Studies

What is the study about?

Digital Kaleidoscope is a research study exploring how young people's experiences with video games and other digital technology relate to their wellbeing. We know that games are a big part of many teenagers' lives — but the science of how and why they affect how young people feel is still catching up. Rather than asking broad questions like "how much time do you spend gaming?", we're interested in the details: what games young people play, how those experiences feel in the moment, and how that connects to mood, motivation, and everyday life.

What does participation involve?

Participation involves activity from both parents and teens, with different things asked of each.

Parents / guardians

Once a month, parents complete a short survey (around 10 minutes) about their child's wellbeing and home life.

Young people

Over the course of the study, there are 2–4 two-week intensive periods where we ask young people to complete a brief daily survey about their mood, gaming experiences, and how they're feeling. Outside of these windows, there's nothing to do.

Device data

With consent, we also collect data from gaming platforms and devices. This includes:

• Which games were played, when, and for how long
• In a small number of games (Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft), anonymised records of play history, in-game activity, and social interactions

No personal communications, photos, or private messages are ever collected.

What do families receive?

Families are compensated for their time at £20 per hour, with the potential to receive up to £250 per family across the study.

Your privacy matters

We take data protection seriously. Specifically:

• The study has full ethical approval from Imperial College London
• All data is stored securely on UK-based servers and never sold or shared with third parties
• Participation is entirely voluntary — families can withdraw at any time, without giving a reason, and without any consequence
• Young people's data is de-identified before analysis
• Parents and young people can request to see or delete their data at any time

When can we sign up?

We expect to open recruitment in early 2027.

Social scientists increasingly recognize the importance of "formal theory" - theories specified as clear and falsifiable propositions - to advance scientific knowledge. In the science of human behavior and motivation, self-determination theory (SDT) is among the most widely used theories, arguing that humans have innate and universal needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

However, the theory is not yet fully formalized - it is described largely as verbal statements, leaving substantial room for divergent interpretation. To address this, we propose a "ManyGraphs" approach. We will survey self-identified SDT researchers through conferences and mailing lists, and ask them to specify the theory in the form of a causal graph, to the best of their ability. In doing so, we will distill broad community knowledge into a testable and falsifiable causal model, supporting further iteration and ultimately better interventions to support wellbeing and sustained motivation.