The spectre of computer and video games having real-world consequences appears to be vastly overstated, according to a new study which suggests that gaming from as young as five years old has no negative impact on children - unlike watching TV programmes.
According to the study, carried out by the University of Glasgow and published in the British Medical Journal, exposure to video games had no discernible effect on children's behaviour, attention or emotional stability - despite frequent attempts by tabloids to paint computer games as a horrible influence on the nation's youth, with claimed side-effects ranging from irrational violence, desensitisation to others' violence, mood swings, attention issues and hyperactivity.
The study differentiated between passive viewing of TV content and active participation in gaming, and found that watching more than three hours or more of TV from age five predicted a slight increase in behavioural problems by age seven compared with those children who watched for an hour or less per day. Playing computer games on the same TV, however, "was not associated with conduct problems."
While extended viewing of TV programmes was seen as a predictor for conduct issues, other claimed side-effects of both TV and computer games were absent from the results: "No associations were found between either type of screen time and emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems or prosocial behaviour," the study concluded. The study also found no difference in the apparent effects of screen time between genders.
The authors of the study - Alison Parkes, Helen Sweeting, Daniel Wight, Marion Henderson - admit that correlation does not equal causation, and warn that "further work is required to establish causal mechanisms" for the behavioural changes in TV viewing, but for those who maintain that actively playing games is far healthier than passively consuming pre-packaged content the results are likely to be welcomed.
Andoid Games
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