Video games cause psychiatric illness in teens
Honolulu | There is growing agreement that some hard-core video gamers develop pathologies.
At a seminar here at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, Dr. Albert Liau of the National Institute of Education in Singapore presented data from two three-year longitudinal studies of children and adolescents in the U.S. and Singapore.
In a study of 3,034 Singaporean youths’ video gaming was measured over three years, along with rates of depression, social phobia, anxiety, impulsivity, home environment, school performance, and several other variables.
They found that the prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to other studies that have found about 9% of regular video gamers develop problems.
Lower social competence and impulsivity appeared to put the gamers at risk of becoming pathological gamers. Depression, anxiety, social phobias, and school performance were worse among regular gamers who scored five out of ten in a survey of gaming use.
In a companion study of 1,422 American teenage gamers who regularly playing violent games up to five hours a day, greater exposure to violent video games predicted later aggressive behavior.
Dr. Erik Messias, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences, who chaired the seminar, said he wasn’t sure the issue is settled but warned, “the issue is not going away.”
He said psychiatrists need to play an active role to determine what the effect of excessive gaming is, but added, “I’m not proposing it is an addiction.”
Dr. Liau noted that the new DSM-5 will not list pathological video gaming as a disorder, as it is expected to do with pathological gambling, but pathological video gaming will be mentioned in the appendix.
At a seminar here at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, Dr. Albert Liau of the National Institute of Education in Singapore presented data from two three-year longitudinal studies of children and adolescents in the U.S. and Singapore.
In a study of 3,034 Singaporean youths’ video gaming was measured over three years, along with rates of depression, social phobia, anxiety, impulsivity, home environment, school performance, and several other variables.
They found that the prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to other studies that have found about 9% of regular video gamers develop problems.
Lower social competence and impulsivity appeared to put the gamers at risk of becoming pathological gamers. Depression, anxiety, social phobias, and school performance were worse among regular gamers who scored five out of ten in a survey of gaming use.
In a companion study of 1,422 American teenage gamers who regularly playing violent games up to five hours a day, greater exposure to violent video games predicted later aggressive behavior.
Dr. Erik Messias, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences, who chaired the seminar, said he wasn’t sure the issue is settled but warned, “the issue is not going away.”
He said psychiatrists need to play an active role to determine what the effect of excessive gaming is, but added, “I’m not proposing it is an addiction.”
Dr. Liau noted that the new DSM-5 will not list pathological video gaming as a disorder, as it is expected to do with pathological gambling, but pathological video gaming will be mentioned in the appendix.
Video games & Internet Disrupt Sleep - TV Doesn't
In another, unrelated study the effects on evening activities were
studied.
The study found that only 10 % of teens were getting the suggested 9 hours of sleep a night. Video gamers and internet users were averaging 7 hours a night.
TV show much less interference with children's sleep patterns.
Therefore TV before bed seems to be the lesser of evils for children and teens.
studied.
The study found that only 10 % of teens were getting the suggested 9 hours of sleep a night. Video gamers and internet users were averaging 7 hours a night.
TV show much less interference with children's sleep patterns.
Therefore TV before bed seems to be the lesser of evils for children and teens.
Video and computer addiction
More details on this can be seen on my web page Internet Addiction