Games in Young People's Lives: A Qualitative Study of the Meanings They Attach to Games in Their Narratives (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Digital games are an integral part of young people’s everyday lives, offering opportunities for enjoyment, social connection, and coping while also raising concerns about excessive use and harmful interactions. Understanding the meanings young people assign to gaming may inform the development of engaging serious games for mental health. OBJECTIVE The present study explored the meanings young people attribute to digital games, how these meanings vary by age and are contextualized by adults’ perspectives, and their implications for engagement with serious games. METHODS A qualitative, multisite study was conducted involving 42 focus groups across Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Participants included 124 young people aged 10–24 years and 81 adults: 27 parents, 31 school professionals, and 23 mental health professionals. All gaming-related content across the transcripts was examined using collaborative thematic analysis combining deductive and inductive coding. Transcripts were analyzed in their original languages, with translated extracts and a shared codebook supporting synthesis across sites. RESULTS Five themes were identified: social relationships and family; psychological functions, including emotions, coping, and mental health; development, identity, and competencies; games within everyday life; and game worlds, including experience, aesthetics, and culture. Participants described gaming as a context for maintaining relationships, managing emotions, exploring identities, developing skills, and experiencing autonomy and mastery. These functions coexisted with family conflict, avoidance, frustration, and harmful social interactions. Younger participants described gaming as more strongly regulated by adults, whereas middle adolescents emphasized peer connection and increasing autonomy. Young adults more often described occasional or nostalgic play and uses related to relaxation and concentration. Parents frequently emphasized risks and restrictions, while school and mental health professionals also recognized educational and therapeutic possibilities. Young people valued enjoyment, meaningful choices, creativity, aesthetics, and appropriately challenging gameplay; explicitly educational games were often perceived as less appealing. CONCLUSIONS Gaming carries diverse social, emotional, developmental, and cultural meanings that can inform serious-game design and implementation. The findings suggest prioritizing enjoyable gameplay aligned with the intervention’s psychological purpose, developmentally appropriate and adjustable challenges, personalization, meaningful choice, flexible play sessions, and optional social features with safeguards. Engaging adults in understanding these functions may also support implementation. These recommendations derive from participants’ accounts and require empirical testing to establish their effects on uptake, sustained engagement, and mental health outcomes.