Laura is a Lecturer in Psychology with an interest in digital technology and its impact on wellbeing and mental health. Her primary research focuses on the impact of video games on low mood and related symptoms of depression using a player-focused lens and qualitative methods. The goal is to identify the patterns and desires of players with low mood in order to inform research surrounding games and wellbeing. Other research focuses include the perception of games and technology, technology used for facilitating wellbeing and the role technology plays in social relationships.
If you are a student or a staff member interested in any of these areas, please get in contact
Conference publication
Winter L, Zendle DI, Helsby L. 2025. "Leave our kids alone!": Exploring Concerns Reported by Parents in 1-star Reviews Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings, DOI Publisher Url
Helsby L, Iacovides J, Cairns P. 2023. 'The bandwidth comes and goes': Gaming preferences, habits and attitudes in a persistent low mood population ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, DOI Publisher Url
Ballou N, Deterding S, Iacovides I, Helsby L. 2022. Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2022 CHI CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS (CHI' 22), DOI Publisher Url
preprint
Ballou N, Deterding S, Iacovides I, Helsby L. 2022. Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns Center for Open Science DOI Publisher Url
Conference presentation:
Oral presentation, Interactive Games PGR Conference, ‘Idk, it’s a stupid game so no thoughts’: Nine days in the life of a depressed gamer. 2024
Oral presentation, BPS Cyberpsychology Section Annual Conference, 'Stop playing games and do real life things': Gaming preferences, habits and attitudes in a persistent low mood population. 2023
Panel, BPS Cyberpsychology Section Annual Conference, The Future of Video Game Research – by those doing it now. A panel discussion by PhD video game researchers celebrating this growing area of Cyberpsychology. 2023
Oral presentation, Interactive Games PGR Conference, ‘The bandwidth comes and goes’: Gaming preferences, habits and attitudes in a persistent low mood population. 2023
Oral presentation, Foundations of Digital Games, ‘The bandwidth comes and goes’: Gaming preferences, habits and attitudes in a persistent low mood population. 2023
Oral presentation, Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence, The nature of gaming in a low mood population. 2022
Oral presentation, Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence, Player Mood in Gaming: Competitive and Casual. 2021
Public engagement:
Public talk or lecture, Local adults, Speaker, Pint of Science, Presented a talk entitled 'Farming that energy: how can games help low mood?'. 2024