Can you become addicted to video games?
A new research article out today in the journal Psychological Science suggests that the answer is yes.
Nearly one in 10 children and teens who play video games showed signs of what could be considered addiction to games in a January 2007 Harris poll that the research is based upon.
The poll of 1,178 U.S. kids and teens (aged 8 to 18) found that 8.5% of those who played video games exhibited at least six of 11 addiction symptoms such as skipping household chores or homework to play games, poor performance on tests of homework because of playing, and playing games to escape problems.
Exhibiting six of 11 such symptoms can lead to being diagnosed with an addiction such as pathological gambling. The Iowa State University researchers adopted the gambling addiction criteria for its self-administered questionaire because there is no current medical diagnosis of video game addiction.
"I would hope parents pay attention to this," said David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, which helped fund the research. "Most kids play video games and enjoy them and it's just one of the things they enjoy doing. But for 1 out of 10 kids, it is a problem."
On average, the number of symptoms per person was small: boys typically exhibited more than two, while girls less than two. But more boys exhibited at least six symptoms -- 12% of all boy gamers vs. 8% of girls -- enough to be considered addicted.
Other symptoms included excessive thinking about playing games and planning the next opportunity to play, trying to play less and failing, restlessness or irritability when trying to reduce or stop playing, lying about how much they play, stealing a game or stealing money to buy a game.
Pathological gamers had been playing for more years than non-addicted gamers, spent twice as much time playing games and received poorer grades in school. They were also more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with an attention-deficit disorder and have health problems exacerbated by playing for long hours (hand and wrist pain).
Gamers who showed signs similar to addiction were also more likely to have a video game system in their bedroom. However, having a TV in the bedroom and using the Internet for homework were not found to be a differentiating factor. Type of school (private, public, parochial, home schooling) was not a factor, either.
Overall, 88% of youngsters surveyed said they played video games at least occasionally. On average, they played three or four times each week, with boys playing more often. Boys also played longer, more than 14 hours per week, while girls played more than nine hours.
In the report, its author Douglas Gentile, who is the director of research for the National Institute on Media and the Family, writes that "it yields far more questions than answers." Still, he writes, that it shows that more attention is needed to the issue, "with almost 1 out of 10 youth gamers demonstrating real-world problems because of their gaming."
Two years ago, the American Medical Association debated the issue of video game addiction and forwarded a report to the American Psychiatric Association asking it to determine whether it should be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Walsh hopes this gets the APA's attention. "This gives us an idea of the extent of the problem," he said. "We don’t know which kids are more at risk than others and we don't know how long it lasts. If we ask a year later would they all have the same patterns?"
For now, Walsh notes that the institute offers support for parents including checklists, assessments and tips at its web site (http://www.mediawise.org).
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Bah, bs. Kids miss their responsibilities because they are kids and they get carried away with palying, regardless of the toy. Why is it so many groups are afraid of video games?
