Skip to main content

Is time spent playing video games associated with mental health, cognitive and social skills in young children?

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology volume 51, pages 349–357 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Video games are one of the favourite leisure activities of children; the influence on child health is usually perceived to be negative. The present study assessed the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children mental health as well as cognitive and social skills.

Methods

Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health Europe project conducted in six European Union countries (youth ages 6–11, n = 3195). Child mental health was assessed by parents and teachers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and by children themselves with the Dominic Interactive. Child video game usage was reported by the parents. Teachers evaluated academic functioning. Multivariable logistic regressions were used.

Results

20 % of the children played video games more than 5 h per week. Factors associated with time spent playing video games included being a boy, being older, and belonging to a medium size family. Having a less educated, single, inactive, or psychologically distressed mother decreased time spent playing video games. Children living in Western European countries were significantly less likely to have high video game usage (9.66 vs 20.49 %) though this was not homogenous. Once adjusted for child age and gender, number of children, mothers age, marital status, education, employment status, psychological distress, and region, high usage was associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning (95 % CI 1.31–2.33), and 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence (95 % CI 1.44–2.47). Once controlled for high usage predictors, there were no significant associations with any child self-reported or mother- or teacher-reported mental health problems. High usage was associated with decreases in peer relationship problems [OR 0.41 (0.2–0.86) and in prosocial deficits (0.23 (0.07, 0.81)].

Conclusions

Playing video games may have positive effects on young children. Understanding the mechanisms through which video game use may stimulate children should be further investigated.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Notes

  1. http://www.sf-36.org.

Abbreviations

SDQ:

Strengths Difficulties Questionnaire

DI:

Dominic Interactive

SCHME:

School Children Mental Health Europe

References

  1. Messias E, Castro J, Saini A, Usman M, Peeples D (2011) Sadness, suicide, and their association with video game and internet overuse among teens: results from the youth risk behavior survey 2007 and 2009. Suicide Life Threat Behav 41(3):307–315

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Primack BA, Swanier B, Georgiopoulos AM, Land SR, Fine MJ (2009) Association between media use in adolescence and depression in young adulthood: a longitudinal study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 66(2):181–188

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Wenzel HG, Bakken IJ, Johansson A, Gotestam KG, Oren A (2009) Excessive computer game playing among Norwegian adults: self-reported consequences of playing and association with mental health problems. Psychol Rep 105(3 Pt 2):1237–1247

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Casiano H, Kinley DJ, Katz LY, Chartier MJ, Sareen J (2012) Media use and health outcomes in adolescents: findings from a nationally representative survey. J Can Acad Child Adolesc 21(4):296–301

    Google Scholar 

  5. Funk JB (2005) Children’s exposure to violent video games and desensitization to violence. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 14(3):387–404

  6. Tejeiro Salguero RA, Moran RM (2002) Measuring problem video game playing in adolescents. Addiction 97(12):1601–1606

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rehbein F, Kleimann M, Mossle T (2010) Prevalence and risk factors of video game dependency in adolescence: results of a German nationwide survey. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 13(3):269–277

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dorman SM (1997) Video and computer games: effect on children and implications for health education. J School Health 67(4):133–138

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ferguson CJ (2010) Blazing angels or resident evil? Can violent video games be a force for good? Rev Gen Psychol 14(2):68–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ferguson CJ (2011) Video games and youth violence: a prospective analysis in adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 40(4):377–391

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ferguson CJ (2011) The influence of television and video game use on attention and school problems: a multivariate analysis with other risk factors controlled. J Psychiatr Res 45(6):808–813

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ferguson CJ, Kilburn J (2010) Much ado about nothing: the misestimation and overinterpretation of violent video game effects in eastern and western nations: comment on Anderson et al. (2010). Psychol Bull 136(2):174–178 (discussion 82–87)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kovess V, Carta MG, Pez O, Bitfoi A, Koc C, Goelitz D et al (2015) The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) Project: design and first results. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health 11(Suppl 1 M7):113–123

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Korkeila J, Lehtinen V, Bijl R, Dalgard OS, Kovess V, Morgan A et al (2003) Establishing a set of mental health indicators for Europe. Scand J Public Health 31(6):451–459

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Goodman R (1997) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38(5):581–586

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Goodman R (2001) Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40(11):1337–1345

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Muris P, Meesters C, van den Berg F (2003) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)—further evidence for its reliability and validity in a community sample of Dutch children and adolescents. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 12(1):1–8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Becker A, Woerner W, Hasselhorn M, Banaschewski T, Rothenberger A (2004) Validation of the parent and teacher SDQ in a clinical sample. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 13(Suppl 2):II11–II16

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Marzocchi GM, Capron C, Di Pietro M, Duran Tauleria E, Duyme M, Frigerio A et al (2004) The use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Southern European countries. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 13(Suppl 2):II40–II46

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Becker A, Steinhausen HC, Baldursson G, Dalsgaard S, Lorenzo MJ, Ralston SJ et al (2006) Psychopathological screening of children with ADHD: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a pan-European study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 15(Suppl 1):I56–I62

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Goodman R, Renfrew D, Mullick M (2000) Predicting type of psychiatric disorder from Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores in child mental health clinics in London and Dhaka. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 9(2):129–134

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Valla JP, Bergeron L, Berube H, Gaudet N, St-Georges M (1994) A structured pictorial questionnaire to assess DSM-III-R-based diagnoses in children (6–11 years): development, validity, and reliability. J Abnorm Child Psychol 22(4):403–423

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Valla JP, Bergeron L, Smolla N (2000) The Dominic-R: a pictorial interview for 6- to 11-year-old children. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39(1):85–93

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kuijpers RC, Otten R, Vermulst AA, Pez O, Bitfoi A, Carta M et al (2015) Reliability, factor structure, and measurement invariance of the Dominic Interactive across European Countries: cross-country utility of a child mental health self-report. Psychol Assess. doi:10.1037/pas0000139

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Kovess-Masfety V, Pilowsky DJ, Goelitz D, Kuijpers R, Otten R, Moro MF et al (2015) Suicidal ideation and mental health disorders in young school children across Europe. J Affect Disord 177:28–35

  26. Shimai S, Masuda K, Kishimoto Y (1990) Influences of TV games on physical and psychological development of Japanese kindergarten children. Percept Mot Skills 70(3 Pt 1):771–776

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Granic I, Lobel A, Engels RC (2014) The benefits of playing video games. Am Psychol 69(1):66–78

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Ewoldsen DR, Eno CA, Okdie BM, Velez JA, Guadagno RE, DeCoster J (2012) Effect of playing violent video games cooperatively or competitively on subsequent cooperative behavior. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 15(5):277–280

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Gentile DA, Anderson CA, Yukawa S, Ihori N, Saleem M, Ming LK et al (2009) The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: international evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 35(6):752–763

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project had been financed by the European Union, Grant Number 2006336. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We would like to thank the SCMHE group and everyone that contributed to the European report including interviewers who worked in the participating countries. In addition, we would like to thank the parents, young people, and teachers for their cooperation in contributing to the survey. Special thanks for Jean-Pierre Valla, for making the Dominic Interactive available in the participating countries languages.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EHESP, Paris Descartes University, EA 4057, Paris, France

    Viviane Kovess-Masfety, Christophe Fermanian & Ondine Pez

  2. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Katherine Keyes, Ava Hamilton & Gregory Hanson

  3. The Romanian League for Mental Health, Bucharest, Romania

    Adina Bitfoi

  4. Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau (Campus Koblenz), Koblenz, Germany

    Dietmar Golitz

  5. Yeniden Health and Education Society, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ceren Koç

  6. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Rowella Kuijpers & Roy Otten

  7. Clinic of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Sigita Lesinskiene

  8. New Bulgarian University, Sophia, Bulgaria

    Zlatka Mihova

  9. EHESP, rue du Pr Leon Bernard, 35043, Rennes, France

    Viviane Kovess-Masfety

Authors
  1. Viviane Kovess-Masfety
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katherine Keyes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ava Hamilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gregory Hanson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Adina Bitfoi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dietmar Golitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ceren Koç
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Rowella Kuijpers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Sigita Lesinskiene
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Zlatka Mihova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Roy Otten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Christophe Fermanian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Ondine Pez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Viviane Kovess-Masfety.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kovess-Masfety, V., Keyes, K., Hamilton, A. et al. Is time spent playing video games associated with mental health, cognitive and social skills in young children?. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 51, 349–357 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1179-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1179-6

Keywords

  • Mental health
  • Children
  • Epidemiology
  • Gambling