Problem Gaming Linked to Dangerous Behaviors
The image of teenage boys holed in up in a finished basement playing video games all weekend is not one that young mothers dream of when they cradle their firstborn son. News reports of research linking video games to aggression and violence have caused there to be a general negativity surrounding the hobby.
New research suggests, however, that video games are associated with different outcomes depending on gender and the intensity of video game playing habits. The study, conducted at the Yale School of Medicine found that there were some important differences between genders and significant health risks associated with problem gaming.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study is the largest to examine health and problematic gaming in a community sample of adolescents. Rani Desai is an associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology and public health at Yale. Desai and colleagues conducted an anonymous survey of 4,028 adolescents about their gaming habits, possible problems that are associated with gaming and other health behaviors.
The researchers found that 51.2 percent of the adolescents surveyed played video games. The results showed no negative health consequences of gaming in boys, but found that gaming was associated with a lower smoking rate among boys. Girls, however, were shown to be more likely to get into serious fights and carry a weapon to school if they played video games.
The study showed that most of the adolescents who played video games did so without any associated health effects. However, in a small group, video games were a problem. 4.9 percent of the adolescents surveyed reported that they had problems cutting back on video games, felt an irresistible urge to play, or experienced tension that was only released by playing video games.
Boys were much more likely to be in this group versus girls. In adolescents with problematic video game playing, the habit was linked to regular cigarette smoking, drug use, depression and serious fights in both genders.
Desai says that the results indicate that in the case of general recreation, gaming is relatively harmless among boys, contradicting previous research showing a connection between gaming and aggression. However, says Desai, the results reported here indicate that girls may be playing video games for different reasons than boys play them.
The authors of the study point out that the rate of problem video game playing is low, but it is not insignificant. Desai says that further research is required to establish and define safe levels of gaming and provide a definition of problematic gaming. Also needed are intervention and education strategies for preventing problematic gaming.
