Starting in early childhood and continuing through adolescence, play is an important tool for young people to develop interpersonal skills and to self-manage emotions. Recently, investigators found that dramatic pretend play uniquely helped preschoolers with emotional control, the foundation of other interpersonal and emotional skills (Goldstein & Lerner, 2017). Other investigators have found correlations between moderate
video game play and better mental health, including lower prevalence of depression and higher self-esteem, compared to those who have never played games or who played excessively (Johnson, Jones, Scholes, & Carras, 2013). “Moderate” video gameplay is associated with higher levels of adolescent social
well-being in middle school compared to adolescents who did not play games (Allahverdipour, Bazargan, Farhadinasab, & Moeini, 2010). Many young people use video games for relaxation and stress relief, or to forget problems and manage their mood (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014; Lobel, 2016). Therefore, video game play may positively affect psychological resilience (Johnson et al., 2013). Adults can also experience the emotion-management benefit of playing games. Although the research is limited, an emerging consensus is that “playfulness in later life improves cognitive, emotional, social, and psychological functioning and healthy
aging overall” (Chesam, Wyss, Müri, Mosimann, Nef, 2017; Yarnal & Qian, 2011, p. 53). In one survey of participants aged 63 to 92, 60% reported playing video games either regularly (at least once a week) or occasionally (at least once a month); this group presented with slightly better emotional well-being, including
lower negative affect and depression, compared to non-gamers (Allaire et al., 2013). In moderation, playing video games can be an important contributor to emotional skill development in early life and help stabilize emotional well-being in adulthood.
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