The effect of video games

The effect of video games
In a world populated by the domineering presence of media and technology, video games have become something that many of today’s youth have become indulged in within the 21st century. Even those who don’t play video games frequently at least have some ties and associations with the video gaming world and its community (myself included).
Recent statistics have reported that at least 64% of adults and 74% of under 18’s in the US play video games and statistics for the UK show this to be the case for 85% of under 35’s. Parents often worry and debate over the negative impacts that certain video games can have on their child’s overall wellbeing and personal development and there is a lot of research evidence to support such claims.
However, the links between video gaming and a child’s wellbeing are unclear and hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Also, some research has even hinted at the positive effects that some video games can have on a child’s adolescent development
In this article, we shall explore both the positive and the negative effects that certain video games can have on young people’s wellbeing through behavior and mental health.

Behaviour Impacts
Let’s begin with the behavior impacts as this is the one most parents speculate over. Many of you probably have a child or at least know of one who spends a lot of time playing video games and is often rude, bad-mannered, agitative and aggressive during social interaction.
More often than not, parents do wonder if their children’s worrying behavioral patterns are being influenced by the types of games their children are playing.
The most notable theory in psychology that can be applied to support this idea is Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. Through observational learning, Bandura’s theory proposes that children learn and imitate the behavior of adult models they most identify with.
In video games, it is said that children will copy the behavior of same-sex model characters they strongly identify with. Therefore, in games like GTA for example, boys will copy the violence, aggression and swearing portrayed by male characters in the game and this is more common among those raised in poor family environments.
One 2019 study at the Research Institute of Moral Education provides support for these assertions. Using methods of self-reports (e.g. interviews, surveys, questionnaires) the researchers identified a positive correlation between exposure to violent video games and aggression among a sample of young people (ages 12-19 years old), taking into account their beliefs about aggression and their family environments.
The results of the study found that exposure to violent video games among respondents from healthy family environments only had a direct impact on their levels of aggression. Whereas, among respondents from poor family environments, increased aggression was not only a direct result of exposure to violent video games but also influenced by their family environment and their beliefs about aggression.
This study suggests that parents should not only be mindful of their children’s exposure to violent video games but also the environments they are raising them in and the beliefs they have about aggression as they play such games.
Another study at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, which looked at a variety of video games (e.g. fighting, shooting, action adventure, strategy, sports, racing and fantasy role playing), found very similar results. In addition to using self-report methods, in game data was also collected from the gamers.
The overall data showed that action adventure and shooting games like GTA produced emotional effects of anger, aggression and hostility while other games produced other serious emotional effects such as competitiveness and social withdrawal.
However, strategy games like StarCraft II were linked to increased problem-solving and intuition skills, suggesting that some games can be beneficial for a child’s intellectual development.
So this study shows that different types of video games elicit different types of behavioral responses in children. The data suggests that most types of video games produce negative behaviors but that some others can lead to the development of more desirable ones.
So, while some video games can have positive behavioral effects, these studies certainly give plenty for parents to ponder about the many adverse effects that a majority of video games can have on a child’s behavior. Depending on the circumstances, most video games can turn well-behaved children into ones who frequently misbehave.
Therefore, parents are right to worry about potential behavioral outcomes that may arise from their children playing certain video games.
However, parents should not be too concerned because, as I mentioned earlier, the link between video games and behavior is unclear and very difficult to scientifically prove through research. Some studies have even shown that violent video games do not always lead to increased aggression and antisocial behaviors.
One study in Britain, published in the Royal Society, looked at the relationship between violent video games and aggressive and anti-social behaviors among 14-to 15-year-old teenagers using multiple methods of data collection. This correlation was measured by collecting information from the teenagers about the types of games they played and reports of their behavior from their respective carers.
The results of the study showed no link between the amount of time these teenagers spent playing violent video games and the amount of aggression and anti-social behavior reported by their carers. However, the researchers did not rule out the existence of a potential correlation.
Therefore, results like these should indicate to parents that if a child who plays violent video games shows aggressive and anti-social behavior, then it is important for them to consider other factors that may well be contributing to such behaviors.
These factors may include issues in their family environments, problems in their relationships with friends and peers, troubles at school and struggles with general life.
Overall, the trend seems to be that many video games are in many ways linked to behavioral troubles in the real world among today’s youth.
However, I shall reiterate once more that it’s important to bear in mind that no link has been fully established. While some video games can have adverse behavioral effects on some young people, these same games often have no effect on others.
Dr. Nicholas Westers, a clinical psychologist at Children’s Health says, “It’s hard to establish a clear link between aggressive behavior and video games, but……some young people who play violent video games do demonstrate increased physical aggression over time.”
Dr. Westers also says:
“Used responsibly, video games can be a fun and healthy hobby for children and adults. Parents know their children best and need to work together to establish rules for video games.”