Many people think video games all the time is a total and complete waste of time and cannot lead to anything productive, and at the risk of sounding completely nuts, to a certain extent, I do agree with these people. Now mark my words–“to a certain extent”. Too much of anything isn’t good, and sadly enough this applies to gaming too.
Studies suggest that young people who spent less than an hour a day playing video games were better adjusted than those who did not play any at all. Don’t get overexcited, here is the downside. Children who played on their consoles for over three hours a day were said to have had lower satisfaction with their lives overall.
The research is published in the journal Pediatrics. Experimental psychologist Dr Andrew Przybylski analysed British surveys involving 5,000 young people aged 10 to 15 years old.
About 75% of those questioned had played video games on a daily basis. These children were asked how much time they spent gaming on a school day on either consoles or computer. They were rated a number of factors, including-
- Satisfaction with their lives
- How well the got on with peers
- How likely they were to help people in difficulty
- Levels of hyperactivity and inattention
These answers were also used to assess the psychological and social adjustment levels in the children.
When compared to other groups, including those who played no video games at all, children who played under an hour each day were most likely to be satisfied with their lives and showed highest levels of positive social interactions. This group also had fewer problems with emotional issues and lower levels of hyperactivity.
But the group that played more than three hours of video games everyday were the least well adjusted.
Dr Przybylski attributes these results to various reasons. He said “In a research environment that is often polarised between those who believe games have an extremely beneficial role and those who link them to violent acts, this research could provide a new, more nuanced standpoint. Being engaged in video games may give children a common language. And for someone who is not part of this conversation, this might end up cutting the young person off.”
He also goes on to say that other factors such as the strength of family relationships play a larger role in such cases.
Source: BBC
