July 3, 2022

Youth Day takes place on the first Sunday of July every year in Singapore. For modern teenagers, online entertainment is almost an indispensable component of life. However, almost one in ten youth gamers develop real-world problems due to gaming. While excessive gaming that hinders daily activities constitutes gaming disorder (GD), clinical understanding of GD is insufficient.

Touch Community Services (TCS) developed the Cyber Wellness Enrichment Programme (CWEP) to support children with GD and their families. ‘Adolescents’ and Parents’ Perspectives: A Gaming Disorder Intervention in Singapore’ (Family Relations, 2021), by Associate Professor Timothy Sim (SUSS), Associate Professor Hyekyung Choo (NUS Social Work), Ms Anita Low-Lim (National Council of Social Service), and Ms Jocelyn Lau (Hong Kong Polytechnic University), aimed to explicate the programme’s components. Through analysing case studies and semi-structured interviews, the authors highlighted the importance of creative use of technology and counsellors’ being role models to children.

CWEP consists of four components: 1) individual counselling allowing counsellors to sieve out individuals’ GD symptoms, as well as personal and interpersonal issues; 2) family counselling providing psychoeducation for parents; 3) group mentoring organised gaming sessions for children and their mentors to build real-life social connections through gaming; and 4) alternative programmes diversifying adolescents’ social life with outdoor activities. The authors studied the impact of CWEP by interviewing ten adolescent and 11 parent participants. Participants were selected from a variety of backgrounds, particularly in terms of family environment and education streaming. Insights were shared through interviews with individual participants, which were then analysed by two experienced social workers.

Firstly, the effect of CWEP is more apparent on children: all but one adolescent reported complete cessation or significant reduction in gaming. Only five out of 11 parents reported reduction in gaming. Despite this seemingly average result, the success of the CWEP can be seen in a more holistic way, through changes in areas other than gaming. Many adolescents reported academic improvement and increased social engagements. Child-parent relationships saw improvement. Mutual understanding was also fostered between children and parents due to counsellors’ interventions.

The most important contributor to the effectiveness of CWEP is the personal relationship that counsellors built with adolescents. Due to counsellors’ experience of gaming, they had common topics with which to build mutual trust with adolescents. Moreover, their relationships extended beyond gaming. Counsellors also built long-term relationships with adolescents so that they always had someone to talk to. These factors enabled counsellors to be trustworthy role models for the adolescents – the best position to influence the adolescents and combat their GD in the long-term.

The creative use of technology is also highlighted. Contrary to the common view that to curb gaming, the adolescents must be stopped from doing it, the pervasiveness of the internet makes it unrealistic for online gaming to be completely banished. The group gaming session leveraged the adolescents’ common interest in gaming for them to make friends in real life. Being avid gamers themselves, counsellors also used the opportunity to teach the adolescents through example how to game in a healthy and balanced way.

Read the article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fare.12474