Video Game Addiction Linked to Health Problems, Aggression

Recent studies show that video game addiction has been linked to several adverse effects among children, including obesity, Vitamin D deficiency, lack of bone-building exercise, attention deficit disorders, poor sleep, and aggression.

Studies from researchers Craig Anderson and Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University have shown that one in ten youth between the ages of 8 and 18 are addicted to video games (addiction being defined as playing for 24 hours or more per week, which results in functional damage such as increased health problems, attention deficit disorders, poor grades, and aggression). Children addicted to video games were also twice as likely to have ADD or ADHD.

Although some researchers suggest that video games decrease aggression by satisfying basic urges, many researchers such as Anderson and Gentile strongly disagree, having shown a correlation between the violence rating of the game and aggression, lack of forgiveness, and desensitization towards aggression exhibited by the child.

Surprisingly, the blood and gore were not really the problem, as violence was demonstrated to cause aggression according to the level of intentional harm done to characters in the game by the player, even if format was cartoonlike with happy music.

In 2008, Swedish researchers found that after playing violent video games, heart rate was increased during sleep, even though the youth in the study were not aware of sleeping poorly. In 2009, however, a study from the University of Arkansas showed that children who play video games for 7 hours or more a week showed increased sleepiness.

In 2009, Brigham Young University researchers found a correlation between video game playing and reduced quality of social relationships, as well as several other negative behaviors such as drug abuse and low self-esteem in female players.

There are some positive sides to playing video games, though, as long as play is limited: Researchers from Rochester University in 2009 showed that video games help develop better contrast vision, and scientists from the University of Michigan found that games that promote positive behavior instead of violence produced helpfulness in children.
 

Tags: children, videogame addiction