In‐session gaming as a tool in treating adolescent problematic gaming

Family Process, vol. 62, pp. 108–123

Abstract

For some adolescent gamers, playing online games may become problematic, impairing functioning in personal, family, and other life domains. Parental and family factors are known to influence the odds that adolescents may develop problematic gaming (PG), negative parenting and conflictual family dynamics increasing the risk, whereas positive parenting and developmentally supportive family dynamics protecting against PG. This suggests that a treatment for adolescent PG should not only address the gaming behaviors and personal characteristics of the youth, but also the parental and family domains. An established research-supported treatment meeting these requirements is multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), which we adapted for use as adolescent PG treatment. We report here on one adaptation, applying in-session gaming. In-session demonstration of the "problem behavior" is feasible and informative in PG. In the opening stage of therapy, we use in-session gaming to establish an alliance between the therapist and the youth. By inviting them to play games, the therapist demonstrates that they are taken seriously, thus boosting treatment motivation. Later in treatment, gaming is introduced in family sessions, offering useful opportunities to intervene in family members' perspectives and interactional patterns revealed in vivo as the youth plays the game. These sessions can trigger strong emotions and reactions from the parents and youth and give rise to maladaptive transactions between the family members, thus offering ways to facilitate new discussions and experiences of each other. The insights gained from the game demonstration sessions aid the therapeutic process, more so than mere discussion about gaming.

Authors 4

1. Henk Rigter Aachen Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) Leiden the Netherlands Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

   Leiden University · Leiden University Medical Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) Leiden the Netherlands

   Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), Leiden, the Netherlands

2. Niels Weber
   Affiliation as printed

   Private practice Lausanne Switzerland

   Private practice, Lausanne, Switzerland

3. Nicolas Favez

   University of Geneva

   Affiliation as printed

   Unité de psychologie clinique des relations interpersonnelles, FPSE University of Geneva Geneva Switzerland

4. Howard Arthur Liddle

   University of Miami · University of Miami Health System

   Affiliation as printed

   Departments of Public Health Sciences and Psychology University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami Florida USA

   Departments of Public Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA