Departmental Affiliations
Research Interests
video games; digital wellbeing; social media; mental health, technology; internet; game addiction; systematic reviews; evidence development
Experiences & Accomplishments
I have spent a lot of time researching video games, but not just from the angle most people expect. My work is really about how games and the communities around them impact mental health—both the good and the bad. I’ve looked into things like gaming addiction and problematic play, but I’ve also studied how games can be a source of connection, especially for people who might feel isolated. There’s a lot of complexity in how people engage with games, and I try to explore that in a way that acknowledges both the risks and the potential benefits.
One of the things I’ve focused on is the positive side of gaming, which often gets overlooked. Games can be more than just entertainment; they can be a tool for building community, distracting from overwhelming problems, and even offering support for mental health. My work has shown how gaming communities can provide real social connections for people, and how games can be designed or used in ways that promote well-being. But at the same time, I don’t shy away from the more difficult issues, like problematic or addictive use.
I work with psychologists, other public health experts, and even game developers to figure out how we can apply what we know about games to real-world problems. A lot of what I do involves looking at the bigger picture—how video games fit into people’s lives and how we can use them to make things better, especially for those who might be struggling. It’s not all good or all bad, but understanding the nuances is what drives my work.
Honors & Awards
- Winner, International Society for Research on Internet Interventions Throwdown (as part of Team Nena), October 2017
- Postdoctoral Training Fellow, NIMH Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2015-2017
- Training Fellow, NIDA Drug Dependence Epidemiology, 2013-2015
- Training Fellow, NIMH Child Mental Health Services and Service Systems, 2011-2013
- Individual Leadership Award, Howard County Commission on Disability Issues, 2010
Select Publications
Selected publications from the last 10 years
Perepezko K, Bergendahl M, Kunz C, Labrique A, Carras M, Colder Carras M. “Instead, You’re Going to a Friend”: Evaluation of a community-developed, peer-delivered online crisis prevention intervention. Psychiatr. Services. 2024 Jul 7 [online]. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.20230233.
Colder Carras M, Bergendahl M, Labrique AB. Community Case Study: Stack Up's Overwatch Program, an Online Suicide Prevention and Peer Support Program for Video Gamers. Front Psychol. 2021;12:575224. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.575224. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 33776826; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7990882.
Colder Carras M, Shi J, Hard G, Saldanha IJ. Evaluating the quality of evidence for gaming disorder: A summary of systematic reviews of associations between gaming disorder and depression or anxiety. PLoS One. 2020;15(10):e0240032. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240032. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 33104730; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7588081.
Colder Carras M, Carras M, Labrique AB. Stakeholders' Consensus on Strategies for Self- and Other-Regulation of Video Game Play: A Mixed Methods Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 28;17(11). doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113846. PubMed PMID: 32481721; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7313040.
Colder Carras M, Van Rooij AJ, Spruijt-Metz D, Kvedar J, Griffiths MD, Carabas Y, et al. Commercial video games as therapy: a new research agenda to unlock the potential of a global pastime. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2018(8). Doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00300
Colder Carras M, Kalbarczyk A, Wells K, Banks J, Kowert R, Gillespie C, Latkin C. Connection, meaning, and distraction: A qualitative study of video game play and mental health recovery in veterans treated for mental and/or behavioral health problems. Soc Sci Med. 2018 Nov;216:124-132. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.044. Epub 2018 Sep 24. PubMed PMID: 30257787; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6193255.