Nearly 10 Percent of Young American Video Gamers are Addicted

A new study has now confirmed that video games can in fact be dangerous to a child’s upbringing. The old worry of many a mother that a television or computer will ruin her child’s social development does have some credibility after all. Dr. Douglas Gentile of Iowa State recently conducted the survey in which he found that nearly ten percent of American youth are actually addicted to video games, much like some adults suffer from addiction to gambling. This is a problem because addiction in this sense does not just mean a kid plays video games a lot. Under Dr. Gentile’s criteria, the habit must actually be an impediment to normal function, and family, social, school, or psychological damage is actually visible, which is why Gentile believes pathological use is just as good of term as addiction.

These pathological video gamers have also been shown to develop a number of other negative symptoms. Besides sitting on their can for an average of over three hours a day, pathological video gamers are more likely to have problems paying attention at school, develop ADD, receive poorer grades, have worse physical health, and even steal to support their addiction.

More research is being done now into causes of pathological video gaming, as is an attempt to find out if certain types of individuals are more at risk. There is still a lot to be found out of addiction in general but it can be seen from this study that the delicate and intricate pathways in our brain are fully capable of being manipulated and afflicted even at young ages. At any rate this seems like one addiction that can be controlled easily by a parent, and should be watched closely, for addiction to anything, including video gaming, can possibly lead to withdrawals and depression later down the road, something no parent wants any part of for their child.

Written By: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Medical News Today

Study by Dr. Douglas Gentile

Posted By Brian Bass
VTPP 435-502