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Jaden Maldonado

Instructor McCann

English 1301. 231

8 March 2024

The Effects of Video Games on Teenager Mental Health

Introduction

Video games are becoming more normalized in the modern world as a result of the

advancements in technology and how common they have become in the household. The mental

health benefits of video games have increased exponentially. However, people have become

addicted to video games and deal with the negative aspects of them. “According to the World

Health Organization (WHO), the global prevalence of gaming disorder is estimated to be

between 1% and 3% among the general population” (Crucianu et al, 3). Video games are seen as

something positive to researchers to improve teenage mental health; however, opposing studies

suggest that video games are more of a detriment to their mental health status.

Positive Effects

To begin with, video games can be just as productive in improving teenage mental health

as therapy is. In “Video Games Addiction Among Adolescents” authors Crucianu et al state,

“Gaming was found to have attentional benefits (like bottom-up and top-down attention, selective

and peripheral visual attention, attentional and sensorimotor areas integration) and can be beneficial

for creativity, logic and problem-solving tasks” (Jin et al. and Palaus et al in Crucianu et al. 36).

Video games have been improved to the point where many require brainstorming, critical

thinking, and unhesitant decision making. These requirements can improve mental health aspects

such as attention, cognitive development, and can help with stress relief. According to authors

Crucianu et al, “Some studies determined beneficial outcomes on the brain structure using the
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MRI method, showing that the grey matter, functional connectivity and activity of the brain

changed” (36). Gray matter is a substance in the brain that helps individuals control movements,

memory, and emotions. An increase of gray matter can improve an individual’s ability to be able

to regulate a clear mind.

Furthermore, certain video games have more positive benefits for teenage mental health

than others. These video games are AVGs or active video games, which are video games that

force users to move while playing them. AVGs is a topic that has not been researched enough

even though the boosts in mental health are exponential. According to authors Santos et al, AVGs

had pivotal improvement in self-esteem, socialization, well-being, and self-efficacy (7-8). AVGs

had no sight of negative effects when it came to the effects it had on adolescent mental wellness

and instead high quality of evidence was found of the improvement they caused. (Santos et al. 7)

However, more studies need to be made to find how far AVGs can improve adolescent mental

well-being.

In addition to AVGs, video games in classroom settings with the focus of the video game

being on mental health can further highlight the beneficial uses of them. Authors Bada et al state,

“The digital game works by allowing students to play games which have mental health lessons

inside of them” (1). The use of videogames in the classroom setting can make students focus

more on the lessons that are being taught, causing students’ attention span to increase

exponentially. However, they have even more benefits that are rarely talked about. For example,

authors Bada et al mention that game-based learning can help improve motivation and help

students with attention disorders (282). Learning about mental health and how important it is

from a videogame increases how much longer the information is retained in the brain.

Negative Effects
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On the contrary, video games have been known to have negative effects on teenage

mental health. Although there are a lot of studies that show the positive effects of video games on

the mental health of teenagers as a decrease of depression, some studies show that an increase of

depression actually is found from playing video games. As such, studies such as Chamarro et al.

stated “Due to the inconclusive evidence regarding the factors associated with suicidal behavior,

the present study aimed to overcome the limitations of previous research and explored the

relationship between adolescent stress, problematic internet use (PIU), gaming disorder (GD),

and emotional regulation (ER) in a cross-section design” (1). GD is something that needs to be

taken with extreme caution because of what it leads too. To illustrate this, authors Chamarro et al

state, “The present study strengthens the evidence that perceived stress could become a risk

factor for suicide among adolescents, especially among those with poor ER and GD” (8). With

the results gathered from Chamarro, there is proven evidence that GD is linked to increasing

stress, which can lead to suicidal risk.

Additionally, mental health is the most research topic under the genre of video game

effects. Video games consumers are mostly adolescents, children and teenagers who play video

games are affected mentally and it decides how a person behaves. Researchers such as Garcia-

Gil et al have gone in depth into how the mind is affected from video games, as stated by Garcia-

Gil “The results show that (a) males present more problematic video game use, (b) prosocial

behavior negatively correlates with problematic video game use, and (c) mental health issues and

problematic video game use correlate in a negative way” (1). Video games play a major role and

affect how an adolescent behaves. For instance, authors Garcia-Gil et al state, “The contingency

tables also showed that 14% of the students felt the need to spend longer periods of time playing

video games in order to feel satisfied and 79.2% of the students recognized that they do not
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notice time going by when they play video games” (6). This shows that video games can take

over someone’s life and hurt them more.

Moreover, video games have been linked to a multitude of diseases that can destroy

adolescents’ lives at such an early age. According to authors Alrahili et al, “Excessive video

game playing negatively influences mental health and leads to issues including anxiety,

depression, and ADHD” (11). The more time that is spent on video games, the more likely that

teenagers will develop these mental disorders, which can have a major effect on mental wellness.

This problem is not something that is small either. For instance, authors Alrahili et al state, “54%

of the adolescents demonstrated psychological distress due to excessive video game playing”

(10). As a result, video games need to be evaluated more to truly find how dangerous they can

be.

Conclusion

In essence, video games have both positive and negative effects on adolescent’s mental

health. It has been recently discovered that the effect they have on teenage mental health is

growing extensively. Video games need to be studied more to find a balance, so teenagers do not

have to be only reap the disadvantages. Next time when looking at a video game, wonder if the

positives truly outweigh the negatives.

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Works Cited

Bada, Joseph K., et al. "Integrating Digital Games for Teenage Mental Health Education in

Classroom Teaching." International Journal of Education and Development using

Information and Communication Technology, vol. 19, no. 3, 2023, pp. 279-301.

Chamarro, Andrés, et al. "Stress and Suicide Risk among Adolescents: The Role of Problematic

Internet use, Gaming Disorder and Emotional Regulation." BMC Public Health, vol. 24,

2024, pp. 1-11. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17860-z.

Crucianu, C., V. Poroch, L. S. Burlea, O. M. Stefanescu, and A. Ciubara. “Video Game Addiction

Among Adolescents”. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and

Neuroscience, vol. 15, no. 1, Feb. 2024, pp. 34-40, doi:10.18662/brain/15.1/533.

María Ángeles García-Gil, et al. "Problematic Video Game use and Mental Health among

Spanish Adolescents." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public

Health, vol. 20, no. 1, 2023, pp. 349. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010349.

Nader, Alrahili, et al. "The Prevalence of Video Game Addiction and its Relation to Anxiety,

Depression, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children and

Adolescents in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study." Cureus, vol. 15, no. 8, 2023.

doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42957.

Santos, Isis Kelly Dos, et al. "Active Video Games for Improving Mental Health and Physical

Fitness—An Alternative for Children and Adolescents during Social Isolation: An

Overview." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18,

no. 4, 2021, pp. 1641. doi:10.3390/ijerph18041641

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