A Systematic Mapping of Game-based Interventions for Social Connection
Resumo
Introduction: Many people experience negative impacts on their mental health due to lack of social connection related to social barriers and social exclusion, difficulties in socializing, inter-relational problems, pre-existing mental health conditions among other factors. And many of those people are players who resort to gaming as a tool for socializing and connecting. Objective: The objective of this review was to investigate if and how that social aspect of video games has been used in game-based interventions for promoting social connection as the intended outcome. Methodology: For that purpose, a systematic review was conducted based on a semantic field around the terms connection, connectedness, social, intervention and video games, narrowed down into a concise syntax and applied to six relevant databases for health research, followed by a screening protocol with selection criteria based on one guiding question (GQ) and a thematic synthesis based on seven elaborative questions (EQ). Results: Only four studies met the inclusion criteria, but provided quantitative and qualitative data to map the literature on game-based interventions for social connection. The review process demonstrated a striking lack of research aimed at investigating the potential of social gaming interventions in the context of mental health. But that lack also represents a rich opportunity offered by video games to expand the scope of strategies to mitigate isolation and loneliness.
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