What’s The Psychological Effect of Violent

Video Games on Children?

TAGS:
ADOLESCENTSAGGRESSIONCHILDRENDECISION MAKINGHEALTH EFFECTS OF
STRESSLAWPARENTINGPOLICYSTRESSVIDEO GAMESVIOLENCE
This week, the United States Supreme Court overturned a California law banning
the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. But can a child’s behavior be
directly influenced by playing a violent video game? On balance, psychological
scientists think so.

According to Brad Bushman, a communications and psychology professor at Ohio

State University, the link between video games and aggressive behavior is clear:
“Over 130 studies have been conducted on over 130,000 participants around the
world.” Bushman says that these studies provide evidence that violent video
games can lead to “an increase in aggressive thoughts, angry feelings,
physiological arousal, including increased heart rate, and aggressive behavior.
They also decrease helping behavior and feelings of empathy for others.”

But Christopher Ferguson, a psychologist at Texas A&M University, is of the

opinion that research on media effects and aggression is inconsistent. Ferguson
points to research that suggests that playing violent video games may have some
positive effects for young adults, such as better stress management. He notes
that “this field is really in the midst of a “paradigm shift,” and we’ve been so busy
coming to new understandings about violent video games and aggression, we
haven’t explored these other areas as much as we should.”

Douglas Gentile, a developmental psychologist at Iowa State University, believes

that the psychological science on the relationship between violent video games
and behavior still holds up. “What we don’t want is for parents to come away
saying ‘Oh, so I don’t need to worry,’” says Gentile. This ruling “doesn’t negate
the science and mean that parents don’t need to be involved. The research shows
that when parents set limits on children’s media use, it is a powerful protective
factor for children.”

Video Games and Children's Physical Health

Conventional wisdom stipulates that video games are best consumed in
moderation. As most parents would argue, children should have their video game
intake—along with their overall time in front of a computer or TV screen—limited
to two hours per day or less. While debates have long raged as to whether video
games contribute anything useful to society, the general consensus basically
equates them to junk food; alright in small doses, but unhealthy beyond a certain
point. Understandably, this has proved a popular subject for essay and research
paper assignments.

Of all the arguments surrounding games, the most empirically valid are those that
call into question the health-related effects of hours spent at the joystick. After
all, concerns about the social merits of gaming amount to moral speculation at
best, whereas matters of physical health are down to a science. From the latter
angle, there are significant reasons to be concerned about the effects that video
games can have on the health of children. This sample health paper explores
research conducted on children who play too many video games.

Nintendonitis and gamers

The game-related condition informally known as Nintendonitis is typically caused

by overuse of small joysticks and described as a repetitive strain injury that
doctors have attributed as far back as 2000 to the increased prevalence of
computers in homes and schools (Macgregor). With the advent of balance boards,
foot injuries have also been known to result from gaming. A 2010 case involving
the fracture of a player's fifth metatarsal was dubbed Wii Fracture after the
namesake board.
In 2012, Finnish researchers conducted a study that sought to legitimize the
physical condition known as Nintendonitis and pinpoint possible links between
excessive gaming and musculoskeletal symptoms among adolescents. A
questionnaire on the topic was handed to 436 school children in the 12-13 and
15-16 age brackets. Pain and inconvenience levels were measured in regards to
musculoskeletal issues in the eyes, neck, shoulders, back, hands, fingers, and
wrists.

The answers were divided into categories of none, mild, and severe regarding
frequency and intensity. Of the more frequent gamers surveyed, more than 20
percent reported severe pains, both intense and inconvenient, in the neck, head,
and shoulder areas. Ultimately, the researchers found that gaming in excess of
two hours per day can heighten the risk of strain and discomfort in the utilized
areas of the body (Hakala).

Back in the late 1990s, Belgian researchers were investigating whether video-
game playing produced higher levels of physical stress than more idle forms of
screen viewing. In a 1999 study, a series of yes/no questions regarding lower-back
pain was handed to 392 Antwerp nine-year-olds, who also underwent lumbar
spine examinations. Thirty-six percent of the children surveyed claimed to have
experienced lower-back pain on at least one occasion, and most of those same
respondents had also reported playing video games for more than two hours per
day. By contrast, children who favored television over games were less likely to
experience pain in their lower backs (Gunzburg).

Other health concerns regarding video game

addiction
When played in excess, video games have also been associated with eyesight
problems. Truth be told, the elements of the eye—the cornea, iris, and pupil—are
not designed for prolonged exposure to electronic widescreens. Consequently,
long gaming sessions can lead to eyestrain and various types of nausea. If there's
a silver lining in all of this, it's the potential for video games to actually boost a
viewer's spatial capacity, both in terms of central and peripheral vision, all of
which might prove to be of benefit to sufferers of lazy eye.

In all fairness, video games can offer plenty of advantages when played in
moderation. Experienced gamers generally have faster response mechanisms,
which can come in very handy in the real world, particularly in life or death
situations. Gamers also tend to be precise at spotting details; a trait that ties in
with advanced cognition. Furthermore, gamers have often shown the capacity to
focus on multiple things at the same time; which generally comes with the
territory of handling lots of screen action.

Video game play may provide learning,

health, social benefits, review finds
February 2014, Vol 45, No. 2
Print version: page 10

Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children's
learning, health and social skills, according to a review of research in American
Psychologist.
The study comes out as debate continues among psychologists and other health
professionals regarding the effects of violent media on youth. An APA task force is
conducting a comprehensive review of research on violence in video games and
interactive media and will release its findings later this year.
"Important research has already been conducted for decades on the negative
effects of gaming, including addiction, depression and aggression, and we are
certainly not suggesting that this should be ignored," says Isabela Granic, PhD, of
Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands, lead author of the article.
"However, to understand the impact of video games on children's and
adolescents' development, a more balanced perspective is needed."

While one widely held view maintains that playing video games is intellectually
lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial
navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies
reviewed in the article. This is particularly true for shooter video games, which are
often violent, the authors found. A 2013 meta-analysis found that playing shooter
video games improved a player's capacity to think about objects in three
dimensions just as well as academic courses designed to enhance these same
skills, according to the study.
"This has critical implications for education and career development, as previous
research has established the power of spatial skills for achievement in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics," Granic says.
This enhanced thinking was not found when playing other types of video games,
such as puzzles or role-playing games.
Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the
authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such
as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school
grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013.
Children's creativity was also enhanced by playing any kind of video game,
including violent games, but not when the children used other forms of
technology, such as a computer or cell phone, other research revealed.
Simple games that are easy to access and can be played quickly, such as "Angry
Birds," can improve players' moods, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety, the
study said. "If playing video games simply makes people happier, this seems to be
a fundamental emotional benefit to consider," said Granic. The authors also
highlighted the possibility that video games are effective tools for learning
resilience in the face of failure. By learning to cope with ongoing failures in games,
the authors suggest that children build emotional resilience they can rely upon in
their everyday lives.
Another stereotype the research challenges is the socially isolated gamer. More
than 70 percent of gamers play with a friend, and millions of people worldwide
participate in massive virtual worlds through video games such as "Farmville" and
"World of Warcraft," the article noted. Multiplayer games become virtual social
communities, where decisions need to be made quickly about whom to trust or
reject and how to lead a group, the authors said. People who play video games,
even if they are violent, that encourage cooperation are more likely to be helpful
to others while gaming than those who play the same games competitively, a
2011 study found.
— Lisa Bowe