures has suffered from major construct validity issues. To make progress across those issues, I draw from the history of ‘vitality affects’ in psychiatry and introduce vitality structures as a design-phenomenological framework that can help researchers conceptualise clinically (and non-clinically) relevant ‘bonds’ between entities of game design and corresponding player phenomenology. Vitality structures are not natural kinds to be discovered but pragmatic constructs to be created and used: they are useful as long as they communicate what is both identifiable and empirically prevalent. As a demonstration of practice, I propose working conceptualizations of three vitality structures, which surface in videogames that have been prevalent sources of self-identified problems among gaming treatment-seekers. Systematic programs of research for identifying relevant vitality structures across technological, psychological, and psychiatric contexts can lead to construct-valid and replicable design effects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Karhulahti

2024

Open Res Europe

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Karhulahti

2024

Open Res Europe

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For decades, research on technology use and mental health has been based on the assumption that identifiable structures of ‘design’ are psychologically relevant for their users. This has been central especially for the nosological emergence of ‘behavioural addictions’, which currently include two formal diagnoses on technology use: problems related to playing gambling games (gambling disorder) and videogames (gaming disorder). Alas, the research on identifying ‘addictive’ design structures has suffered from major construct validity issues. To make progress over those issues, I draw from the history of ‘vitality affects’ in psychiatry and introduce vitality structures as a design-phenomenological framework that can help researchers conceptualise psychologically relevant ‘bonds’ between entities of game design and corresponding player phenomenology. Vitality structures are not natural kinds to be discovered but pragmatic constructs to be used—and useful as long as they communicate what is both identifiable and empirically prevalent. As a demonstration of practice, I propose working conceptualisations of three vitality structures, which surface in videogames played by gaming treatment-seekers. Systematic research programs for identifying relevant vitality structures can lead to construct-valid and replicable design effects.

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Life Thinning and Gaming Disorder: A Longitudinal Qualitative Registered Report

Karhulahti,

Siutila,

Vahlo

et al. 2023

Peer Community Journal

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The academic debates regarding the psychiatric relevance of gaming disorder continue largely because the lived experiences of treatment-seekers remain mostly unstudied. This registered report addresses the above research gap with a longitudinal design that pursues a comparative descriptive understanding of how intensive gaming experiences evolve in both clinical and non-clinical life situations. Accompanied by a rich health survey, interpretative phenomenological analysis was adapted to understand in-depth interview data from treatment-seeking (n=5) and esports-playing (n=4) participants, the latter of which did not experience any gaming-related health problems. The interviews were carried out as a 1-year follow-up. The study finds intensive relationships with gaming to be experienced through multidimensional cyclicality. For treatment-seekers, this manifests as a shift in problem processing that involves a search for new gaming and life meanings; meanwhile, for esports-playing participants, the meanings of gaming evolve and can rapidly adapt to unexpected life events. We propose life thinningand resilience integration processes as working models that can help better describe and theoretically explain how some individuals end up seeking gaming-related treatment, whereas for others gaming continues to be part of their identity and resilience. The findings call for more qualitative registered reports with treatment-seekers and other intensively gaming people from different cultures to better understand the spectrum of intensive gaming phenomenologically-and specifically, what it means for people to seek treatment for their gaming.

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The Integrated Model of (Dys-) Functionality: Reconstructing Patterns of Gaming as Self-Medication in Biographical Interviews with Video Game Addicts

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Vitality structures in ‘addictive’ game design

Life Thinning and Gaming Disorder: A Longitudinal Qualitative Registered Report

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