Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis
In recent years the field of gaming addiction has experienced an upsurge in empirical studies on various treatment approaches. Despite the advances in our understanding of how gaming addiction can be treated, the wider concept of recovery continues to be under-researched. The purpose of this review...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Masaryk University
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/37102 |
| _version_ | 1797205343150800896 |
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| author | Ksenija Vasiljeva Alex Kyriakopoulos Christopher Wilson |
| author_facet | Ksenija Vasiljeva Alex Kyriakopoulos Christopher Wilson |
| author_sort | Ksenija Vasiljeva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In recent years the field of gaming addiction has experienced an upsurge in empirical studies on various treatment approaches. Despite the advances in our understanding of how gaming addiction can be treated, the wider concept of recovery continues to be under-researched. The purpose of this review was to explore how individuals addicted to video games experience the process of recovery. Seven databases were systematically searched for qualitative studies. Eight studies representing the views of 225 participants were included in the review. Study findings were exported into NVivo software and analysed using Thematic Synthesis. Six themes were constructed: “developing awareness”, “deciding to change”, “the process of quitting”, “the challenges of quitting”, “recovery never stops” and “treatment for gaming addiction”. Except for the last, themes represent processes that most participants had gone through during recovery, though significant variation was found in how each process was experienced. In addition to overcoming addiction symptoms, recovery involved management of concomitant problems and various negative consequences of excessive gaming. Regarding practice implications, current findings suggest that treatment programs should adopt a multidimensional approach, providing evidence-based treatments, help for co-occurring problems, as well as pre- and post-treatment support to accommodate individuals at different stages of recovery. Further research is needed to expand our understanding of recovery, for instance, the impact of gender differences or how recovery experiences change based on different recovery goals (i.e., abstinence or reduced play time).
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:49:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-374bc28b31ba46688a5cd430c6635968 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1802-7962 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:49:37Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Masaryk University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| spelling | doaj.art-374bc28b31ba46688a5cd430c66359682024-04-16T12:14:11ZengMasaryk UniversityCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace1802-79622024-04-0118210.5817/CP2024-2-5Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesisKsenija Vasiljeva0Alex Kyriakopoulos1Christopher Wilson2Department of Psychology, Teesside UniversityDepartment of Psychology, Teesside UniversityDepartment of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom In recent years the field of gaming addiction has experienced an upsurge in empirical studies on various treatment approaches. Despite the advances in our understanding of how gaming addiction can be treated, the wider concept of recovery continues to be under-researched. The purpose of this review was to explore how individuals addicted to video games experience the process of recovery. Seven databases were systematically searched for qualitative studies. Eight studies representing the views of 225 participants were included in the review. Study findings were exported into NVivo software and analysed using Thematic Synthesis. Six themes were constructed: “developing awareness”, “deciding to change”, “the process of quitting”, “the challenges of quitting”, “recovery never stops” and “treatment for gaming addiction”. Except for the last, themes represent processes that most participants had gone through during recovery, though significant variation was found in how each process was experienced. In addition to overcoming addiction symptoms, recovery involved management of concomitant problems and various negative consequences of excessive gaming. Regarding practice implications, current findings suggest that treatment programs should adopt a multidimensional approach, providing evidence-based treatments, help for co-occurring problems, as well as pre- and post-treatment support to accommodate individuals at different stages of recovery. Further research is needed to expand our understanding of recovery, for instance, the impact of gender differences or how recovery experiences change based on different recovery goals (i.e., abstinence or reduced play time). https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/37102gaming disorderaddictionthematic synthesisrecoveryrapid review |
| spellingShingle | Ksenija Vasiljeva Alex Kyriakopoulos Christopher Wilson Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace gaming disorder addiction thematic synthesis recovery rapid review |
| title | Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis |
| title_full | Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis |
| title_fullStr | Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis |
| title_short | Recovery from gaming addiction: A thematic synthesis |
| title_sort | recovery from gaming addiction a thematic synthesis |
| topic | gaming disorder addiction thematic synthesis recovery rapid review |
| url | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/37102 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ksenijavasiljeva recoveryfromgamingaddictionathematicsynthesis AT alexkyriakopoulos recoveryfromgamingaddictionathematicsynthesis AT christopherwilson recoveryfromgamingaddictionathematicsynthesis |