Videogames don’t cause violence in most teens, says study

Videogames don't cause violence
Videogames do not cause violence and “do not contribute to unacceptable behavior”, particularly in boys, according to a new study from Yale published in the November issue of Pediatrics.

In fact, videogames seem to do the opposite. Boys who play videogames were found to have a higher grade point average, are less likely to smoke cigarettes or pot, and are less likely to participate in underage drinking. In addition they are 5% less likely to engage in “compulsive behavior” with gaming or other activities (such as harboring an uncontrollable urge to do that thing). Which will probably come as a surprise considering how many gamers you know that probably daydream about doing nothing but going home and playing a videogame eh.

The study does note that girls with “aggressive” and/or violent tendencies did trend towards videogames in particular (probably violent ones). But the study puts emphasis on the fact that these girls already had aggressive tendencies and that videogames DID NOT contribute to this factor.


“The study suggests that, in and of itself, gaming does not appear to be dangerous to kids,” said Desai. “We found virtually no association between gaming and negative health behaviors, particularly in boys. However, a small but not insignificant portion of kids find themselves unable to control their gaming. That’s cause for concern because that inability is associated with a lot of other problem behaviors.”

“This study shows that, for the vast majority of children, video games are pretty harmless,” said Christopher J. Ferguson, an assistant professor of clinical and forensic psychology at Texas A&M, who noted that “‘problem gaming’ may be part of a constellation of unhealthy behaviors” and “if a child can’t turn off the games after a reasonable amount of time, isn’t doing homework, isn’t socializing with other kids — all of that can be signs of a problem that may need to be addressed.”

“The study suggests that, in and of itself, gaming does not appear to be dangerous to kids,” added study author Rani Desai, an associate professor of psychiatry and public health at the Yale University School of Medicine. “We found virtually no association between gaming and negative health behaviors, particularly in boys. However, a small but not insignificant proportion of kids find themselves unable to control their gaming.That’s cause for concern because that inability is associated with a lot of other problem behaviors.”

Via VG247. Image thanks to Dvice