{"id":9211,"date":"2021-06-28T12:41:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T09:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=9211"},"modified":"2021-06-28T12:41:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T09:41:46","slug":"digital-gaming-a-potential-solution-to-loneliness-among-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/digital-gaming-a-potential-solution-to-loneliness-among-older-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital gaming: a potential solution to loneliness among older adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yu-Hao Lee, assistant professor at the University of Florida, conducted and analyzed a cross-sectional survey about social connectedness, social capital, and civic participation of older adults in digital games. Prior research has indicated that playing digital games can maintain or improve older adults’ cognitive abilities. According to Lee’s findings, social game-playing could decrease loneliness and increase social connectedness among older adults.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> main <\/span>concepts<\/span> in <\/span>Lee’s<\/span> study<\/span> were<\/span> bonding<\/span> social<\/span> capital, <\/span>brid<\/span>ging<\/span> social<\/span> capital, and<\/span> social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>. <\/span>Bonding<\/span> social<\/span> capital <\/span>describe<\/span> social<\/span> connections<\/span> that<\/span> occur<\/span> in <\/span>highly<\/span> homogenous<\/span> netwo<\/span>rks<\/span> with<\/span> people<\/span> of <\/span>similar<\/span> backgrounds<\/span> and <\/span>beliefs<\/span>. In <\/span>bridging<\/span> social<\/span> capital<\/span>,<\/span> social<\/span> connections<\/span> occur<\/span> in <\/span>heterogeneous<\/span> networks<\/span> with<\/span> a broader<\/span> field<\/span> of<\/span> demographics<\/span> and <\/span>beliefs<\/span>. <\/span>Social<\/span> connectedness<\/span> on <\/span>the<\/span> other<\/span> hand<\/span> is <\/span>a <\/span>sense<\/span> of <\/span>belonging<\/span> that<\/span> people<\/span> might<\/span> feel<\/span> when<\/span> they<\/span> interact<\/span> with<\/span>in<\/span> communities<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> goal<\/span> of <\/span>Lee’s<\/span> research<\/span> was<\/span> to <\/span>examine<\/span> what<\/span> kind<\/span> of <\/span>effects<\/span> older<\/span> adults<\/span>‘ <\/span>digital<\/span> gaming<\/span> behavior<\/span> has<\/span> on <\/span>them<\/span> attaining<\/span> bonding<\/span> social<\/span> capital,<\/span> bridging<\/span> social<\/span> capital, and social connectedness<\/span>.<\/span> Lee <\/span>offered<\/span> four<\/span> hypothesizes<\/span> based<\/span> on <\/span>prior<\/span> research<\/span>, <\/span>which<\/span> he <\/span>then<\/span> compared<\/span> with<\/span> his<\/span> own<\/span> analysis<\/span> of <\/span>the<\/span> cross-<\/span>sectional<\/span> survey<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> first<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>games<\/span> alone<\/span> will<\/span> have<\/span> a <\/span>negative<\/span> effect<\/span> on <\/span>bonding<\/span> social<\/span> capital and <\/span>social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>. <\/span>Lee <\/span>did<\/span> not<\/span> find<\/span> the<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> to <\/span>be<\/span> consistent<\/span> with<\/span> his<\/span> survey<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The<\/span> second<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>with<\/span> local<\/span> ties <\/span>will<\/span> have<\/span> a<\/span> positive<\/span> effect<\/span> on<\/span> bonding<\/span> social<\/span> capital and <\/span>social<\/span> connecte<\/span>d<\/span>ness<\/span>.<\/span> Lee\u2019s<\/span> analysis<\/span> indicates<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>with<\/span> local<\/span> ties <\/span>does<\/span> have<\/span> a <\/span>positive<\/span> effect<\/span> on <\/span>bonding<\/span> social<\/span> cap<\/span>ital, <\/span>but<\/span> not<\/span> on <\/span>social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> third<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>with<\/span> geographically<\/span> distant<\/span> friends<\/span> or<\/span> family<\/span> will<\/span> have<\/span> a <\/span>positive<\/span> effect<\/span> on <\/span>bridging<\/span> social<\/span> capital and <\/span>social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>. <\/span>The<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> was<\/span> in <\/span>line<\/span> with<\/span> Lee\u2019s<\/span> findings<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The<\/span> fourth<\/span> hypothesis<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>with<\/span> people<\/span> met through<\/span> digital<\/span> games<\/span> will<\/span> have<\/span> a <\/span>positive<\/span> effect<\/span> on <\/span>bridging<\/span> social<\/span> capital and <\/span>social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>. <\/span>Lee\u2019s<\/span> analysis<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> playing <\/span>with<\/span> people<\/span> met<\/span> through<\/span> digital<\/span> games<\/span> has<\/span> a <\/span>positive<\/span> effect<\/span> on <\/span>bridging<\/span> social<\/span> capital, <\/span>but<\/span> not<\/span> with<\/span> social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Original <\/span><\/b>article<\/span><\/b>: <\/span><\/b>Older<\/span> adults<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>digital<\/span> gameplay<\/span>, <\/span>social<\/span> capital, <\/span>social<\/span> connectedness<\/span>, and <\/span>civic<\/span> participation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Authors<\/span><\/b> and <\/span><\/b>institutions<\/span><\/b>: <\/span><\/b>Yu-Hao<\/span> Lee<\/span>, <\/span>assistant<\/span> professor<\/span> at <\/span>the<\/span> University<\/span> of Florida<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Publication<\/span><\/b>: <\/span><\/b>Game<\/span> Studies<\/span>, Volume <\/span>19 issue 1<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Published<\/span><\/b>: <\/span><\/b>May<\/span> 2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Online: <\/span><\/b>http:\/\/gamestudies.org\/1901\/articles\/lee<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image <\/span><\/b>source<\/span><\/b>:<\/span><\/b> “Grandpa Plays Xbox 360” by chipgriffin is licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee\u2019s article tackles the following question: what kind of social effects does participation in digital gaming have among elderly people? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":9213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[237],"tags":[1378,1377,1379],"class_list":["post-9211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-research-highlights","tag-digitalgaming","tag-olderadults","tag-socialcapital","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}