Too many video games affect relationships

[Posted: Fri 23/01/2009 by Deborah Condon - www.irishhealth.com]

Young adults who spend a lot of time playing video games have poorer relationships with their families and friends, the results of a new study indicate.

US researchers looked at over 800 college students and found that as the amount of playing time went up, the quality of relationships with parents and peers went down.

"It may be that young adults remove themselves from important social settings to play video games, or that people who already struggle with relationships are trying to find other ways to spend their time,” the researchers suggested.

The study participants reported how often they played video games. They also answered questions that measured the quality of their relationships. These questions looked at issues such as how much time, trust and affection they shared with family and friends.

A statistical analysis of the findings also revealed that the more young adults played video games, the more frequent their involvement in risky behaviours, such as drinking alcohol and drug abuse.

For young women specifically, those who spent a lot of time playing video games appeared to have lower self-worth.

The researchers added that they were curious about how video games may affect young couples, as almost three in four of the male participants played games regularly, while just 17% of their female counterparts played more than once a month.

"The gender imbalance begs the question of whether chasing a new high score beats spending quality time with a girlfriend or wife.”

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.