Research Report: Electronic Gaming and Psychosocial Adjustment

Author: Andrew K Przybylski, University of Oxford

Published by: Pediatrics, August 2014

SUMMARY

Since more than 97 per cent of teenagers now play electronic games regularly, the University of Oxford's Andrew Przybylski wanted to find out how different amounts of time spent playing electronic games affected 10- to 15-year-olds both positively and negatively. According to Przybylski, current guidelines on how long children should spend playing such games are based on little evidence, particularly as the structure of different games vary considerably.

The study used data gathered from 4,899 10- to 15-year-olds from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, who were participants in the Economic and Social Research Council's UK Understanding Society Household Longitudinal Study. The 2,436 male and 2,463 female young people were asked how much time they spent playing console-based games, such as Sony PlayStation and computer-based games, for example on a PC. They also completed a questionnaire giving information which could be used to diagnose problems with behaviour, peer relationships, and other issues, as well as tendency to positive behaviour and happiness.