negative effects of video games research paper

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 13 March 2018

Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study

• Simone Kühn 1 , 2 ,
• Dimitrij Tycho Kugler 2 ,
• Katharina Schmalen 1 ,
• Markus Weichenberger 1 ,
• Charlotte Witt 1 &
• Jürgen Gallinat 2  

Molecular Psychiatry volume  24 ,  pages 1220–1234 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

551k Accesses

104 Citations

2340 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Neuroscience

It is a widespread concern that violent video games promote aggression, reduce pro-social behaviour, increase impulsivity and interfere with cognition as well as mood in its players. Previous experimental studies have focussed on short-term effects of violent video gameplay on aggression, yet there are reasons to believe that these effects are mostly the result of priming. In contrast, the present study is the first to investigate the effects of long-term violent video gameplay using a large battery of tests spanning questionnaires, behavioural measures of aggression, sexist attitudes, empathy and interpersonal competencies, impulsivity-related constructs (such as sensation seeking, boredom proneness, risk taking, delay discounting), mental health (depressivity, anxiety) as well as executive control functions, before and after 2 months of gameplay. Our participants played the violent video game Grand Theft Auto V, the non-violent video game The Sims 3 or no game at all for 2 months on a daily basis. No significant changes were observed, neither when comparing the group playing a violent video game to a group playing a non-violent game, nor to a passive control group. Also, no effects were observed between baseline and posttest directly after the intervention, nor between baseline and a follow-up assessment 2 months after the intervention period had ended. The present results thus provide strong evidence against the frequently debated negative effects of playing violent video games in adults and will therefore help to communicate a more realistic scientific perspective on the effects of violent video gaming.

Similar content being viewed by others

No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking

Increasing prosocial behavior and decreasing selfishness in the lab and everyday life

Dynamics of the immediate behavioral response to partial social exclusion

The concern that violent video games may promote aggression or reduce empathy in its players is pervasive and given the popularity of these games their psychological impact is an urgent issue for society at large. Contrary to the custom, this topic has also been passionately debated in the scientific literature. One research camp has strongly argued that violent video games increase aggression in its players [ 1 , 2 ], whereas the other camp [ 3 , 4 ] repeatedly concluded that the effects are minimal at best, if not absent. Importantly, it appears that these fundamental inconsistencies cannot be attributed to differences in research methodology since even meta-analyses, with the goal to integrate the results of all prior studies on the topic of aggression caused by video games led to disparate conclusions [ 2 , 3 ]. These meta-analyses had a strong focus on children, and one of them [ 2 ] reported a marginal age effect suggesting that children might be even more susceptible to violent video game effects.

To unravel this topic of research, we designed a randomised controlled trial on adults to draw causal conclusions on the influence of video games on aggression. At present, almost all experimental studies targeting the effects of violent video games on aggression and/or empathy focussed on the effects of short-term video gameplay. In these studies the duration for which participants were instructed to play the games ranged from 4 min to maximally 2 h (mean = 22 min, median = 15 min, when considering all experimental studies reviewed in two of the recent major meta-analyses in the field [ 3 , 5 ]) and most frequently the effects of video gaming have been tested directly after gameplay.

It has been suggested that the effects of studies focussing on consequences of short-term video gameplay (mostly conducted on college student populations) are mainly the result of priming effects, meaning that exposure to violent content increases the accessibility of aggressive thoughts and affect when participants are in the immediate situation [ 6 ]. However, above and beyond this the General Aggression Model (GAM, [ 7 ]) assumes that repeatedly primed thoughts and feelings influence the perception of ongoing events and therewith elicits aggressive behaviour as a long-term effect. We think that priming effects are interesting and worthwhile exploring, but in contrast to the notion of the GAM our reading of the literature is that priming effects are short-lived (suggested to only last for <5 min and may potentially reverse after that time [ 8 ]). Priming effects should therefore only play a role in very close temporal proximity to gameplay. Moreover, there are a multitude of studies on college students that have failed to replicate priming effects [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] and associated predictions of the so-called GAM such as a desensitisation against violent content [ 12 , 13 , 14 ] in adolescents and college students or a decrease of empathy [ 15 ] and pro-social behaviour [ 16 , 17 ] as a result of playing violent video games.

However, in our view the question that society is actually interested in is not: “Are people more aggressive after having played violent video games for a few minutes? And are these people more aggressive minutes after gameplay ended?”, but rather “What are the effects of frequent, habitual violent video game playing? And for how long do these effects persist (not in the range of minutes but rather weeks and months)?” For this reason studies are needed in which participants are trained over longer periods of time, tested after a longer delay after acute playing and tested with broader batteries assessing aggression but also other relevant domains such as empathy as well as mood and cognition. Moreover, long-term follow-up assessments are needed to demonstrate long-term effects of frequent violent video gameplay. To fill this gap, we set out to expose adult participants to two different types of video games for a period of 2 months and investigate changes in measures of various constructs of interest at least one day after the last gaming session and test them once more 2 months after the end of the gameplay intervention. In contrast to the GAM, we hypothesised no increases of aggression or decreases in pro-social behaviour even after long-term exposure to a violent video game due to our reasoning that priming effects of violent video games are short-lived and should therefore not influence measures of aggression if they are not measured directly after acute gaming. In the present study, we assessed potential changes in the following domains: behavioural as well as questionnaire measures of aggression, empathy and interpersonal competencies, impulsivity-related constructs (such as sensation seeking, boredom proneness, risk taking, delay discounting), and depressivity and anxiety as well as executive control functions. As the effects on aggression and pro-social behaviour were the core targets of the present study, we implemented multiple tests for these domains. This broad range of domains with its wide coverage and the longitudinal nature of the study design enabled us to draw more general conclusions regarding the causal effects of violent video games.

Materials and methods

Participants.

Ninety healthy participants (mean age = 28 years, SD = 7.3, range: 18–45, 48 females) were recruited by means of flyers and internet advertisements. The sample consisted of college students as well as of participants from the general community. The advertisement mentioned that we were recruiting for a longitudinal study on video gaming, but did not mention that we would offer an intervention or that we were expecting training effects. Participants were randomly assigned to the three groups ruling out self-selection effects. The sample size was based on estimates from a previous study with a similar design [ 18 ]. After complete description of the study, the participants’ informed written consent was obtained. The local ethics committee of the Charité University Clinic, Germany, approved of the study. We included participants that reported little, preferably no video game usage in the past 6 months (none of the participants ever played the game Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) or Sims 3 in any of its versions before). We excluded participants with psychological or neurological problems. The participants received financial compensation for the testing sessions (200 Euros) and performance-dependent additional payment for two behavioural tasks detailed below, but received no money for the training itself.

Training procedure

The violent video game group (5 participants dropped out between pre- and posttest, resulting in a group of n  = 25, mean age = 26.6 years, SD = 6.0, 14 females) played the game Grand Theft Auto V on a Playstation 3 console over a period of 8 weeks. The active control group played the non-violent video game Sims 3 on the same console (6 participants dropped out, resulting in a group of n  = 24, mean age = 25.8 years, SD = 6.8, 12 females). The passive control group (2 participants dropped out, resulting in a group of n  = 28, mean age = 30.9 years, SD = 8.4, 12 females) was not given a gaming console and had no task but underwent the same testing procedure as the two other groups. The passive control group was not aware of the fact that they were part of a control group to prevent self-training attempts. The experimenters testing the participants were blind to group membership, but we were unable to prevent participants from talking about the game during testing, which in some cases lead to an unblinding of experimental condition. Both training groups were instructed to play the game for at least 30 min a day. Participants were only reimbursed for the sessions in which they came to the lab. Our previous research suggests that the perceived fun in gaming was positively associated with training outcome [ 18 ] and we speculated that enforcing training sessions through payment would impair motivation and thus diminish the potential effect of the intervention. Participants underwent a testing session before (baseline) and after the training period of 2 months (posttest 1) as well as a follow-up testing sessions 2 months after the training period (posttest 2).

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA)

GTA is an action-adventure video game situated in a fictional highly violent game world in which players are rewarded for their use of violence as a means to advance in the game. The single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a government agency. The gameplay focuses on an open world (sandbox game) where the player can choose between different behaviours. The game also allows the player to engage in various side activities, such as action-adventure, driving, third-person shooting, occasional role-playing, stealth and racing elements. The open world design lets players freely roam around the fictional world so that gamers could in principle decide not to commit violent acts.

The Sims 3 (Sims)

Sims is a life simulation game and also classified as a sandbox game because it lacks clearly defined goals. The player creates virtual individuals called “Sims”, and customises their appearance, their personalities and places them in a home, directs their moods, satisfies their desires and accompanies them in their daily activities and by becoming part of a social network. It offers opportunities, which the player may choose to pursue or to refuse, similar as GTA but is generally considered as a pro-social and clearly non-violent game.

Assessment battery

To assess aggression and associated constructs we used the following questionnaires: Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire [ 19 ], State Hostility Scale [ 20 ], Updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale [ 21 , 22 ], Moral Disengagement Scale [ 23 , 24 ], the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Test [ 25 , 26 ] and a so-called World View Measure [ 27 ]. All of these measures have previously been used in research investigating the effects of violent video gameplay, however, the first two most prominently. Additionally, behavioural measures of aggression were used: a Word Completion Task, a Lexical Decision Task [ 28 ] and the Delay frustration task [ 29 ] (an inter-correlation matrix is depicted in Supplementary Figure 1 1). From these behavioural measures, the first two were previously used in research on the effects of violent video gameplay. To assess variables that have been related to the construct of impulsivity, we used the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale [ 30 ] and the Boredom Propensity Scale [ 31 ] as well as tasks assessing risk taking and delay discounting behaviourally, namely the Balloon Analogue Risk Task [ 32 ] and a Delay-Discounting Task [ 33 ]. To quantify pro-social behaviour, we employed: Interpersonal Reactivity Index [ 34 ] (frequently used in research on the effects of violent video gameplay), Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale [ 35 ], Reading the Mind in the Eyes test [ 36 ], Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire [ 37 ] and Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire [ 38 ]. To assess depressivity and anxiety, which has previously been associated with intense video game playing [ 39 ], we used Beck Depression Inventory [ 40 ] and State Trait Anxiety Inventory [ 41 ]. To characterise executive control function, we used a Stop Signal Task [ 42 ], a Multi-Source Interference Task [ 43 ] and a Task Switching Task [ 44 ] which have all been previously used to assess effects of video gameplay. More details on all instruments used can be found in the Supplementary Material.

Data analysis

On the basis of the research question whether violent video game playing enhances aggression and reduces empathy, the focus of the present analysis was on time by group interactions. We conducted these interaction analyses separately, comparing the violent video game group against the active control group (GTA vs. Sims) and separately against the passive control group (GTA vs. Controls) that did not receive any intervention and separately for the potential changes during the intervention period (baseline vs. posttest 1) and to test for potential long-term changes (baseline vs. posttest 2). We employed classical frequentist statistics running a repeated-measures ANOVA controlling for the covariates sex and age.

Since we collected 52 separate outcome variables and conduced four different tests with each (GTA vs. Sims, GTA vs. Controls, crossed with baseline vs. posttest 1, baseline vs. posttest 2), we had to conduct 52 × 4 = 208 frequentist statistical tests. Setting the alpha value to 0.05 means that by pure chance about 10.4 analyses should become significant. To account for this multiple testing problem and the associated alpha inflation, we conducted a Bonferroni correction. According to Bonferroni, the critical value for the entire set of n tests is set to an alpha value of 0.05 by taking alpha/ n  = 0.00024.

Since the Bonferroni correction has sometimes been criticised as overly conservative, we conducted false discovery rate (FDR) correction [ 45 ]. FDR correction also determines adjusted p -values for each test, however, it controls only for the number of false discoveries in those tests that result in a discovery (namely a significant result).

Moreover, we tested for group differences at the baseline assessment using independent t -tests, since those may hamper the interpretation of significant interactions between group and time that we were primarily interested in.

Since the frequentist framework does not enable to evaluate whether the observed null effect of the hypothesised interaction is indicative of the absence of a relation between violent video gaming and our dependent variables, the amount of evidence in favour of the null hypothesis has been tested using a Bayesian framework. Within the Bayesian framework both the evidence in favour of the null and the alternative hypothesis are directly computed based on the observed data, giving rise to the possibility of comparing the two. We conducted Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVAs comparing the model in favour of the null and the model in favour of the alternative hypothesis resulting in a Bayes factor (BF) using Bayesian Information criteria [ 46 ]. The BF 01 suggests how much more likely the data is to occur under the null hypothesis. All analyses were performed using the JASP software package ( https://jasp-stats.org ).

Sex distribution in the present study did not differ across the groups ( χ 2 p -value > 0.414). However, due to the fact that differences between males and females have been observed in terms of aggression and empathy [ 47 ], we present analyses controlling for sex. Since our random assignment to the three groups did result in significant age differences between groups, with the passive control group being significantly older than the GTA ( t (51) = −2.10, p  = 0.041) and the Sims group ( t (50) = −2.38, p  = 0.021), we also controlled for age.

The participants in the violent video game group played on average 35 h and the non-violent video game group 32 h spread out across the 8 weeks interval (with no significant group difference p  = 0.48).

To test whether participants assigned to the violent GTA game show emotional, cognitive and behavioural changes, we present the results of repeated-measure ANOVA time x group interaction analyses separately for GTA vs. Sims and GTA vs. Controls (Tables  1 – 3 ). Moreover, we split the analyses according to the time domain into effects from baseline assessment to posttest 1 (Table  2 ) and effects from baseline assessment to posttest 2 (Table  3 ) to capture more long-lasting or evolving effects. In addition to the statistical test values, we report partial omega squared ( ω 2 ) as an effect size measure. Next to the classical frequentist statistics, we report the results of a Bayesian statistical approach, namely BF 01 , the likelihood with which the data is to occur under the null hypothesis that there is no significant time × group interaction. In Table  2 , we report the presence of significant group differences at baseline in the right most column.

Since we conducted 208 separate frequentist tests we expected 10.4 significant effects simply by chance when setting the alpha value to 0.05. In fact we found only eight significant time × group interactions (these are marked with an asterisk in Tables  2 and 3 ).

When applying a conservative Bonferroni correction, none of those tests survive the corrected threshold of p  < 0.00024. Neither does any test survive the more lenient FDR correction. The arithmetic mean of the frequentist test statistics likewise shows that on average no significant effect was found (bottom rows in Tables  2 and 3 ).

In line with the findings from a frequentist approach, the harmonic mean of the Bayesian factor BF 01 is consistently above one but not very far from one. This likewise suggests that there is very likely no interaction between group × time and therewith no detrimental effects of the violent video game GTA in the domains tested. The evidence in favour of the null hypothesis based on the Bayes factor is not massive, but clearly above 1. Some of the harmonic means are above 1.6 and constitute substantial evidence [ 48 ]. However, the harmonic mean has been criticised as unstable. Owing to the fact that the sum is dominated by occasional small terms in the likelihood, one may underestimate the actual evidence in favour of the null hypothesis [ 49 ].

To test the sensitivity of the present study to detect relevant effects we computed the effect size that we would have been able to detect. The information we used consisted of alpha error probability = 0.05, power = 0.95, our sample size, number of groups and of measurement occasions and correlation between the repeated measures at posttest 1 and posttest 2 (average r  = 0.68). According to G*Power [ 50 ], we could detect small effect sizes of f  = 0.16 (equals η 2  = 0.025 and r  = 0.16) in each separate test. When accounting for the conservative Bonferroni-corrected p -value of 0.00024, still a medium effect size of f  = 0.23 (equals η 2  = 0.05 and r  = 0.22) would have been detectable. A meta-analysis by Anderson [ 2 ] reported an average effects size of r  = 0.18 for experimental studies testing for aggressive behaviour and another by Greitmeyer [ 5 ] reported average effect sizes of r  = 0.19, 0.25 and 0.17 for effects of violent games on aggressive behaviour, cognition and affect, all of which should have been detectable at least before multiple test correction.

Within the scope of the present study we tested the potential effects of playing the violent video game GTA V for 2 months against an active control group that played the non-violent, rather pro-social life simulation game The Sims 3 and a passive control group. Participants were tested before and after the long-term intervention and at a follow-up appointment 2 months later. Although we used a comprehensive test battery consisting of questionnaires and computerised behavioural tests assessing aggression, impulsivity-related constructs, mood, anxiety, empathy, interpersonal competencies and executive control functions, we did not find relevant negative effects in response to violent video game playing. In fact, only three tests of the 208 statistical tests performed showed a significant interaction pattern that would be in line with this hypothesis. Since at least ten significant effects would be expected purely by chance, we conclude that there were no detrimental effects of violent video gameplay.

This finding stands in contrast to some experimental studies, in which short-term effects of violent video game exposure have been investigated and where increases in aggressive thoughts and affect as well as decreases in helping behaviour have been observed [ 1 ]. However, these effects of violent video gaming on aggressiveness—if present at all (see above)—seem to be rather short-lived, potentially lasting <15 min [ 8 , 51 ]. In addition, these short-term effects of video gaming are far from consistent as multiple studies fail to demonstrate or replicate them [ 16 , 17 ]. This may in part be due to problems, that are very prominent in this field of research, namely that the outcome measures of aggression and pro-social behaviour, are poorly standardised, do not easily generalise to real-life behaviour and may have lead to selective reporting of the results [ 3 ]. We tried to address these concerns by including a large set of outcome measures that were mostly inspired by previous studies demonstrating effects of short-term violent video gameplay on aggressive behaviour and thoughts, that we report exhaustively.

Since effects observed only for a few minutes after short sessions of video gaming are not representative of what society at large is actually interested in, namely how habitual violent video gameplay affects behaviour on a more long-term basis, studies employing longer training intervals are highly relevant. Two previous studies have employed longer training intervals. In an online study, participants with a broad age range (14–68 years) have been trained in a violent video game for 4 weeks [ 52 ]. In comparison to a passive control group no changes were observed, neither in aggression-related beliefs, nor in aggressive social interactions assessed by means of two questions. In a more recent study, participants played a previous version of GTA for 12 h spread across 3 weeks [ 53 ]. Participants were compared to a passive control group using the Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire, a questionnaire assessing impulsive or reactive aggression, attitude towards violence, and empathy. The authors only report a limited increase in pro-violent attitude. Unfortunately, this study only assessed posttest measures, which precludes the assessment of actual changes caused by the game intervention.

The present study goes beyond these studies by showing that 2 months of violent video gameplay does neither lead to any significant negative effects in a broad assessment battery administered directly after the intervention nor at a follow-up assessment 2 months after the intervention. The fact that we assessed multiple domains, not finding an effect in any of them, makes the present study the most comprehensive in the field. Our battery included self-report instruments on aggression (Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire, State Hostility scale, Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale, Moral Disengagement scale, World View Measure and Rosenzweig Picture Frustration test) as well as computer-based tests measuring aggressive behaviour such as the delay frustration task and measuring the availability of aggressive words using the word completion test and a lexical decision task. Moreover, we assessed impulse-related concepts such as sensation seeking, boredom proneness and associated behavioural measures such as the computerised Balloon analogue risk task, and delay discounting. Four scales assessing empathy and interpersonal competence scales, including the reading the mind in the eyes test revealed no effects of violent video gameplay. Neither did we find any effects on depressivity (Becks depression inventory) nor anxiety measured as a state as well as a trait. This is an important point, since several studies reported higher rates of depressivity and anxiety in populations of habitual video gamers [ 54 , 55 ]. Last but not least, our results revealed also no substantial changes in executive control tasks performance, neither in the Stop signal task, the Multi-source interference task or a Task switching task. Previous studies have shown higher performance of habitual action video gamers in executive tasks such as task switching [ 56 , 57 , 58 ] and another study suggests that training with action video games improves task performance that relates to executive functions [ 59 ], however, these associations were not confirmed by a meta-analysis in the field [ 60 ]. The absence of changes in the stop signal task fits well with previous studies that likewise revealed no difference between in habitual action video gamers and controls in terms of action inhibition [ 61 , 62 ]. Although GTA does not qualify as a classical first-person shooter as most of the previously tested action video games, it is classified as an action-adventure game and shares multiple features with those action video games previously related to increases in executive function, including the need for hand–eye coordination and fast reaction times.

Taken together, the findings of the present study show that an extensive game intervention over the course of 2 months did not reveal any specific changes in aggression, empathy, interpersonal competencies, impulsivity-related constructs, depressivity, anxiety or executive control functions; neither in comparison to an active control group that played a non-violent video game nor to a passive control group. We observed no effects when comparing a baseline and a post-training assessment, nor when focussing on more long-term effects between baseline and a follow-up interval 2 months after the participants stopped training. To our knowledge, the present study employed the most comprehensive test battery spanning a multitude of domains in which changes due to violent video games may have been expected. Therefore the present results provide strong evidence against the frequently debated negative effects of playing violent video games. This debate has mostly been informed by studies showing short-term effects of violent video games when tests were administered immediately after a short playtime of a few minutes; effects that may in large be caused by short-lived priming effects that vanish after minutes. The presented results will therefore help to communicate a more realistic scientific perspective of the real-life effects of violent video gaming. However, future research is needed to demonstrate the absence of effects of violent video gameplay in children.

Anderson CA, Bushman BJ. Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychol Sci. 2001;12:353–9.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Anderson CA, Shibuya A, Ihori N, Swing EL, Bushman BJ, Sakamoto A, et al. Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull. 2010;136:151–73.

Article   Google Scholar  

Ferguson CJ. Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015;10:646–66.

Ferguson CJ, Kilburn J. Much ado about nothing: the misestimation and overinterpretation of violent video game effects in eastern and western nations: comment on Anderson et al. (2010). Psychol Bull. 2010;136:174–8.

Greitemeyer T, Mugge DO. Video games do affect social outcomes: a meta-analytic review of the effects of violent and prosocial video game play. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2014;40:578–89.

Anderson CA, Carnagey NL, Eubanks J. Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003;84:960–71.

DeWall CN, Anderson CA, Bushman BJ. The general aggression model: theoretical extensions to violence. Psychol Violence. 2011;1:245–58.

Sestire MA, Bartholow BD. Violent and non-violent video games produce opposing effects on aggressive and prosocial outcomes. J Exp Soc Psychol. 2010;46:934–42.

Kneer J, Elson M, Knapp F. Fight fire with rainbows: The effects of displayed violence, difficulty, and performance in digital games on affect, aggression, and physiological arousal. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;54:142–8.

Kneer J, Glock S, Beskes S, Bente G. Are digital games perceived as fun or danger? Supporting and suppressing different game-related concepts. Cyber Beh Soc N. 2012;15:604–9.

Sauer JD, Drummond A, Nova N. Violent video games: the effects of narrative context and reward structure on in-game and postgame aggression. J Exp Psychol Appl. 2015;21:205–14.

Ballard M, Visser K, Jocoy K. Social context and video game play: impact on cardiovascular and affective responses. Mass Commun Soc. 2012;15:875–98.

Read GL, Ballard M, Emery LJ, Bazzini DG. Examining desensitization using facial electromyography: violent video games, gender, and affective responding. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;62:201–11.

Szycik GR, Mohammadi B, Hake M, Kneer J, Samii A, Munte TF, et al. Excessive users of violent video games do not show emotional desensitization: an fMRI study. Brain Imaging Behav. 2017;11:736–43.

Szycik GR, Mohammadi B, Munte TF, Te Wildt BT. Lack of evidence that neural empathic responses are blunted in excessive users of violent video games: an fMRI study. Front Psychol. 2017;8:174.

Tear MJ, Nielsen M. Failure to demonstrate that playing violent video games diminishes prosocial behavior. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e68382.

Tear MJ, Nielsen M. Video games and prosocial behavior: a study of the effects of non-violent, violent and ultra-violent gameplay. Comput Hum Behav. 2014;41:8–13.

Kühn S, Gleich T, Lorenz RC, Lindenberger U, Gallinat J. Playing super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game. Mol Psychiatry. 2014;19:265–71.

Buss AH, Perry M. The aggression questionnaire. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1992;63:452.

Anderson CA, Deuser WE, DeNeve KM. Hot temperatures, hostile affect, hostile cognition, and arousal: Tests of a general model of affective aggression. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 1995;21:434–48.

Payne DL, Lonsway KA, Fitzgerald LF. Rape myth acceptance: exploration of its structure and its measurement using the illinois rape myth acceptance scale. J Res Pers. 1999;33:27–68.

McMahon S, Farmer GL. An updated measure for assessing subtle rape myths. Social Work Res. 2011; 35:71–81.

Detert JR, Trevino LK, Sweitzer VL. Moral disengagement in ethical decision making: a study of antecedents and outcomes. J Appl Psychol. 2008;93:374–91.

Bandura A, Barbaranelli C, Caprara G, Pastorelli C. Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1996;71:364–74.

Rosenzweig S. The picture-association method and its application in a study of reactions to frustration. J Pers. 1945;14:23.

Hörmann H, Moog W, Der Rosenzweig P-F. Test für Erwachsene deutsche Bearbeitung. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 1957.

Anderson CA, Dill KE. Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000;78:772–90.

Przybylski AK, Deci EL, Rigby CS, Ryan RM. Competence-impeding electronic games and players’ aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2014;106:441.

Bitsakou P, Antrop I, Wiersema JR, Sonuga-Barke EJ. Probing the limits of delay intolerance: preliminary young adult data from the Delay Frustration Task (DeFT). J Neurosci Methods. 2006;151:38–44.

Hoyle RH, Stephenson MT, Palmgreen P, Lorch EP, Donohew RL. Reliability and validity of a brief measure of sensation seeking. Pers Individ Dif. 2002;32:401–14.

Farmer R, Sundberg ND. Boredom proneness: the development and correlates of a new scale. J Pers Assess. 1986;50:4–17.

Lejuez CW, Read JP, Kahler CW, Richards JB, Ramsey SE, Stuart GL, et al. Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). J Exp Psychol Appl. 2002;8:75–84.

Richards JB, Zhang L, Mitchell SH, de Wit H. Delay or probability discounting in a model of impulsive behavior: effect of alcohol. J Exp Anal Behav. 1999;71:121–43.

Davis MH. A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Cat Sel Doc Psychol. 1980;10:85.

Google Scholar  

Mehrabian A. Manual for the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES). (Available from Albert Mehrabian, 1130 Alta Mesa Road, Monterey, CA, USA 93940); 1996.

Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Hill J, Raste Y, Plumb I. The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2001;42:241–51.

Buhrmester D, Furman W, Reis H, Wittenberg MT. Five domains of interpersonal competence in peer relations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988;55:991–1008.

Richardson DR, Green LR, Lago T. The relationship between perspective-taking and non-aggressive responding in the face of an attack. J Pers. 1998;66:235–56.

Maras D, Flament MF, Murray M, Buchholz A, Henderson KA, Obeid N, et al. Screen time is associated with depression and anxiety in Canadian youth. Prev Med. 2015;73:133–8.

Hautzinger M, Bailer M, Worall H, Keller F. Beck-Depressions-Inventar (BDI). Beck-Depressions-Inventar (BDI): Testhandbuch der deutschen Ausgabe. Bern: Huber; 1995.

Spielberger CD, Spielberger CD, Sydeman SJ, Sydeman SJ, Owen AE, Owen AE, et al. Measuring anxiety and anger with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers; 1999.

Lorenz RC, Gleich T, Buchert R, Schlagenhauf F, Kuhn S, Gallinat J. Interactions between glutamate, dopamine, and the neuronal signature of response inhibition in the human striatum. Hum Brain Mapp. 2015;36:4031–40.

Bush G, Shin LM. The multi-source interference task: an fMRI task that reliably activates the cingulo-frontal-parietal cognitive/attention network. Nat Protoc. 2006;1:308–13.

King JA, Colla M, Brass M, Heuser I, von Cramon D. Inefficient cognitive control in adult ADHD: evidence from trial-by-trial Stroop test and cued task switching performance. Behav Brain Funct. 2007;3:42.

Benjamini Y, Hochberg Y. Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J R Stat Soc. 1995;57:289–300.

Wagenmakers E-J. A practical solution to the pervasive problems of p values. Psychon Bull Rev. 2007;14:779–804.

Hay DF. The gradual emergence of sex differences in aggression: alternative hypotheses. Psychol Med. 2007;37:1527–37.

Jeffreys H. The Theory of Probability. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1961.

Raftery AE, Newton MA, Satagopan YM, Krivitsky PN. Estimating the integrated likelihood via posterior simulation using the harmonic mean identity. In: Bernardo JM, Bayarri MJ, Berger JO, Dawid AP, Heckerman D, Smith AFM, et al., editors. Bayesian statistics. Oxford: University Press; 2007.

Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang A-G, Buchner A. G*Power3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods. 2007;39:175–91.

Barlett C, Branch O, Rodeheffer C, Harris R. How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggress Behav. 2009;35:225–36.

Williams D, Skoric M. Internet fantasy violence: a test of aggression in an online game. Commun Monogr. 2005;72:217–33.

Teng SK, Chong GY, Siew AS, Skoric MM. Grand theft auto IV comes to Singapore: effects of repeated exposure to violent video games on aggression. Cyber Behav Soc Netw. 2011;14:597–602.

van Rooij AJ, Kuss DJ, Griffiths MD, Shorter GW, Schoenmakers TM, Van, de Mheen D. The (co-)occurrence of problematic video gaming, substance use, and psychosocial problems in adolescents. J Behav Addict. 2014;3:157–65.

Brunborg GS, Mentzoni RA, Froyland LR. Is video gaming, or video game addiction, associated with depression, academic achievement, heavy episodic drinking, or conduct problems? J Behav Addict. 2014;3:27–32.

Green CS, Sugarman MA, Medford K, Klobusicky E, Bavelier D. The effect of action video game experience on task switching. Comput Hum Behav. 2012;28:984–94.

Strobach T, Frensch PA, Schubert T. Video game practice optimizes executive control skills in dual-task and task switching situations. Acta Psychol. 2012;140:13–24.

Colzato LS, van Leeuwen PJ, van den Wildenberg WP, Hommel B. DOOM’d to switch: superior cognitive flexibility in players of first person shooter games. Front Psychol. 2010;1:8.

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Hutchinson CV, Barrett DJK, Nitka A, Raynes K. Action video game training reduces the Simon effect. Psychon B Rev. 2016;23:587–92.

Powers KL, Brooks PJ, Aldrich NJ, Palladino MA, Alfieri L. Effects of video-game play on information processing: a meta-analytic investigation. Psychon Bull Rev. 2013;20:1055–79.

Colzato LS, van den Wildenberg WP, Zmigrod S, Hommel B. Action video gaming and cognitive control: playing first person shooter games is associated with improvement in working memory but not action inhibition. Psychol Res. 2013;77:234–9.

Steenbergen L, Sellaro R, Stock AK, Beste C, Colzato LS. Action video gaming and cognitive control: playing first person shooter games is associated with improved action cascading but not inhibition. PLoS ONE. 2015;10:e0144364.

Download references

Acknowledgements

SK has been funded by a Heisenberg grant from the German Science Foundation (DFG KU 3322/1-1, SFB 936/C7), the European Union (ERC-2016-StG-Self-Control-677804) and a Fellowship from the Jacobs Foundation (JRF 2016–2018).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Lentzeallee 94, 14195, Berlin, Germany

Simone Kühn, Katharina Schmalen, Markus Weichenberger & Charlotte Witt

Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

Simone Kühn, Dimitrij Tycho Kugler & Jürgen Gallinat

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simone Kühn .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Kühn, S., Kugler, D., Schmalen, K. et al. Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study. Mol Psychiatry 24 , 1220–1234 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0031-7

Download citation

Received : 19 August 2017

Revised : 03 January 2018

Accepted : 15 January 2018

Published : 13 March 2018

Issue Date : August 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0031-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Video Games and Their Impact on Teens’ Mental Health

• First Online: 02 March 2018

Cite this chapter

• Melissa E. DeRosier Ph.D. 3 &
• James M. Thomas Ph.D. 3  

7935 Accesses

3 Citations

The role that video games play in the lives of teenagers has grown dramatically and without pause for the past generation or two. Between computers, smart phones, and dedicated game consoles, not only are individual adolescents spending more of their days playing video games, but the percentage of teens whose daily lives include video games is quickly approaching universality. In this chapter, we first review recent trends in video gaming and explore the various and myriad video games that teens tend to play as well as their motivations to play video games. Then, we review the literature regarding the influence of playing different types of commercial video games on mental health. And last, we explore recent innovations in game development whereby video games are specifically developed to improve mental health symptoms or psychosocial adjustment, including a review of the research supporting use of these “impactful video games.” It is hoped that the information presented in this chapter will provide practitioners with greater understanding of the diversity and breadth of experiences that fall under the umbrella term “video gaming” in order to help foster more open and productive conversations with teens about their video gaming behavior. We also hope the research evidence presented in this chapter will encourage practitioners to integrate the use of video games into their treatment of teen patients, both as a means of fostering the therapeutic alliance and as an innovative accompaniment to traditional therapeutic methods to enhance teens’ mental and behavioral health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Yi M. They got game: stacks of new releases for hungry video game enthusiasts mean it’s boom time for an industry now even bigger than Hollywood. San Francisco Chronicle [Internet]; 2004 Dec [cited 2017 Apr 26]. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/THEY-GOT-GAME-Stacks-of-new-releases-for-hungry-2663371.php

Lenhart A, Kahne J, Middaugh E, MacGill A, Evans C, Vitak J. Teens, video games, and civics. Pew Research Center [Internet]; 2008 Sep [cited 2017 Apr 26]. http://www.pewinternet.org/2008/09/16/teens-video-games-and-civics/ #.

Statista: The Statistics Portal. Statistics and facts on mobile gaming [Internet]. Hamburg, Germany: Statista; [cited 2017 Apr 26]. https://www.statista.com/topics/1906/mobile-gaming/

NPD Group. Average time spent playing games on mobile devices has increased 57 percent since 2012 [Internet]; 2014 [cited] 2017 Apr 27. https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2015/average-time-spent-playing-games-on-mobile-devices-has-increased-57-percent-since-2012/

Entertainment Software Association. Essential facts about the computer and video game industry [Internet]. Washington, DC: ESA; 2015 Apr [cited 2017 Apr 27]. 20 p. http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf

Bartle R. Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: players who suit MUDS. J MUD Res [Internet]. 1996 [cited 2017 Apr 26];1(1). http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm .

Bartle RA. Designing virtual worlds. New Riders: Berkely; 2004.

Google Scholar  

Yee N. Motivations for play in online games. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2006;9(6):772–5.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Sherry JL, Lucas K, Greenberg BS, Lachlan K. Video game uses and gratifications as predictors of use and game preference. In: Bryant J, Vorderer P, editors. Playing video games: motives, responses, and consequences. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum; 2006. p. 213–24.

Boyan A, Sherry JL. The challenge in creating games for education: aligning mental models with game models. Child Dev Perspect. 2011;5(2):82–7.

Article   Google Scholar  

Csikszentmihalyi M. Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row; 1990.

Ryan RM, Rigby CS, Przybylski AK. The motivational pull of video games: a self-determination theory approach. Motiv Emot. 2006;30:347–64.

Przybylski AK, Rigby CS, Ryan RMA. motivational model of video game engagement. Rev Gen Psychol. 2010;14(2):154–66.

American Academy of Pediatrics [Internet]. Elk Grove Village, IL: AAP; 2017 [cited 2017 Apr 27]. https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx

APA Task Force on Violent Media. Technical report on the review of the violent video game literature [Internet]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2015 [cited 2017 Apr 27]. 31 p. http://www.apa.org/pi/families/review-video-games.pdf

Gee JP. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: St. Martin’s Press; 2003.

Smyth JM. Beyond self-selection in video game play: an experimental examination of the consequences of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game play. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2007;10(5):717–21.

Gallup J, Serianni B, Duff C, Gallup A. An exploration of friendships and socialization for adolescents with autism engaged in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). Educ Train Autism Dev Disabil. 2016;51(3):223–37.

Olson CK, Kutner LA, Warner DE. The role of violent video game content in adolescent development. J Adolesc Res. 2008;23(1):55–75.

Yee N. The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively multi-user online graphical environments. Presence. 2006;15(3):309–29.

Zhong Z. The effects of collective MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) play on gamers’ online and offline social capital. Comput Human Behav. 2011;27(6):2352–63.

Gentile DA, Anderson CA, Yukawa S, Ihori N, Saleem M, Ming LK, et al. The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: international evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2009;35:752–63.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Cole H, Griffiths MD. Social interactions in massively multiplayer online role-playing gamers. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2007;10(4):575–83.

Belozerov SA. Virtual worlds of MMORPG. Part II. Remedy for social and psychological ill-being. Psychology: Journal of Higher School of Economics. 2015;12(1):71–89.

LaRose R. Eastin MS, Gregg J. Reformulating the Internet paradox: social cognitive explanations of Internet use and depression. J Online Behav. 2001;1(2).

Shaw LH, Grant LM. defense of the internet: the relationship between internet communication and depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and perceived social support. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2002;5(2):157–71.

Snodgrass JG, Lacy MG, Francois Dengah HJ 2nd, Fagan J. Enhancing one life rather than living two: playing MMOs with offline friends. Comput Human Behav. 2011;27(3):1211–22.

Russoniello CV, Fish M, O’Brien K. The efficacy of casual video game play in reducing clinical depression: a randomized controlled study. Games Health J. 2013;2(6):341–6.

Russoniello CV, O’Brien K, Parks JM. The effectiveness of casual video games in improving mood and decreasing stress. J Cyber Ther Rehabil. 2009;2(1):53–66.

Fish MT, Russoniello CV, O’Brien K. The efficacy of prescribed casual videogame play in reducing symptoms of anxiety: a randomized controlled study. Games Health J. 2014;3(5):291–5.

Patel A, Schieble T, Davidson M, Tran MC, Schoenberg C, Delphin E, et al. Distraction with a hand-held video game reduces pediatric preoperative anxiety. Paediatr Anaesth. 2006;16(10):1019–27.

Colwell J. Needs met through computer game play among adolescents. Personal Individ Differ. 2007;43:2072–82.

Snodgrass JG, Lacy M, Francois Dengah HJ 2nd, Fagan J, Most D. Magical flight and monstrous stress: technologies of absorption and mental wellness in Azeroth. Cult Med Psychiatry 2011;35(1):26–62.

Holmes EA, James EL, Coode-Bate T, Deeprose C. Can playing the computer game “Tetris” reduce the build-up of flashbacks for trauma? A proposal from cognitive science. PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4153.

Holmes EA, James EL, Kilford EJ, Deeprose C. Key steps in developing a cognitive vaccine against traumatic flashbacks: visuospatial Tetris versus Verbal Pub Quiz. PLoS One. 2010;5(11):e13706.

Moisala M, Salmela V, Hietajarvi L, Carlson S, Vuontela V, Lonka K, et al. Gaming is related to enhanced working memory performance and task-related cortical activity. Brain Res. 2017;1655:204–15.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Chan PA, Rabinowitz TA. cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2006;5(16):5–16.

Barlett CP, Anderson CA, Swing EL. Video game effects—confirmed, suspected, and speculative. Simul Gaming. 2009;40(3):377–403.

Subrahmanyam K, Greenfield PM. Effect of video game practice on spatial skills in girls and boys. J Appl Dev Psychol. 1994;15(1):13–32.

Middleton KK, Hamilton T, Tsai PC, Middleton DB, Falcone JL, Hamad G. Improved nondominant hand performance on a laparoscopic virtual reality simulator after playing the Nintendo Wii. Surg Endosc. 2013;27(11):4224–31.

Li J, Theng Y, Foo S. Game-based digital interventions for depression therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014;17(8):519–27.

Merry SN, Stasiak K, Shepherd M, Frampton C, Fleming T, Lucassen MF. The effectiveness of SPARX, a computerised self help intervention for adolescents seeking help for depression: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. BMJ. 2012;344:e2598.

Carrasco AE. Acceptability of an adventure video game in the treatment of female adolescents with symptoms of depression. Res Psychother. 2016;19(1):10–8.

Sharry J, McDermott M, Condron J. ‘Relax To Win’—treating children with anxiety problems with a biofeedback video game. Eistach. 2003;2:22–6.

Knox M, Lentini J, Cummings TS, McGrady A, Whearty K, Sancrant L. Game-based biofeedback for paediatric anxiety and depression. Ment Health Fam Med. 2011;8(3):195–203.

CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Scholten H, Malmberg M, Lobel A, Engels A, Granic IA. randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of an immersive 3D video game for anxiety prevention among adolescents. PLoS One. 2016;11(1):e0147763.

Pope AT, Bogart EH. Extended attention span training system: video game neurotherapy for attention deficit disorder. Child Study Journal. 1996;26(1):39–50.

Butnik SM. Neurofeedback in adolescents and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. J Clin Psychol. 2005;61(5):621–5.

Nodell B. Game your brain to treat depression, studies suggest. News Beat: UW Health Sciences [Internet]. 03 Jan 2017 [cited 28 Apr 2017]; Research [about 3 screens]. http://hsnewsbeat.uw.edu/story/studies-suggest-gaming-your-brain-treat-depression

Anguera JA, Gunning FM, Arean PA. Improving late life depression and cognitive control through the use of therapeutic video game technology: a proof-of-concept randomized trial. Depress Anxiety. 2016 Dec [cited 28 Apr 2017]. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22588

Rabiner DL, Murray DW, Skinner AT, Malone PSA. randomized trial of two promising computer-based interventions for students with attention difficulties. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2010;38(1):131–42.

Weerdmeester J, Cima M, Granic I, Hashemian Y, Gotsis M. A feasibility study on the effectiveness of a full-body videogame intervention for decreasing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Games for Health. 2016;5(4):258–69.

Bellack AS, Dickinson D, Morris SE, Tenhula WN. The development of a computer-assisted cognitive remediation program for patients with schizophrenia. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2005;42(1):5–14.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Shrimpton B, Hurworth R. Adventures in evaluation: reviewing a CD-ROM based adventure game designed for young people recovering from psychosis. J Educ Multimed Hypermedia. 2005;14(3):273–90.

Tanaka JW, Wolf JM, Klaiman C, Koenig K, Cockburn J, Herlihy L, et al. Using computerized games to teach face recognition skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: the Let’s Face It! program. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010;51(8):944–52.

Brown ER, Craig AB, DeRosier ME. Hall of Heroes: a social skills training game to prepare students for the transition to middle school. Forthcoming: J Early Adolesc; 2017.

Corrigan PW, Druss BG, Perlick DA. The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2014;15(2):37–70.

Shandley K, Austin D, Klein B, Kyrios M. An evaluation of ‘Reach Out Central’: an online gaming program for supporting the mental health of young people. Health Educ Res. 2010;25(4):563–74.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank their three sons—Jefferson Thomas, Benjamin Thomas, and Lincoln Thomas—who provided considerable input (and fact-checking) for this chapter regarding popular commercial video games, video game genres, and video gaming experiences. Their feedback and sharing were integral in helping the authors conceptualize teens’ gameplay experiences when writing the first section of this chapter. The authors would also like to thank Mary Whatley who aided considerably in conducting a literature search and compiling the citations included in this chapter.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

3C Institute, Durham, NC, USA

Melissa E. DeRosier Ph.D. & James M. Thomas Ph.D.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melissa E. DeRosier Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Megan A. Moreno

Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Ana Radovic

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

DeRosier, M.E., Thomas, J.M. (2018). Video Games and Their Impact on Teens’ Mental Health. In: Moreno, M., Radovic, A. (eds) Technology and Adolescent Mental Health . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69638-6_17

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69638-6_17

Published : 02 March 2018

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-69637-9

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-69638-6

eBook Packages : Medicine Medicine (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The association between video gaming and psychological functioning.

• 1 Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
• 2 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany

Video gaming is an extremely popular leisure-time activity with more than two billion users worldwide ( Newzoo, 2017 ). However, the media as well as professionals have underscored the potential dangers of excessive video gaming. With the present research, we aimed to shed light on the relation between video gaming and gamers’ psychological functioning. Questionnaires on personality and psychological health as well as video gaming habits were administered to 2,734 individuals (2,377 male, 357 female, M age = 23.06, SD age = 5.91). Results revealed a medium-sized negative correlation between problematic video gaming and psychological functioning with regard to psychological symptoms, affectivity, coping, and self-esteem. Moreover, gamers’ reasons for playing and their preferred game genres were differentially related to psychological functioning with the most notable findings for distraction-motivated players as well as action game players. Future studies are needed to examine whether these psychological health risks reflect the causes or consequences of video gaming.

Introduction

Video gaming is a very popular leisure activity among adults ( Pew Research Center, 2018 ). The amount of time spent playing video games has increased steadily, from 5.1 h/week in 2011 to 6.5 h/week in 2017 ( The Nielsen Company, 2017 ). Video gaming is known to have some benefits such as improving focus, multitasking, and working memory, but it may also come with costs when it is used heavily. By spending a predominant part of the day gaming, excessive video gamers are at risk of showing lower educational and career attainment, problems with peers, and lower social skills ( Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ). On the one hand, video game use is widespread, and it may come with certain precursors as well as consequences. On the other hand, little is known about the relations between various video gaming habits and psychological functioning. This study aims to shed light on these important relations using a large sample.

A video game is defined as “a game which we play thanks to an audiovisual apparatus and which can be based on a story” ( Esposito, 2005 ). In the last few years, the amount of scientific research devoted to video game playing has increased (e.g., Ferguson, 2015 ; Calvert et al., 2017 ; Hamari and Keronen, 2017 ). Most scientific studies in this area of research have focused on the extent of video game play and its diverse correlates. While some researchers have emphasized the benefits of game playing and even suggested a therapeutic use of video games ( Primack et al., 2012 ; Granic et al., 2014 ; Colder Carras et al., 2018 ), others have been intrigued by its potential dangers ( Anderson et al., 2010 ; Müller and Wölfling, 2017 ).

Parents and professionals may be worried about their excessively playing children being “addicted.” However, problematic and potentially addictive video game use goes beyond the extent of playing (in hours per week; Skoric et al., 2009 ). It also includes such issues as craving, loss of control, and negative consequences of excessive gaming. While it is still a matter of debate whether problematic video game play should be considered a behavioral addiction , its status as a mental disorder has been clarified since the release of the DSM-5 in 2013. In the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association (2013) defined Internet Gaming Disorder with diagnostic criteria closely related to Gambling Disorder. Generally, this decision has been supported by many researchers (e.g., Petry et al., 2014 ) but has also caused controversies. Researchers have criticized the selection of diagnostic criteria and the vague definition of the Internet Gaming Disorder construct, which excludes offline games from being related to addictive use (e.g., Griffiths et al., 2016 ; Bean et al., 2017 ).

Several studies, literature reviews, and meta-analyses have focused on the correlates of problematic video gaming, usually assessed as a continuum with addiction marking the upper end of the scale (e.g., Ferguson et al., 2011 ; Kuss and Griffiths, 2012 ). The degree of addictive video game use has been found to be related to personality traits such as low self-esteem ( Ko et al., 2005 ) and low self-efficacy ( Jeong and Kim, 2011 ), anxiety, and aggression ( Mehroof and Griffiths, 2010 ), and even to clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders ( Wang et al., 2018 ). Potential consequences of video game use have been identified as well, such as a lack of real-life friends ( Kowert et al., 2014a ), stress and maladaptive coping ( Milani et al., 2018 ), lower psychosocial well-being and loneliness ( Lemmens et al., 2011 ), psychosomatic problems ( Müller et al., 2015 ; Milani et al., 2018 ), and decreased academic achievement ( Chiu et al., 2004 ; Gentile, 2009 ). Effect sizes have varied widely across studies ( Ferguson et al., 2011 ). There seem to be sex and age differences with regard to video gaming behavior: potentially problematic video gaming was found to be more likely among males than females (e.g., Greenberg et al., 2010 ; Estévez et al., 2017 ), and among younger gamers ( Rehbein et al., 2016 ).

In addition to looking at problematic video game use and its relation to psychological functioning, it is relevant to also focus on why individuals play video games. Players use video games for very different reasons ( Ryan et al., 2006 ; Yee, 2006 ) such as to distract themselves from daily hassles or because they enjoy the social relationships they have developed in the virtual world. Potentially problematic video gaming has been found to be related to various reasons for playing such as coping and escape ( Hussain and Griffiths, 2009 ; Schneider et al., 2018 ), socialization ( Laconi et al., 2017 ), and personal satisfaction ( Ng and Wiemer-Hastings, 2005 ). Coping ( Laconi et al., 2017 ), social interaction, and competition were among the main reasons for gaming among males but not among females ( Lucas and Sherry, 2004 ). Mixed results emerged concerning age differences ( Greenberg et al., 2010 ), but especially younger gamers seemed to be motivated for video gaming by social interactions ( Hilgard et al., 2013 ). However, so far it remains unclear to what extent people’s various reasons for playing video games are differentially related to their psychological functioning.

Besides investigating the links between potentially problematic video game use and psychological functioning as well as between reasons for playing video games and psychological functioning, it is relevant to also look at which game genres individuals prefer. Correlates of preferences for certain game genres (e.g., simulation, strategy, action, role-playing) are cognitive enhancement ( Dobrowolski et al., 2015 ; Bediou et al., 2018 ), but also the amount of time spent playing ( Lemmens and Hendriks, 2016 ; Rehbein et al., 2016 ) and psychopathological symptoms ( Laconi et al., 2017 ). Males were shown to prefer action and strategy games, whereas females showed a preference for games of skill ( Scharkow et al., 2015 ; Rehbein et al., 2016 ). Younger gamers seemed to prefer action games, older players more so games of skill ( Scharkow et al., 2015 ). However, it is not yet understood to what extent preferences for certain video game genres are differentially related to psychological functioning.

Typically, research has focused merely on violent video games (e.g., Anderson and Bushman, 2001 ; Elson and Ferguson, 2014 ) or one specific game within one specific game genre (frequently World of Warcraft; Graham and Gosling, 2013 ; Visser et al., 2013 ; Herodotou et al., 2014 ), thereby neglecting the variety of possible gaming habits across various game genres.

In the present study, our objective was to examine the relation between video gaming and psychological functioning in a fine-grained manner. For this purpose, we examined psychological functioning by employing various variables such as psychological symptoms, coping strategies, and social support. Likewise, we assessed video gaming in a similarly detailed way, ranging from (a) problematic video game use, (b) the reasons for playing, to (c) the preferred game genres. This strategy prevented us from making potentially invalid generalizations about video gaming in general and allowed us to examine the spectrum of gaming habits and the respective relations between such habits and a diverse set of variables representing psychological functioning.

Playing video games excessively should be appealing to individuals with poor psychological functioning because games allow people to avoid their everyday problems and instead immerse themselves in another environment ( Taquet et al., 2017 ). Moreover, video games offer people a chance to connect with other people socially despite any more or less evident psychological problems they may have ( Kowert et al., 2014b ; Mazurek et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, potentially problematic video game use may also lead to psychological problems because it reduces the amount of time and the number of opportunities gamers have to practice real-life behavior ( Gentile, 2009 ). Thus, we expected to find a negative correlation between problematic video gaming and variables representing psychological functioning such that we expected more potentially problematic video game use to be related to dysfunctional coping strategies ( Wood and Griffith, 2007 ), negative affectivity ( Mathiak et al., 2011 ), and poor school performance ( Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ). Moreover, we expected to find differential correlates of people’s reasons for playing video games and their psychological functioning: Playing for escape-oriented reasons such as distraction should go along with diverse indices of poor psychological functioning ( Király et al., 2015 ), whereas playing for gain-oriented reasons such as the storyline or the social connections in the game should be related to adequate psychological functioning ( Longman et al., 2009 ). Also, we expected to find people’s preferred game genres (e.g., strategy, action) to be differentially related to their psychological functioning ( Park et al., 2016 ). Finally, we aimed to shed light on the unique contribution of each measure of psychological functioning to the prediction of problematic video game use.

Materials and Methods

Participants 1.

A total of N = 2,891 individuals (2,421 male, 470 female) with a mean age of 23.17 years ( SD = 5.99, Range: 13–65) participated in our study. Of these participants, N = 2,734 (95%) confirmed their use of video games and were thus included in further analyses (2,377 male, 357 female, with a mean age of 23.06 years; SD = 5.91, Range: 13–65). The distribution of participants with regard to sex and age mirrors the findings of past research with males and younger individuals being more likely to play video games (e.g., Griffiths et al., 2004 ). Participants’ place of residence was Germany.

Procedure and Instruments 2

We posted links to our online questionnaire on various online forums as well as on popular online game sites. To achieve heterogeneity of the sample, no exclusion criteria other than having access to the Internet and understanding German were specified. As an incentive to participate in the study, four vouchers of 50€ were raffled.

Video Gaming

Potentially problematic video game use.

The AICA-S, the Scale for the Assessment of Internet and Computer game Addiction ( Wölfling et al., 2016 ), was used to assess participants’ gaming behavior with regard to potential problematic use. Based on the DSM criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (tolerance, craving, loss of control, emotion regulation, withdrawal, and unsuccessful attempts to cut back), this standardized self-report scale consists of 15 items usually with a five-point scale ranging from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ). The final score (Min = 0, Max = 27 points) is computed using weighted scoring (items with an item-total correlation > 0.55 in the norm sample are weighted double; Wölfling et al., 2011 ). The AICA-S score can be used to differentiate between regular (0–6.5 points) and problematic use of video games (7–13 points: abuse; 13.5–27 points: addiction). In our sample, N = 2,265 (83%) were identified as regular gamers, and N = 469 (17%) as problematic gamers. We used the AICA-S as a continuous variable for all further analyses ( M = 3.98, SD = 3.22, Range: 0–24). The instrument has been validated for different age groups in the general population and in clinical samples ( Müller et al., 2014a , 2019 , but note small sample size; Müller et al., 2014b ). Cronbach’s alpha was α = 0.70. As expected, the AICA-S score was correlated with male sex ( r = 0.17 ∗∗∗ ) and age ( r = –0.15 ∗∗∗ ). On average, participants played video games for M = 4.09 hours per weekday ( SD = 4.44, Range: 0–24), and M = 4.21 h per day at the weekend ( SD = 2.99, Range: 0–24).

Reasons for playing

Gamers indicated how often they played video games for certain reasons. They rated each of 10 reasons separately on Likert scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 4 ( very often ). The most prevalent reasons were relaxation ( M = 2.96, SD = 0.91), amusement ( M = 2.94, SD = 0.85), and because of the storyline ( M = 2.67, SD = 1.10).

Game genres

Gamers were asked how often they usually played various video game subgenres such as first-person shooter, round-based strategy, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), life simulations, and others. Ratings were made on Likert scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 4 ( very often ). Using Apperley’s (2006) classification of game genres, we categorized the subgenres into the main genres action ( M = 2.54, SD = 0.84), strategy ( M = 2.13, SD = 0.80), role-playing ( M = 2.01, SD = 0.73), and simulation ( M = 1.58, SD = 0.44). A cluster for unclassified subgenres ( M = 1.54, SD = 0.39) was added to additionally account for such subgenres as jump’n’runs and games of skill. Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for all measures (including sex and age) are presented in Supplementary Tables S1–S4 .

Psychological Functioning

Participants provided ratings of their psychological functioning on the following constructs:

General psychopathology

The SCL-K-9 ( Klaghofer and Brähler, 2001 ), a short version of the SCL-90-R ( Derogatis, 1975 ), was administered to assess participants’ subjective impairment regarding psychological symptoms (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism). The SCL-K-9 score is strongly correlated with the original score of the SCL-90-R ( r = 0.93). The 9 items were answered on 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 ( do not agree at all ) to 5 ( agree completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory (α = 0.77).

We assessed 10 coping strategies with the Brief COPE ( Carver, 1997 ; German version by Knoll et al., 2005 ), which is the shorter version of the COPE ( Carver et al., 1989 ): self-distraction, denial, substance use, venting, self-blame, behavioral disengagement, acceptance, active coping, planning, and positive reframing. The two items per subscale were administered on 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ). Intercorrelations of the two items per subscale ranged from r = 0.32, p < 0.001 for positive reframing to r = 0.78, p < 0.001 for substance use (with one exception: r = -0.05, p = 0.01 for self-distraction).

We measured general affect as a trait and affect during video gaming as a state using the German version ( Krohne et al., 1996 ) of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988 ). On a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ), participants rated the intensity of 20 adjectives. Cronbach’s alpha was α = 0.78 for general positive affect, α = 0.83 for general negative affect, α = 0.85 for positive affect while playing, and α = 0.83 for negative affect while playing.

The measure for the assessment of shyness in adults ( Asendorpf, 1997 ) consists of 5 items that were answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

We administered the German version ( Elbing, 1991 ) of the NYU Loneliness Scale ( Rubenstein and Shaver, 1982 ). The 4 items were answered on 5- to 6-point Likert-type scales. Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory (α = 0.79).

Preference for solitude

A 10-item measure of preference for solitude ( Nestler et al., 2011 ) was answered on a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 6 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

Life satisfaction

Participants answered a one-item life satisfaction measure on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ).

Self-esteem

We administered the German version ( von Collani and Herzberg, 2003 ) of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1979 ). The 10 items were answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.88).

Self-efficacy

We administered a 10-item generalized self-efficacy scale ( Schwarzer and Jerusalem, 1995 ), which was answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 4 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.86).

Social support and friends

We administered the perceived available social support subscale from the Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS; Schwarzer and Schulz, 2003 ). The 8 items were answered on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( completely ). Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (α = 0.94). Participants indicated how many offline friends and offline acquaintances they had ( r = 0.44, p < 0.001) as well as how many online friends and online acquaintances they had ( r = 0.33, p < 0.001). Due to left-skewed distributions, we logarithmized the data before aggregation.

Participants reported their grade point average. German grades are assessed on a scale that ranges from 1 ( excellent ) to 6 ( insufficient ). Thus, higher scores indicate worse grades.

Participants further reported their sex and age. Both were used as control variables in further analyses.

In a first step, we computed zero-order correlations between the video gaming variables and the measures of psychological functioning. In a second step, we computed partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age because past research has repeatedly shown that sex and age are correlated with both video gaming ( Homer et al., 2012 ; Mihara and Higuchi, 2017 ) and psychological functioning ( Kessler et al., 2007 ; Nolen-Hoeksema, 2012 ). Finally, we explored the unique contribution of each measure of psychological functioning to the prediction of potentially problematic video gaming. Therefore, we computed regressions with potentially problematic video gaming as the dependent variable and sex, age, and the measures of psychological functioning as predictors (entered simultaneously into the regression equation). By employing this procedure, we were able to determine the effect that each variable had over and above the other ones. For instance, we could identify whether general psychopathology was predictive of potentially problematic video game use when the influence of all other variables (e.g., shyness, loneliness, and others) was held constant.

Additionally, we included analyses regarding sex and age differences in the link between video gaming and psychological functioning. Since we collected a self-selected sample where different sexes and age groups were not represented equally, our findings are only preliminary, but may stimulate future research.

Potentially Problematic Video Game Use and Psychological Functioning

First, we examined whether potentially problematic video game use was related to various psychological functioning variables. As can be seen in Table 1 , the results for the zero-order correlations were similar to those for the partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age. A medium-sized positive relation to the potentially problematic use of video games emerged for the presence of psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, and hostility. Furthermore, several coping strategies were differentially associated with the potentially problematic use of video games: Self-blame and behavioral disengagement showed the strongest positive relations to potentially problematic video game use, followed by denial, acceptance, substance use, self-distraction, and venting. Planning, active coping, and, to a lesser extent, positive reframing were negatively associated with the potentially problematic use of video games. Moreover, the association with potentially problematic video game use was negative for general positive affect and positive and larger in size for general negative affect. However, potentially problematic video game use was clearly positively associated with the experience of both positive and negative affect while playing. Further, a preference for solitude, shyness, and loneliness were positively correlated with the potentially problematic use of video games. Lower self-esteem, lower life satisfaction, and, to a lesser extent, poorer perceived social support and lower self-efficacy went along with potentially problematic video game use. There was an association between fewer offline friends and acquaintances but more online connections with potentially problematic video gaming. Finally, poorer performance in school (i.e., higher grades) was related to the potentially problematic use of video games. These results suggest that potentially problematic video gaming goes along with poor psychological functioning and vice versa.

Table 1. Associations between potentially problematic video gaming and psychological functioning.

Reasons for Playing Video Games and Psychological Functioning

Second, we investigated whether players’ reasons for playing video games were differentially related to the psychological functioning variables. Table 2 presents the partial correlations, controlling for sex and age. Using video games to distract oneself from stress was clearly connected to a high level of psychological symptoms. Distraction-motivated gamers preferred coping strategies such as self-blame, behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, denial, substance use, venting, and acceptance, but they neglected active coping and planning. They showed less general positive affect and more negative affect both in general and while playing as well as more positive affect while playing. These gamers further reported low self-esteem and low life satisfaction, loneliness, a preference for solitude, shyness, a lack of self-efficacy and social support, and poor achievement in school. A similar but somewhat less extreme picture was revealed for gamers who played video games in order to have something to talk about . However, these gamers reported more online connections. Gamers who played video games to improve their real-life abilities also reported more online connections. In addition, these gamers showed higher levels of general positive affect. The strongest association with online friends and acquaintances emerged, as expected, for gamers who played because of the social relations in the virtual world. Although all reasons for playing video games were related to positive affect while playing, the strongest associations emerged for gamers who played because of the social relations , to stimulate their imagination , and for curiosity . It is interesting that, for gamers who played video games because of the storyline and for relaxation , there was a relation only to positive but not to negative affect while playing. Reasons for playing were only weakly related to sex and age (see Supplementary Table S2 ). In sum, several reasons for playing video games were differentially associated with psychological functioning.

Table 2. Associations between reasons for playing video games and psychological functioning.

Video Game Genre and Psychological Functioning

Third, we examined whether players’ preferences for different video game genres were differentially associated with the measures of psychological functioning. Table 3 shows the partial correlations in which we controlled for sex and age. There was a weak connection between general psychological symptoms and all of the video game genres we investigated except strategy. A preference for action games had the strongest association with affect while playing. Thus, action games seem to be both rewarding and a source of frustration. A preference for action games went along with poorer school performance. Gamers who preferred role-playing games scored higher on shyness and a preference for solitude and lower on self-esteem; they also reported fewer offline connections. By contrast, preferences for games of the unclassified category on average went along with a larger number of offline friends and more positive affect, both while playing and in general. Two game genres (i.e., role-playing and unclassified games) were related to the coping strategy of self-distraction. Because preferred game genre was related to participants’ sex (see Supplementary Table S3 ), we had a more detailed look at the correlations between preferred game genre and psychological functioning separately for both sexes: For males ( n = 2,377), the strongest correlation between general psychopathology and game genre emerged for action ( r = 0.08, p < 0.001), followed by role playing ( r = 0.07, p < 0.01), and unclassified ( r = 0.07, p < 0.01). For females ( n = 357), the strongest relation between general psychopathology and game genre emerged for simulation ( r = 0.17, p < 0.01). Differences were also found regarding the strength of the relation between number of friends online and the genre action: r = 0.06, p < 0.01 for males, and r = 0.27, p < 0.001 for females. Similarly, preferred game genre was related to participants’ age (see Supplementary Table S3 ). However, there were merely differences with regard to the relation of psychological functioning and game genre, when analyzed separately for different age groups (<19 years, n = 557; 19–30 years, n = 1916; >31 years, n = 261). In sum, our results speak to the idea that individuals with different levels of psychological functioning differ in their choices of game genres and vice versa.

Table 3. Associations between preferred video game genre and psychological functioning.

Predicting Potentially Problematic Video Game Use by Psychological Functioning Variables

In a final step, we entered all of the investigated psychological functioning variables as well as sex and age as predictors of the potentially problematic use of video games. By employing this procedure, we were able to determine the unique contribution of each psychological functioning variable when the influence of all other variables was held constant. As Table 4 shows, the number of online friends and acquaintances as well as positive affect while playing were most predictive of potentially problematic video game use over and above all other variables. General psychopathology, a lack of offline connections, and poor school performance were weaker but still relevant predictors of potentially problematic video game use.

Table 4. Prediction of potentially problematic video game use by psychological functioning variables.

With this study, we aimed to shed light on the association of diverse video gaming habits with gamers’ psychological functioning. Drawing on a large sample, our results revealed a medium-sized relation between potentially problematic video game use and poor psychological functioning with regard to general psychological symptoms, maladaptive coping strategies, negative affectivity, low self-esteem, and a preference for solitude as well as poor school performance. These findings are in line with those of prior work (e.g., Kuss and Griffiths, 2012 ; Milani et al., 2018 ). Also, reasons for playing video games were differentially related to psychological functioning with the most pronounced findings for escape-oriented in contrast to gain-oriented motives. Specifically, distraction-motivated gaming went along with higher symptom ratings, lower self-esteem, and more negative affectivity, whereas playing to establish social relationships in the virtual world was related to a larger number of online connections and more positive affect while playing. Furthermore, there were only weak relations between the preferred game genres and psychological functioning. The action games genre was associated with the strongest ratings of affect while playing. These results on reasons and genres may help to explain conflicting findings of former studies, because in our work we examined various reasons for playing, several game genres, and various aspects of psychological functioning simultaneously. Finally, positive affect while playing and a larger number of online friends were the strongest unique predictors of potentially problematic video game use, followed by psychological symptoms, a lack of offline connections, and poor school performance. These findings suggest that, on the one hand, independent of one’s psychological conditions, enjoying oneself during gaming (i.e., experiencing positive affect, connecting with online friends) may go along with potentially problematic use of video games. On the other hand, poor psychological functioning seems to be a unique risk factor for potentially problematic video gaming.

The presented results are generally in line with previous work that has identified a connection between video gaming and psychological health, academic problems, and social problems ( Ferguson et al., 2011 ; Müller et al., 2015 ). However, our study moved beyond prior research by providing in-depth analyses of both video gaming habits (including potentially problematic use, reasons for playing, and preferred game genre) and psychological functioning (including psychological symptoms, coping styles, affectivity, as well as variables that are related to individuals and their social environments). In addition, we identified unique predictors of potentially problematic video game use.

How can the findings on differential relations between video gaming and various indices of psychological functioning – ranging from beneficial results ( Latham et al., 2013 ) to unfavorable results ( Barlett et al., 2009 ; Möller and Krahé, 2009 ; Anderson et al., 2010 ) – be integrated? According to Kanfer and Phillips (1970) , problematic behavior (e.g., excessive video gaming) can be understood as a function of the situation (e.g., being rejected by a peer); the organism (e.g., low self-esteem); the person’s thoughts, physical reactions, and feelings (e.g., sadness, anger); and finally, the short- as well as long-term consequences of the behavior (termed SORKC model). In the short run, according to our results, playing video games may be a way to distract oneself from everyday hassles and may lead to positive affect while playing and a feeling of being connected to like-minded people, all of which are factors that have an immediate reinforcing value. In the long run, however, spending many hours per day in front of a computer screen may prevent a person from (a) developing and practicing functional coping strategies, (b) finding friends and support in the social environment, and (c) showing proper school achievement, factors that are potentially harmful to the person. Thus, differentiating between short- and long-term perspectives may help us understanding the differential correlates of intensive video gaming.

When is it appropriate to speak of video game addiction? More and more researchers have suggested a continuum between engagement ( Charlton and Danforth, 2007 ; Skoric et al., 2009 ) and pathological gaming/addiction, instead of a categorical perspective. In part, this recommendation has also been followed in the DSM-5 ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ) where Internet Gaming Disorder is classified with different degrees of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe, according to the functional impairment associated with it. The AICA-S also allows for a differential perspective on gaming behavior by providing ways to assess both the time spent playing video games and the main DSM criteria that indicate Internet Gaming Disorder. However, in our study we did not aim at making a diagnosis, but at having a closer look at potentially problematic gaming behavior and its correlates in a non-clinical sample.

In sum, it seems relevant to assess not only the extent of video game use but also the reasons behind this behavior (e.g., distraction) and the concrete rewards that come from playing (e.g., the experience of strong affect while playing action games) to fully understand the relation between video gaming and psychological functioning.

Limitations and Future Directions

With the present study, we aimed to uncover the association between video gaming and psychological functioning. Our approach was cross-sectional and warrants interpretative caution because correlations cannot determine the direction of causation. It remains unclear whether potentially problematic gaming is a factor that contributes to the development of psychological dysfunction or whether psychological dysfunction contributes to potentially problematic gaming. Also, a third factor (e.g., preexisting mental difficulties) may produce both psychological dysfunction and potentially problematic gaming. Thus, longitudinal studies that are designed to identify the causal pathway may provide a promising avenue for future research. Future studies may also answer the question whether the link between video gaming and psychological functioning is moderated by sex, age, the reasons for playing, or the preferred game genre. In addition, it is important not to forget that the present results are based on a self-selected sample in which potentially problematic video gamers were overrepresented (e.g., Festl et al., 2013 , for a representative sample). Thus, future research should replicate our findings in a representative sample. Further, we relied on self-reported data, which is a plausible method for assessing inner affairs such as people’s reasons for their behaviors, but it would be helpful to back up our findings with evidence derived from sources such as peers, caregivers, and health specialists. Our work reflects only a first approach to the topic, and future work may additionally collect in-game behavioral data from the players ( McCreery et al., 2012 ; Billieux et al., 2013 ) to objectively and more specifically investigate diverse patterns of use. Furthermore, one must not forget that the used taxonomy to classify video game genres is only one of various possible options and one should “think of each individual game as belonging to several genres at once” ( Apperley, 2006 , p. 19). Finally, some of the effects reported in our paper were rather modest in size. This is not surprising considering the complexity and multiple determinants of human behavior. In our analyses, we thoroughly controlled for the influence of sex and age and still found evidence that video gaming was differentially related to measures of psychological functioning.

The current study adds to the knowledge on gaming by uncovering the specific relations between video gaming and distinct measures of psychological functioning. Potentially problematic video gaming was found to be associated with positive affect and social relationships while playing but also with psychological symptoms, maladaptive coping strategies, negative affectivity, low self-esteem, a preference for solitude, and poor school performance. Including gamers’ reasons for playing video games and their preferred game genres helped deepen the understanding of the specific and differential associations between video gaming and psychological health. This knowledge might help developing adequate interventions that are applied prior to the occurrence of psychological impairments that may go along with potentially problematic video gaming.

Ethics Statement

In our online survey, participants were given information on voluntary participation, risks, confidentiality/anonymity, and right to withdraw. Whilst participants were not signing a separate consent form, consent was obtained by virtue of completion. We implemented agreed procedures to maintain the confidentiality of participant data.

Author Contributions

BB, BE, JH, and KM conceived and designed the study. BB, JH, and KM collected and prepared the data. JH analyzed the data. BE and JH wrote the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731/full#supplementary-material

• ^ The data were gathered as part of a larger project ( Stopfer et al., 2015 ; Braun et al., 2016 ). However, the analyses in the present article do not overlap with analyses from previous work.
• ^ Other measures were administered, but they were not relevant to the present research questions and are thus not mentioned in this paper. The data set and analysis script supporting the conclusions of this manuscript can be retrieved from https://osf.io/emrpw/?view_only=856491775efe4f99b407e258c2f2fa8d .

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 , 5th Edn. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Google Scholar

Anderson, C. A., and Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychol. Sci. 12, 353–359. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00366

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B. J., Sakamoto, A., et al. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychol. Bull. 136, 151–173. doi: 10.1037/a0018251

Apperley, T. H. (2006). Genre and game studies: toward a critical approach to video game genres. Simul. Gaming 37, 6–23. doi: 10.1177/1046878105282278

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Asendorpf, J. B. (1997). SGSE-Schüchternheits- und Geselligkeitsskalen für Erwachsene [Scales on shyness and sociality for adults ]. Berlin: Humboldt-Universität.

Barlett, C. P., Anderson, C. A., and Swing, E. L. (2009). Video game effects—Confirmed, suspected, and speculative: a review of the evidence. Simul. Gaming 40, 377–403. doi: 10.1177/1046878108327539

Bean, A. M., Nielsen, R. K. L., van Rooij, A. J., and Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Video game addiction: the push to pathologize video games. Prof. Psychol. Res. Pr. 48, 378–389. doi: 10.1037/pro0000150

Bediou, B., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., Tipton, E., Green, C. S., and Bavelier, D. (2018). Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills. Psychol. Bull. 144, 77–110. doi: 10.1037/bul0000130

Billieux, J., Van der Linden, M., Achab, S., Khazaal, Y., Paraskevopoulos, L., Zullino, D., et al. (2013). Why do you play World of Warcraft? An in-depth exploration of self-reported motivations to play online and in-game behaviours in the virtual world of Azeroth. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29, 103–109. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.021

Braun, B., Stopfer, J. M., Müller, K. W., Beutel, M. E., and Egloff, B. (2016). Personality and video gaming: comparing regular gamers, non-gamers, and gaming addicts and differentiating between game genres. Comput. Hum. Behav. 55, 406–412. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.041

Calvert, S. L., Appelbaum, M., Dodge, K. A., Graham, S., Nagayama Hall, G. C., Hamby, S., et al. (2017). The american psychological association task force assessment of violent video games: science in the service of public interest. Am. Psychol. 72, 126–143. doi: 10.1037/a0040413

Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’s too long: consider the brief cope. Int. J. Behav. Med. 4, 92–100. doi: 10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6

Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., and Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 56, 267–283. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.56.2.267

Charlton, J. P., and Danforth, I. D. (2007). Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing. Comput. Hum. Behav. 23, 1531–1548. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2005.07.002

Chiu, S. I., Lee, J. Z., and Huang, D. H. (2004). Video game addiction in children and teenagers in Taiwan. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 7, 571–581. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2004.7.571

Colder Carras, M., Van Rooij, A. J., Spruijit-Metz, D., Kvedar, J., Griffiths, M. D., Carabas, Y., et al. (2018). Commercial video games as therapy: a new research agenda to unlock the potential of a global pastime. Front. Psychiatry 8:300. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00300

Derogatis, L. R. (1975). SCL-90-R: Symptom Checklist-90-R: Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. London: NCS Pearson.

Dobrowolski, P., Hanusz, K., Sobczyk, B., Skorko, M., and Wiatrow, A. (2015). Cognitive enhancement in video game players: the role of video game genre. Comput. Hum. Behav. 44, 59–63. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.051

Elbing, E. (1991). Einsamkeit: Psychologische Konzepte, Forschungsbefunde und Treatmentansätze [Loneliness: Psychological Concepts, Research Findings, and Treatments]. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Elson, M., and Ferguson, C. J. (2014). Twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression: empirical evidence, perspectives, and a debate gone astray. Eur. Psychol. 19, 33–46. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000147

Esposito, N. (2005). “A short and simple definition of what a videogame is,” in Proceedings of the DiGRA (Digital Games Research Association) Conference: Changing Views-Worlds in Play , (British Columbia: University of Vancouver).

Estévez, A., Jáuregui, P., Sánchez-Marcos, I., López-González, H., and Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Attachment and emotion regulation in substance addictions and behavioral addictions. J. Behav. Addict. 6, 534–544. doi: 10.1556/2006.6.2017.086

Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 10, 646–666. doi: 10.1177/1745691615592234

Ferguson, C. J., Coulson, M., and Barnett, J. (2011). A meta-analysis of pathological gaming prevalence and comorbidity with mental health, academic and social problems. J. Psychiatr. Res. 45, 1573–1578. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.09.005

Festl, R., Scharkow, M., and Quandt, T. (2013). Problematic computer game use among adolescents, younger and older adults. Addiction 108, 592–599. doi: 10.1111/add.12016

Gentile, D. (2009). Pathological video-game use among youth ages 8 to 18: a national study. Psychol. Sci. 20, 594–602. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02340.x

Graham, L. T., and Gosling, S. D. (2013). Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 16, 189–193. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0090

Granic, I., Lobel, A., and Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. Am. Psychol. 69, 66–78. doi: 10.1037/a0034857

Greenberg, B. S., Sherry, J., Lachlan, K., Lucas, K., and Holmstrom, A. (2010). Orientations to video games among gender and age groups. Simul. Gaming 41, 238–259. doi: 10.1177/1046878108319930

Griffiths, M., Van Rooij, A. J., Kardefeldt-Winther, D., Starcevic, V., Király, O., Pallesen, S., et al. (2016). Working towards an international consensus on criteria for assessing internet gaming disorder: a critical commentary on Petry et al. (2014). Addiction 111, 167–175. doi: 10.1111/add.13057

Griffiths, M. D., Davies, M. N., and Chappell, D. (2004). Demographic factors and playing variables in online computer gaming. CyberPsychol. Behav. 7, 479–487. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2004.7.479

Hamari, J., and Keronen, L. (2017). Why do people play games? A meta-analysis. Int. J. Inform. Manag. 37, 125–141. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.01.006

Herodotou, C., Kambouri, M., and Winters, N. (2014). Dispelling the myth of the socio-emotionally dissatisfied gamer. Comput. Hum. Behav. 32, 23–31. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.054

Hilgard, J., Engelhardt, C. R., and Bartholow, B. D. (2013). Individual differences in motives, preferences, and pathology in video games: the gaming attitudes, motives, and experiences scales (GAMES). Front. Psychol. 4:608. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00608

Homer, B. D., Hayward, E. O., Frye, J., and Plass, J. L. (2012). Gender and player characteristics in video game play of preadolescents. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28, 1782–1789. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.04.018

Hussain, Z., and Griffiths, M. D. (2009). Excessive use of massively multi-player online role-playing games: a pilot study. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 7:563. doi: 10.1007/s11469-009-9202-8

Jeong, E. J., and Kim, D. H. (2011). Social activities, self-efficacy, game attitudes, and game addiction. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 14, 213–221. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0289

Kanfer, F. H., and Phillips, J. (1970). Learning Foundations of Behavior Therapy. New York, NY: Wiley.

Kessler, R. C., Amminger, G. P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Lee, S., and Ustun, T. B. (2007). Age of onset of mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Curr. Opin. Psychiatry 20, 359–364. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e32816ebc8c

Király, O., Urbán, R., Griffith, M. D., Ágoston, C., Nagygyörgy, K., Kökönyei, G., et al. (2015). The mediating effect of gaming motivation between psychiatric symptoms and problematic online gaming: an online survey. J. Med. Int. Res. 17:e88. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3515

Klaghofer, R., and Brähler, E. (2001). Konstruktion und teststatistische Prüfung einer Kurzform der SCL-90-R [Construction and statistical evaluation of a short version of the SCL-90-R]. Z. Klin. Psychol. Psychiatr. Psychother. 49, 115–124.

Knoll, N., Rieckmann, N., and Schwarzer, R. (2005). Coping as a mediator between personality and stress outcomes: a longitudinal study with cataract surgery patients. Eur. J. Personal. 19, 229–247. doi: 10.1002/per.546

Ko, C. H., Yen, J. Y., Chen, C. C., Chen, S. H., and Yen, C. F. (2005). Gender differences and related factors affecting online gaming addiction among Taiwanese adolescents. J. Nervous Mental Dis. 193, 273–277. doi: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000158373.85150.57

Kowert, R., Domahidi, E., Festl, R., and Quandt, T. (2014a). Social gaming, lonely life? The impact of digital game play on adolescents’ social circles. Comput. Hum. Behav. 36, 385–390. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.003

Kowert, R., Domahidi, E., and Quandt, T. (2014b). The relationship between online video game involvement and gaming-related friendships among emotionally sensitive individuals. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 17, 447–453. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2013.0656

Krohne, H. W., Egloff, B., Kohlmann, C. W., and Tausch, A. (1996). Untersuchungen mit einer deutschen version der positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) [Investigations with a German version of the PANAS]. Diagnostica 42, 139–156.

Kuss, D. J., and Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Internet gaming addiction: a systematic review of empirical research. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 10, 278–296. doi: 10.1007/s11469-011-9318-5

Laconi, S., Pirès, S., and Chabrol, H. (2017). Internet gaming disorder, motives, game genres, and psychopathology. Comput. Hum. Behav. 75, 652–659. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.012

Latham, A. J., Patston, L. L., and Tippett, L. J. (2013). The virtual brain: 30 years of video-game play and cognitive abilities. Front. Psychol. 4:629. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00629

Lemmens, J. S., and Hendriks, S. J. F. (2016). Addictive online games: examining the relationship between game genres and internet gaming disorder. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 19, 270–276. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0415

Lemmens, J. S., Valkenburg, P. M., and Peter, J. (2011). Psychosocial causes and consequences of pathological gaming. Comput. Hum. Behav. 27, 144–152. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.015

Longman, H., O’Connor, E., and Obst, P. (2009). The effect of social support derived from World of Warcraft on negative psychological symptoms. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 12, 563–566. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0001

Lucas, K., and Sherry, J. L. (2004). Sex differences in video game play: a communication-based explanation. Commun. Res. 31, 499–523. doi: 10.1177/0093650204267930

Mathiak, K. A., Klasen, M., Weber, R., Ackermann, H., Shergill, S. S., and Mathiak, K. (2011). Reward system and temporal pole contributions to affective evaluation during a first person shooter video game. BMC Neurosci. 12:66. doi: 10.1186/1471-2202-12-66

Mazurek, M. O., Engelhardt, C. R., and Clark, K. E. (2015). Video games from the perspective of adults with autism spectrum disorder. Comput. Hum. Behav. 51, 122–130. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.062

McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Schrader, P. G., and Boone, R. (2012). Defining the virtual self: personality, behavior, and the psychology of embodiment. Comput. Hum. Behav. 28, 976–983. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.019

Mehroof, M., and Griffiths, M. D. (2010). Online gaming addiction: the role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 13, 313–316. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0229

Mihara, S., and Higuchi, S. (2017). Cross-sectional and longitudinal epidemiological studies of Internet gaming disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 71, 425–444. doi: 10.1111/pcn.12532

Milani, L., La Torre, G., Fiore, M., Grumi, S., Gentile, D. A., Ferrante, M., et al. (2018). Internet gaming addiction in adolescence: risk factors and maladjustment correlates. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 16, 888–904. doi: 10.1007/s11469-017-9750-2

Möller, I., and Krahé, B. (2009). Exposure to violent video games and aggression in German adolescents: a longitudinal analysis. Aggress. Behav. 35, 75–89. doi: 10.1002/ab.20290

Müller, K. W., Beutel, M. E., Dreier, M., and Wölfling, K. (2019). A clinical evaluation of the DSM-5 criteria for internet gaming disorder and a pilot study on their applicability to further Internet-related disorders. J. Behav. Addict. 8, 16–24. doi: 10.1556/2006.7.2018.140

Müller, K. W., Beutel, M. E., and Wölfling, K. (2014a). A contribution to the clinical characterization of internet addiction in a sample of treatment seekers: validity of assessment, severity of psychopathology and type of co-morbidity. Compr. Psychiatry 55, 770–777. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.01.010

Müller, K. W., Glaesmer, H., Brähler, E., Wölfling, K., and Beutel, M. E. (2014b). Prevalence of internet addiction in the general population: results from a German population-based survey. Behav. Inform. Technol. 33, 757–766. doi: 10.1080/0144929X.2013.810778

Müller, K. W., Janikian, M., Dreier, M., Wölfling, K., Beutel, M. E., Tzavara, C., et al. (2015). Regular gaming behavior and internet gaming disorder in European adolescents: results from a cross-national representative survey of prevalence, predictors and psychopathological correlates. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 24, 565–574. doi: 10.1007/s00787-014-0611-2

Müller, K. W., and Wölfling, K. (2017). Both sides of the story: addiction is not a pastime activity: commentary on: scholars’ open debate paper on the World Health Organization ICD-11 Gaming Disorder proposal (Aarseth et al.). J. Behav. Addict. 6, 118–120. doi: 10.1556/2006.6.2017.038

Nestler, S., Back, M. D., and Egloff, B. (2011). Psychometrische Eigenschaften zweier Skalen zur Erfassung interindividueller Unterschiede in der Präferenz zum Alleinsein [Psychometric properties of two scales for the assessment of interindividual differences in preference for solitude]. Diagnostica 57, 57–67. doi: 10.1026/0012-1924/a000032

Newzoo (2017). 2017 Global Games Market Report: Trends, Insights, and Projections Toward 2020. Available at: http://progamedev.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Newzoo_Global_Games_Market_Report_2017_Light.pdf (accessed February 16, 2018).

Ng, B. D., and Wiemer-Hastings, P. (2005). Addiction to the internet and online gaming. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 8, 110–113. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.110

Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2012). Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 8, 161–187. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143109

Park, J. H., Han, D. H., Kim, B. N., Cheong, J. H., and Lee, Y. S. (2016). Correlations among social anxiety, self-esteem, impulsivity, and game genre in patients with problematic online game playing. Psychiatry Investig. 13, 297–304. doi: 10.4306/pi.2016.13.3.297

Petry, N. M., Rehbein, F., Gentile, D. A., Lemmens, J. S., Rumpf, H. J., Mossle, T., et al. (2014). An international consensus for assessing internet gaming disorder using the new DSM-5 approach. Addiction 109, 1399–1406. doi: 10.1111/add.12457

Pew Research Center (2018). 5 Facts About Americans and Video Games. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

Primack, B. A., Carroll, M. V., McNamara, M., Klem, M. L., King, B., Rich, M. O., et al. (2012). Role of video games in improving health-related outcomes: a systematic review. Am. J. Prevent. Med. 42, 630–638. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.023

Rehbein, F., Staudt, A., Hanslmaier, M., and Kliem, S. (2016). Video game playing in the general adult population of Germany: can higher gaming time of males be explained by gender specific genre preferences? Comput. Hum. Behav. 55, 729–735. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.016

Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the Self. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Rubenstein, C., and Shaver, P. R. (1982). “The experience of loneliness,” in Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research, and Therapy , eds L. A. Peplau and D. Perlman (New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience), 206–223.

Ryan, R. M., Rigby, C. S., and Przybylski, A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: a self-determination theory approach. Motiv. Emot. 30, 344–360. doi: 10.1007/s11031-006-9051-8

Scharkow, M., Festl, R., Vogelgesang, J., and Quandt, T. (2015). Beyond the “core-gamer”: genre preferences and gratifications in computer games. Comput. Hum. Behav. 44, 293–298. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.020

Schneider, L. A., King, D. L., and Delfabbro, P. H. (2018). Maladaptive coping styles in adolescents with Internet gaming disorder symptoms. Int. J. Mental Health Addict. 16, 905–916. doi: 10.1007/s11469-017-9756-9

Schwarzer, R., and Jerusalem, M. (1995). “Generalized self-efficacy scale,” in Measures in Health Psychology: A User’s Portfolio. Causal and Control Beliefs , eds J. Weinman, S. Wright, and M. Johnston (Windsor: NFER-NELSON), 35–37.

Schwarzer, R., and Schulz, U. (2003). Soziale Unterstützung bei der Krankheitsbewältigung: die Berliner Social Support Skalen (BSSS) [Social support in coping with illness: the Berlin social support scales]. Diagnostica 49, 73–82. doi: 10.1026//0012-1924.49.2.73

Skoric, M. M., Teo, L. L. C., and Neo, R. L. (2009). Children and video games: addiction, engagement, and scholastic achievement. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 12, 567–572. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0079

Stopfer, J. M., Braun, B., Müller, K. W., and Egloff, B. (2015). Narcissus plays video games. Personal. Individ. Differ. 87, 212–218. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.08.011

Taquet, P., Romo, L., Cottencin, O., Ortiz, D., and Hautekeete, M. (2017). Video game addiction: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral determinants for CBT treatment. J. Thér. Comportementale Cogn. 27, 118–128. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcc.2017.06.005

The Nielsen Company (2017). Games 360 U.S. Report. New York, NY: The Nielsen Company.

Visser, M., Antheunis, M. L., and Schouten, A. P. (2013). Online communication and social well-being: how playing World of Warcraft affects players’ social competence and loneliness. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 43, 1508–1517. doi: 10.1111/jasp.12144

von Collani, G., and Herzberg, P. Y. (2003). Eine revidierte Fassung der deutschsprachigen Skala zum Selbstwertgefühl von Rosenberg [A revised German version of Rosenberg‘s self-esteem scale]. Z. Differ. Diagn. Psychol. 24, 3–7. doi: 10.1026/0012-1924/a000032

Wang, H. R., Cho, H., and Kim, D.-J. (2018). Prevalence and correlates of comorbid depression in a nonclinical online sample with DSM-5 internet gaming disorder. J. Affect. Disord. 226, 1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.005

Watson, D., Clark, L. A., and Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 54, 1063–1070. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063

Wölfling, K., Beutel, M. E., and Müller, K. W. (2016). “OSV-S – skala zum onlinesuchtverhalten [AICA-S – Scale for the assessment of internet and computer game addiction],” in Diagnostische Verfahren in der Psychotherapie [Diagnostic Measures in Psychotherapy] , eds K. Geue, B. Strauß, and E. Brähler (Göttingen: Hogrefe), 362–366.

Wölfling, K., Müller, K. W., and Beutel, M. (2011). Reliabilität und Validität der Skala zum Computerspielverhalten [Reliability and validity of the scale for the assessment of pathological computer-gaming]. Psychother. Psychosom. Med. Psychol. 61, 216–224. doi: 10.1055/s-0030-1263145

Wood, R. T., and Griffith, M. D. (2007). A qualitative investigation of problem gambling as an escape-based coping strategy. Psychol. Psychother. 80, 107–125. doi: 10.1348/147608306X107881

Yee, N. (2006). Motivations for play in online games. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 9, 772–775. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.772

Keywords : computer games, video gaming behavior, game genres, coping, psychological health

Citation: von der Heiden JM, Braun B, Müller KW and Egloff B (2019) The Association Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning. Front. Psychol. 10:1731. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731

Received: 14 September 2018; Accepted: 11 July 2019; Published: 26 July 2019.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2019 von der Heiden, Braun, Müller and Egloff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Juliane M. von der Heiden, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

The Negative Effects of Video Games

This paper presents the social, psychological and physiological effects of video games. It focuses upon the increased usage of young adults of video games in many of its formats. In its psychological section it looks upon the brain and neural activity that is affected on the exposure of electric images, it also looks upon the causes of addiction. In its social aspect it looks upon how video games affect time management, interpersonal relations and academic performance. In its physiological aspect, it investigates its effect on eye sight, weight and other health implications.

Related Papers

Mark D Griffiths

Most reported effects of videogames - particularly in the popular press - appear to centre upon the alleged negative consequences. These have included my own research into video game addiction, increased aggressiveness, and the various medical and psychosocial effects. However, there are many references to the positive benefits of videogames in the literature. Research dating right back to the early 1980s has consistently shown that playing computer games (irrespective of genre) produces reductions in reaction times, improved hand-eye co-ordination and raises players’ self-esteem. What’s more, curiosity, fun and the nature of the challenge also appear to add to a game’s educational potential. This paper briefly overviews some of the educational benefits of videogame playing.

Research has indicated that most young people spend more time watching screen media than in any other activity apart from sleeping (Strasberg, 2004). In Ireland, a large longitudinal study of children has indicated that over half of nine-year old children are playing videogames daily, while the international adolescence literature indicates that the rate of game play is growing year on year (Gentile, 2008). There is a concern that the effects of videogame playing are larger than the effects observed with television and film viewing (Anderson, Gentile & Buckley, 2007), and that children and young people may be at a greater risk of negative effects as a consequence of exposure to violent videogames. This literature review aims to explore the role and impact of videogames in the lives of young people within a technological society, and how this impact can occur. The exposure of young people to violent videogames may be viewed within the context of risk factors for the development of aggression, and as such an understanding of the research within this area may be paramount to allow a full consideration of levels of “exposure” to such a risk. Variables that may impact on the usage and effects of violent video game use are discussed, such as developmental stages, gender, individual characteristics, culture and game structure and content. Recommendations from key research in relation to monitoring of video game usage are also discussed.

Kenneth Samia

Simone Belli

To talk about the relationship between psychology and video games is to talk almost completely about the studies of the effects video games cause to its users. Therefore, it can be said that most of the psychology matters concerning video games have focused on the effects they have on the users’ personality, health, and psychosocial aspects. This essay gives a recount of the attempts to evaluate the effects video games have on users from a psychological outlook. Thus, the problems video game studies have had due to a conservative ideology that marks the designs of today’s psychology can be observed. Since its recent incorporation as a disorder in the non-substance related addictions section within the DSM-5, until its definitive incorporation into the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), we can clearly identify a timeline of events and processes that have led to the construction of a discourse about the dangers of video games in people’s mental health.

Journal of Information & Systems Management

In this work we planned to investigate the synergy between psychology and video games and document the effects video games cause to its users. Hence the psychology issues related to video games have addressed the effect they have on the users' personality, health, and psychosocial aspects. This work will focus a recount of the attempts to evaluate the effects video games have on users from a psychological outlook. The major issues the video game studies have had due to a conservative ideology that marks the designs of today's psychology would be studied. The new inclusion as a disorder in the non-substance related addictions section within the DSM-5, until its definitive incorporation into the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), we can clearly identify a timeline of events and processes that have led to the construction of a discourse about the dangers of video games in people's mental health.

It is clear that in the right context, videogames can have a positive health benefit to a large range of different sub-groups. Videogames have been shown to help children undergoing chemo- therapy, children undergoing psychotherapy, children with particular emotional and behavioural problems (ADD, impulsivity, autism) and individuals with medical and health problems (Erb’s palsy, muscular dystrophy, burns, strokes, movement impaired). In terms of videogames being distractor tasks, it seems likely that the effects can be attributed to most commercially available videogames. As with research into the more negative effects, it may well be the case that some videogames are particularly beneficial whereas others have little or no therapeutic benefit whatsoever. What is clear from the empirical literature is that the negative consequences of videogame playing almost always involve people who are excessive users. It is probably fair to say that therapeutic benefits can be gained from moderate videogame playing.

Journal of Adolescence

Craig A Anderson

International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health

Balaji Arumugam

Background: Nowadays the teens playing outdoor games are difficult to be seen and of course, they play all these games not in reality but in a screen using video games. The biggest revolution in electronic world has put our teens more addicted towards video games which not only affect their academic performance but also have impact on their behaviour and health. The objectives of the study were to assess the pattern of video game usage among the study population; to determine the influence of video game in behaviour of the study population.Methods: The study was conducted as a cross sectional study during January and February 2018, among medical students of tertiary care hospital, Chennai. The data was collected using preformed pretested questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.Results: Out of 211 study participants, majority 168 (80%) were males. Around, 97 (45.9%) participants, liked to play during night hours and most 114 (54.1%) of them preferred adventure and racing game...

Maria Rodriguez Gamez

RELATED PAPERS

William Rupp

Organic Letters

Frank Schulz

The Future is Now: NATO Defence Strategic Communications

Zenia Duell

Frengky Anri Bali

VNU JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

To Lan Phuong

Maternal and Child Health Journal

Keila Lopez

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology IJSRST

Procedia Manufacturing

Vincent Shantha Kumar

International Journal of Engineering Development and Research

srikanth prathi

Amalia Laborde

Journal of Hepatology

Roberto Gramignoli

Proceedings of the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting

Amanda Neuber

Nursing Management

Sherry Shaffer

Acta Gymnica

Rudolf Psotta

Economic Analysis of Law Review

Bruno Salama

General and Comparative Endocrinology

Michael Wasserman

Sonia Guzmán Pina

Senada Selo Sabic

Anjali Prabhu

Journal of Xidian University

Joju Akkara

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Teens and Video Games Today

85% of u.s. teens say they play video games, and about four-in-ten do so daily. teens see both positive and negative sides of video games – from problem-solving and making friends to harassment and sleep loss, table of contents.

• Who plays video games?
• How often do teens play video games?
• What devices do teens play video games on?
• Social media use among gamers
• Teen views on how much they play video games and efforts to cut back
• Are teens social with others through video games?
• Do teens think video games positively or negatively impact their lives?
• Why do teens play video games?
• Bullying and violence in video games
• Appendix A: Detailed charts
• Acknowledgments
• Methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand teens’ use of and experiences with video games.

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, through Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey was weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and  its methodology .

There are long-standing debates about the impact of video games on youth. Some credit them for helping young people form friendships and teaching them about teamwork and problem-solving . Others say video games expose teenagers to violent content, negatively impact their sleep and can even lead to addiction.

With this in mind, Pew Research Center surveyed 1,423 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 about their own video game habits – from how often they play to the friends they’ve made and whether it gets in the way of them doing well in school or getting a good night’s sleep. 1

Key findings from the survey

• Video games as a part of daily teen life: 85% of U.S. teens report playing video games, and 41% say they play them at least once a day. Four-in-ten identify as a gamer.
• Gaming as a social experience: 72% of teens who play video games say that a reason why they play them is to spend time with others. And some have even made a friend online from playing them – 47% of teen video game players say they’ve done this.
• Helpful with problem-solving, less so for sleep: Over half of teens who play video games say it has helped their problem-solving skills, but 41% also say it has hurt their sleep.
• Bullying is a problem: 80% of all teens think harassment over video games is a problem for people their age. And 41% of those who play them say they’ve been called an offensive name when playing.
• Boys’ and girls’ experiences differ: Most teen boys and girls play video games, but larger shares of boys identify as gamers (62% vs. 17%) and play every day (61% vs. 22%). Boys who play them are also more likely to experience positive things from it, like making friends, and more troubling things like harassment.

Jump to read about: Who plays video games | Socializing over video games | Views about video games’ impact | Harassment and violence in video games      

Playing video games is widespread among teens. The vast majority of U.S. teens (85%) say they play them. Just 15% say they never do, according to the survey conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 23, 2023.

In addition to asking whether teens play video games, we also wanted to learn whether they consider themselves gamers. Overall, four-in-ten U.S. teens think of themselves as gamers. Just under half of teens (45%) play video games but do not think of themselves as gamers.

Nearly all boys (97%) say they play video games, compared with about three-quarters of teen girls. There is a substantial gap by gender in whether teens identify as gamers: 62% of teen boys do, compared with 17% of girls. 2

By gender and age

Younger teen girls are more likely than older girls to say they play video games: 81% of girls ages 13 to 14 compared with 67% of those ages 15 to 17. But among boys, nearly all play video games regardless of age. 

Similar shares of teens play video games across different racial and ethnic groups and among those who live in households with different annual incomes. Go to Appendix A for more detail on which teens play video games and which teens identify as gamers.

We also asked teens how often they play video games. About four-in-ten U.S. teens say they play video games daily, including 23% who do so several times a day.

Another 22% say they play several times a week, while 21% play them about once a week or less.

Teen boys are far more likely than girls to say they play video games daily (61% vs. 22%). They are also much more likely to say they play them several times a day (36% vs. 11%).

By whether someone identifies as a gamer

About seven-in-ten teens who identify as gamers (71%) say they play video games daily. This drops to 30% among those who play them but aren’t gamers.

By household income

Roughly half of teens living in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 (53%) say they play video games at least daily. This is higher than those in households with an annual income of $30,000 to $74,999 (42%) and $75,000 or more (39%).

Go to Appendix A to see more details about who plays video games and identifies as a gamer by gender, age, race and ethnicity, and household income.

Most teens play video games on a gaming console or a smartphone. When asked about five devices, most teens report playing video games on a gaming console (73%), such as PlayStation, Switch or Xbox. And 70% do so on a smartphone. Fewer – though still sizable shares – play them on each of the following:

• 49% say they play them on a desktop or laptop computer
• 33% do so on a tablet  
• 24% play them on a virtual reality (VR) headset such as Oculus, Meta Quest or PlayStation VR

Many teens play video games on multiple devices. About a quarter of teens (27%) do so on at least four of the five devices asked about, and about half (49%) play on two or three of them. Just 8% play video games on one device.

Teen boys are more likely than girls to play video games on four of the five devices asked about – all expect tablets. For instance, roughly nine-in-ten teen boys say they ever play video games on a gaming console, compared with 57% of girls. Equal shares of teen boys and girls play them on tablets.  

Teens who consider themselves gamers are more likely than those who play video games but aren’t gamers to play on a gaming console (95% vs. 78%), desktop or laptop computer (72% vs. 45%) or a virtual reality (VR) headset (39% vs. 19%). Similar shares of both groups play them on smartphones and tablets.

One way that teens engage with others about video games is through online platforms. And our survey findings show that teen gamers stand out for their use of two online platforms that are known for their gaming communities – Discord and Twitch :

• 44% of teen gamers say they use Discord, far higher than video game players who don’t identify as gamers or those who use the platform but do not play video games at all. About three-in-ten teens overall (28%) use Discord.
• 30% of teens gamers say they use Twitch. About one-in-ten other teens or fewer say the same; 17% of teens overall use the platform.

Previous Center research shows that U.S. teens use online platforms at high rates .

Teens largely say they spend the right amount of time playing video games. When asked about how much time they spend playing them, the largest share of teens (58%) say they spend the right amount of time. Far fewer feel they spend too much (14%) or too little (13%) time playing them.

Teen boys are more likely than girls to say they spend too much time playing video games (22% vs. 6%).

By race and ethnicity

Black (17%) and Hispanic (18%) teens are about twice as likely than White teens (8%) to say they spend too little time playing video games. 3

A quarter of teens who consider themselves gamers say they spend too much time playing video games, compared with 9% of those who play video games but don’t identify as gamers. Teen gamers are also less likely to think they spend too little time playing them (19% vs. 10%).

Fewer than half of teens have reduced how much they play video games. About four-in-ten (38%) say they have ever chosen to cut back on the amount of time they spend playing them. A majority (61%) report that they have not cut back at all.

This share is on par with findings about whether teenagers have cut back with their screen time – on social media or their smartphone.

Although boys are more likely to say they play video games too much, boys and girls are on par for whether they have ever cut back. About four-in-ten teen boys (39%) and girls (38%) say that they have ever cut back.

And gamers are as likely to say they have cut back as those who play video games but don’t identify as gamers (39% and 41%).

A main goal of our survey was to ask teens about their own experiences playing video games. For this section of the report, we focus on teens who say they play video games.

Socializing with others is a key part of the video game experience. Most teens who play video games do so with others, and some have developed friendships through them.

About nine-in-ten teen video game players (89%) say they play them with other people, in person or online. Far fewer (11%) play them only on their own.

Additionally, about half (47%) report that they have ever made a friend online because of a video game they both play. This equals 40% of all U.S. teens who have made a friend online because of a video game.

These experiences vary by:  

• Gender: Most teen boy and girl video game players play them with others, though it’s more common among boys (94% vs. 82%). Boys who play video games are much more likely to say they have made a friend online because of a video game (56% vs. 35%).
• Race and ethnicity: Black (55%) and Hispanic (53%) teen video game players are more likely than White teen video game players (43%) to say they have made a friend online because of them.
• Whether someone identifies as a gamer: Nearly all teen gamers report playing video games with others (98%). Fewer – though still most – of those who play video games but aren’t gamers (81%) also play them with others. And about seven-in-ten (68%) say they have made a friend online because of a video game, compared with 29% of those who play them but don’t identify as gamers.

Teens who play video games are particularly likely to say video games help their problem-solving skills. More than half of teens who play video games (56%) say this.

Additionally, more think that video games help, rather than hurt, three other parts of their lives that the survey asked about. Among teens who play video games:

• Roughly half (47%) say it has helped their friendships
• 41% say it has helped how they work with others
• 32% say it has helped their mental health

No more than 7% say playing video games has hurt any of these.

More teens who play video games say it hurts, rather than helps, their sleep. Among these teens, 41% say it has hurt how much sleep they get, while just 5% say it helps. And small shares say playing video games has impacted how well they do in school in either a positive or a negative way.

Still, many teens who play video games think playing them doesn’t have much an impact in any of these areas. For instance, at least six-in-ten teens who play video games say it has neither a positive nor a negative impact on their mental health (60%) or their school performance (72%). Fewer (41%) say this of their problem-solving skills.

Teen boys who play video games are more likely than girls to think playing them has helped their problem-solving skills, friendships and ability to work with others. For instance, 55% of teen boys who play video games say this has helped their friendships, compared with 35% of teen girls.

As for ways that it may hurt their lives, boys who play them are more likely than girls to say that it has hurt the amount of sleep they get (45% vs. 37%) and how well they do in school (21% vs. 11%). 

Teens who consider themselves gamers are more likely than those who aren’t gamers but play video games to say video games have helped their friendships (60% vs. 35%), ability to work with others (52% vs. 32%), problem-solving skills (66% vs. 47%) and mental health (41% vs. 24%).

Gamers, though, are somewhat more likely to say playing them hurt their sleep (48% vs. 36%) and how well they do in school (20% vs. 14%).

By whether teens play too much, too little or the right amount

Teens who report playing video games too much stand out for thinking video games have hurt their sleep and school performance. Two-thirds of these teens say it has hurt the amount of sleep they get, and 39% say it hurt their schoolwork. Far fewer of those who say they play the right amount (38%) or too little (32%) say it has hurt their sleep, or say it hurt their schoolwork (12% and 16%).

Teens who play video games say they largely do so to be entertained. And many also play them to be social with and interact with others. Teens who play video games were asked about four reasons why they play video games. Among those who play video games:

• Nearly all say fun or entertainment is a major or minor reason why they play video games – with a large majority (87%) saying it’s a major reason.
• Roughly three-quarters say spending time with others is a reason, and two-thirds say this of competing with others. Roughly three-in-ten say each is a major reason.
• Fewer – 50% – see learning something as a reason, with just 13% saying it’s a major reason.

While entertainment is by far the most common reason given by teens who play video games, differences emerge across groups in why they play video games.

Teens who identify as gamers are particularly likely to say each is major reason, especially when it comes to competing against others. About four-in-ten gamers (43%) say this is a major reason, compared with 13% of those who play video games but aren’t gamers.

Teen boys who play video games are more likely than girls to say competing (36% vs. 15%), spending time with others (36% vs. 27%) and entertainment (90% vs. 83%) are major reasons they play video games.

Black and Hispanic teens who play video games are more likely than White teens to say that learning new things and competing against others are major reasons they play them. For instance, 29% of Black teen video game players say learning something new is a major reason, higher than 17% of Hispanic teen video game players. Both are higher than the 7% of White teen video game players who say the same.

Teens who play video games and live in lower-income households are especially likely to say competing against others and learning new things are major reasons. For instance, four-in-ten teen video game players who live in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 say competing against others is a major reason they play. This is higher than among those in households with annual incomes of $30,000 to $74,999 (29%) and $75,000 or more (23%).

Cyberbullying can happen in many online environments, but many teens encounter this in the video game world.

Our survey finds that name-calling is a relatively common feature of video game life – especially for boys. Roughly four-in-ten teen video game players (43%) say they have been harassed or bullied while playing a video game in one of three ways: 

• 41% have been called an offensive name
• 12% have been physically threatened
• 8% have been sent unwanted sexually explicit things

Teen boys are particularly likely to say they have been called an offensive name. About half of teen boys who play video games (48%) say this has happened while playing them, compared with about a third of girls (32%). And they are somewhat more likely than girls to have been physically threatened (15% vs. 9%).

Teen gamers are more likely than those who play video games but aren’t gamers to say they been called and offensive name (53% vs. 30%), been physically threatened (17% vs. 8%) and sent unwanted sexually explicit things (10% vs. 6%).

Teens – regardless of whether they’ve had these experiences – think bullying is a problem in gaming. Eight-in-ten U.S. teens say that when it comes to video games, harassment and bullying is a problem for people their age. This includes 29% who say it is a major problem.

It’s common for teens to think harassment while playing video games is a problem, but girls are somewhat more likely than boys to say it’s a major problem (33% vs. 25%).

There have also been decades-long debates about how violent video games can influence youth behavior , if at all – such as by encouraging or desensitizing them to violence. We wanted to get a sense of how commonly violence shows up in the video games teens are playing.

Just over half of teens who play video games (56%) say at least some of the games they play contain violence. This includes 16% who say it’s in all or most of the games they play.

Teen boys who play video games are far more likely than girls to say that at least some of the games they play contain violence (69% vs. 37%).

About three-quarters of teen gamers (73%) say that at least some of the games they play contain violence, compared with 40% among video game players who aren’t gamers.   

• Throughout this report, “teens” refers to those ages 13 to 17. ↩
• Previous Center research of U.S. adults shows that men are more likely than women to identify as gamers – especially the youngest adults. ↩
• There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout the report. ↩

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Friendships
• Online Harassment & Bullying
• Teens & Tech
• Teens & Youth

How Teens and Parents Approach Screen Time

Teens and internet, device access fact sheet, teens and social media fact sheet, teens, social media and technology 2023, what the data says about americans’ views of artificial intelligence, most popular, report materials.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Age & Generations
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Economy & Work
• Family & Relationships
• Gender & LGBTQ
• Immigration & Migration
• International Affairs
• Internet & Technology
• Methodological Research
• News Habits & Media
• Non-U.S. Governments
• Other Topics
• Politics & Policy
• Race & Ethnicity
• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

Video games can have a positive impact on children—if designed with the right features, says new study

New research finds that digital games can contribute to the well-being of children, but game producers must design games to support positive outcomes.

Video games can contribute to and support the well-being of children if they are designed with the needs of children in mind, according to new research from UNICEF Innocenti and collaborating institutions, including New York University.

The report, the second in the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) project, establishes that digital gaming companies and game designers can and should support the well-being of children through the games they produce and demonstrates that digital play has a particularly positive impact on children’s autonomy, competence, creativity, and identity when it responds to their deep interests, needs and desires. The project was co-founded by UNICEF and the LEGO Group and is funded by the LEGO Foundation.

NYU Steinhardt Professor Jan L. Plass led one of three studies appearing in the report. To understand the effect of digital play on children’s well-being, Plass and his colleagues implemented a 10-week intervention involving digital games including Lego Builder’s Journey and Rocket League with 255 children ages 8 through 12 years old. Among their findings, US children with a greater need for belonging relayed more positive feelings toward their social and parental relationships and an improved sense of autonomy. In Chile, children reported greater autonomy and improved parental relationships. In South Africa, the digital play generally supported well-being for all children.

“Many parents are concerned about screen time for their children, and this is the first study investigating the effect of digital play on well-being for this age group in the US, Chile, and South Africa,” said Plass, founding director of the Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education (CREATE) Lab at NYU.

In addition to the experimental research led by Plass, observational research was conducted in the homes of 50 families over a 14-month period with children ages 6 through 12 in Australia, Cyprus, South Africa, and the UK. Lab-based research measured heart rate, eye tracking, facial expressions, and galvanic skin response (changes in sweat gland activity) of 69 children, ages 7 though 12, playing digital games in Australia.

The three studies found that games can support children’s senses of autonomy, competence, creativity, and identity, as well as help them regulate emotions and build relationships. But in order to support one or more of these aspects of well-being, games should consider certain features. For example, to support children’s sense of autonomy, a game could put them in control, allow them to make decisions about gameplay and encourage them to develop their own strategies to progress. Or to support creativity, a game could allow children to freely explore and solve problems or create their own characters or narratives.

“For decades, people have often assumed that playing video games is somehow bad for children, undermining their well-being. But our new study paints a far more complex picture—one in which these games can actually contribute to children’s well-being and positively support them as they grow up,” said Bo Viktor Nylund, director of UNICEF Innocenti.

Anna Rafferty, vice president of Digital Consumer Engagement, the LEGO Group, said: “This exciting research from UNICEF and leading academics shows that safe and inclusive digital play can have a profoundly positive impact on children’s lives. We’re proud to be partnering with like-minded organisations to understand how digital experiences can be designed in a way that puts children’s well-being first. These findings will empower responsible businesses to create a digital future where children are safe, nurtured and equipped to thrive.”

“The finding that digital play can enhance child well-being and meet children’s psychological needs, such as the need for connections to others, is especially important at a time when we are concerned about children’s mental health,” added Plass.

Said Nylund: “This research helps us understand not only how video games can impact the well-being of children, but also helps the producers and designers of these games understand what elements they can include to support children. We hope they will consider these findings as they design the games our children will be playing in the future.”

Also included in the RITEC project is the Joan Ganz Cooney Center; the Young & Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University; the Graduate Center, City University of New York; the University of Sheffield; and the Australian Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.

The findings will be followed later this year by the launch of a guide to assist businesses to incorporate these findings into the games they design.

Press Contact

Teen gamers say games have two positive impacts & two negative ones

There’s been much debate on whether playing video games has a positive or negative impact on kids – and now teen gamers themselves have weighed-in.

A new large-scale survey of US teens found that around 40% of them played every day – with smartphones almost as popular a gaming device as consoles – and reported a mixed impact on their life …

85% of US teens play video games

Pew Research Center surveyed 1,423 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, and found that 85% of them played video games.

Some 41% of them said that they did so daily, an almost perfect correlation with those who identified as gamers.

Unsurprisingly, there was a clear gender split here: 62% of teen boys describe themselves as gamers, while only 17% of teen girls do.

Smartphones almost as popular as games consoles

Almost as many teens play games on smartphones as on games consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. Consoles were most popular, with 73% using them, while 70% play video games on smartphones (there’s obviously a lot of overlap between the two).

Two positive impacts described by teen gamers

Teen gamers reported two main positive impacts on their lives. More than two-thirds of them describe it as a social experience, and almost half say they’ve made at least one new friend through gaming.

The majority also say that playing games has improved their problem-solving skills.

Two negative effects too

But gamers also agree that there can be negative impacts, with 41% saying that it has led to sleep deprivation.

Additionally, online bullying is common with multiplayer games, with 80% describing it as a problem, and 41% saying they have experienced it personally.

You can read the full results at Pew Research .

Photo by  Onur Binay  on  Unsplash

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Our continually updated guide on the latest and …

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!

Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear

Dell 49-inch curved monitor

Manage push notifications

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• v.331(7509); 2005 Jul 16

Video games and health

Associated data.

A lthough playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities in the world, research into its effects on players, both positive and negative, is often trivialised. Some of this research deserves to be taken seriously, not least because video game playing has implications for health. 1

One innovative application of video games in health care is their use in pain management. The degree of attention needed to play such a game can distract the player from the sensation of pain, a strategy that has been reported and evaluated among paediatric patients. One case study reported the use of a handheld video game to stop an 8 year old boy picking at his face. The child had neurodermatitis and scarring due to continual picking at his upper lip. Previous treatments had failed so the boy was given a hand held video game to keep his hands occupied. After two weeks the affected area had healed. Controlled studies using both randomised controlled trials and comparison with patient's own baseline measures show that video games can provide cognitive distraction for children during chemotherapy for cancer and treatment for sickle cell disease. 2 - 5 All these studies reported that distracted patients had less nausea and lower systolic blood pressure than controls (who were simply asked to rest) after treatment and needed fewer analgesics.

Video games have been used as a form of physiotherapy or occupational therapy in many different groups of people. Such games focus attention away from potential discomfort and, unlike more traditional therapeutic activities, they do not rely on passive movements and sometimes painful manipulation of the limbs. Video games have been used as a form of physiotherapy for arm injuries, w1 in training the movements of a 13 year old child with Erb's palsy, w2 and as a form of occupational therapy to increase hand strength. w3 Therapeutic benefits have also been reported for a variety of adult populations including wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries, 6 people with severe burns, 7 and people with muscular dystrophy. w4 Video games have also been used in comprehensive programmes to help develop social and spatial ability skills in children and adolescents with severe learning disability or other developmental problems, including autism w5 w6 ; children with multiple handicaps (for example severely limited acquisition of speech) w7 w8 ; and children with impulsive and attention deficit disorders. w9

However, there has been no long term follow-up and no robust randomised controlled trials of such interventions. Whether patients eventually tire of such games is also unclear. Furthermore, it is not known whether any distracting effect depends simply on concentrating on an interactive task or whether the content of games is also an important factor as there have been no controlled trials comparing video games with other distractors. Further research should examine factors within games such as novelty, users' preferences, and relative levels of challenge and should compare video games with other potentially distracting activities.

While playing video games has some benefits in certain clinical settings, a growing body of evidence highlighting the more negative aspects of play—particularly on children and adolescents. These include the risk of video game addiction, 8 , 9 (although the prevalence of true addiction, rather than excessive use, is very low 8 ) and increased aggressiveness. 10 There have been numerous case reports of other adverse medical and psychosocial effects. For instance, the risk of epileptic seizures while playing video games in photosensitive individuals with epilepsy is well established. 11 , 12 w10 w11 w12 Graf et al report that seizures are most likely to occur during rapid scene changes and when games include patterns of highly intense repetition and flickering. 12 Seizures and excessive or addictive play do not seem to be linked directly, however, as occasional players seem to be just as susceptible.

Other case studies have reported adverse effects of playing video games, including auditory hallucinations, w13 enuresis, w14 encopresis, w15 wrist pain, w16 neck pain, w17 elbow pain, w18 tenosynovitis, w19-w22 hand-arm vibration syndrome, w23 repetitive strain injuries, w24 peripheral neuropathy, w25 and obesity. w26-w28 Some of these adverse effects seem to be rare and many resolve when the patients no longer play the games. Furthermore, case reports and case series cannot provide firm evidence of cause and effect or rule out other confounding factors.

On balance, given that video game playing is highly prevalent among children and adolescents in industrialised countries, there is little evidence that moderate frequency of play has serious acute adverse effects from moderate play. Adverse effects, when they occur, tend to be relatively minor and temporary, resolving spontaneously with decreased frequency of play. More evidence is needed on excessive play and on defining what constitutes excess in the first place. There should also be long term studies of the course of video game addiction.

Supplementary Material

Competing interests: None declared.