Playing video games is associated with cognitive changes and possibly psychosocial difficulties. Problematic gaming occurs upon the loss of control over videogame playing; gaming disorder is considered a behavioral addiction in the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases. Models used to understand behavioral addictions include cognition as an essential factor in the development, maintenance, and relapse of addiction. Nevertheless, some aspects of cognition, such as social cognition, remain underexplored, despite evidence of alterations in cognitive and social function among patients with problematic gaming. This review aimed to describe the current understanding of social cognition in individuals exposed to videogames. We included all studies assessing social cognition in participants of any age with a wide range of exposure to video games (from simple use of video games (such as at least two exposures) to problematic gaming, defined according to the included study). This wide range of exposure allowed us to explore the whole process from repeated exposure to addiction. We included only studies that used neuropsychological tasks to assess social cognition. Patient-reported outcomes that could be biased by subjective self-report data were not included. The search was conducted from inception to January 2022 in three databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science). The systematic search identified 39 studies that assessed facial emotion processing, empathy, theory of mind, social decision-making, aggressive behavior, and moral competence. In general, results have been mixed, and a number of questions remain unanswered. Nevertheless, several studies showed cerebral changes when processing facial emotion that were linked with problematic gaming, while no link was obtained between nonproblematic gaming and empathy alterations. The influences of cooperation patterns, theory of mind, moral competence, and gaming frequency were highlighted. Finally, there was substantial heterogeneity in the population assessed and the methods used.

玩电子游戏与认知变化和可能的社会心理困难有关。当失去对玩电子游戏的控制时，就会出现有问题的游戏；在第11版国际疾病分类中，游戏成瘾被认为是一种行为成瘾。用于理解行为成瘾的模型包括认知作为成瘾的发展、维持和复发的重要因素。然而，尽管有证据表明有问题的游戏患者的认知和社交功能发生了变化，但认知的某些方面（例如社交认知）仍未得到充分探索。本综述旨在描述目前对接触电子游戏的个体的社会认知的理解。我们纳入了所有评估广泛接触视频游戏（从简单使用视频游戏（例如至少两次接触）到有问题的游戏，根据纳入的研究定义）的参与者的社会认知的研究。这种广泛的接触使我们能够探索从重复接触到成瘾的整个过程。我们仅纳入使用神经心理学任务来评估社会认知的研究。不包括可能因主观自我报告数据而产生偏差的患者报告的结果。该检索从开始到 2022 年 1 月在三个数据库（PubMed、PsycINFO 和 Web of Science）中进行。系统检索确定了 39 项评估面部情绪处理、同理心、心理理论、社会决策、攻击行为和道德能力的研究。总的来说，结果好坏参半，许多问题仍未得到解答。然而，一些研究表明，处理面部情绪时的大脑变化与有问题的游戏有关，而没有问题的游戏和同理心改变之间没有联系。强调了合作模式、心理理论、道德能力和博弈频率的影响。最后，评估的人群和使用的方法存在很大的异质性。