Video Game Addiction

More and more children and young people play video games and, as a consequence of their incorrect use, end up becoming addicted to them.

So much so that in 2018, due to this growing problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) categorized video game addiction as a mental health disorder, including it within the section related to addictive disorders of the International Classification of Diseases.

Advantages of Video Game Use

There are numerous and important advantages for programs for the prevention of video game abuse and dependence. Among these, the following stand out:

• They are a fun form of entertainment that should not be incompatible with performing other activities, even outdoors.
• They promote concentration, selective attention, STM, LTM, mental agility, and visuospatial aptitude…
• They develop hand-eye coordination and reflexes, as well as reaction time.
• They provide a good environment for learning as they develop curiosity and creativity and can foster creative applications.
• They promote self-esteem.
• Many video games are educational and decrease the likelihood of problematic behaviors.
• They promote socialization by being part of a “community” of players.
• They can mitigate stress.

Disadvantages of Video Game Use

Video games are under the spotlight of all of us who work in child and adolescent health. And, although not all disadvantages are applicable to all video games, this should allow us to be more aware at the time of purchase, reading the detailed information, the recommended age…

Among the main disadvantages of video game use, we find:

• Transmission of violent values. Although many think that these values will not be transmitted to the child’s or adolescent’s general behavior patterns, since one is the virtual world and the other is the real world, this is not true.

In fact, psychologist Albert Bandura was the one who told us about vicarious learning or modeling as a way of acquiring new behaviors through observation. In this learning, the reinforcement of a behavior is based on those cognitive imitation processes of the model’s behavior. Therefore, adolescents exposed to violent video games can learn models to interact and respond violently with their social environment and, as they associate positive feelings with violence, systematic desensitization occurs. From here, an adolescent can understand violence as something normal and tolerable, becoming insensitive to the pain of others.

• Transmission of sexist values and, specifically, the transmission of attitudes that promote sexual role stereotypes or, in other words, the belief that people are different based on sex and assigned social role. In this sense, many video games present women as sexual objects, give them a socially irrelevant role and one dependent on men, which means they foster sexist behaviors from which we should already be distanced. This is relevant since the learning of values shapes the personality of the child and adolescent.
• When excessive time is dedicated to video games, the time that can be dedicated to other necessary, convenient, or pleasant activities is limited, reduced, or even eliminated.
• Some strategy, action, or role-playing video games produce a very high stress response, which causes physiological anxiety symptoms.
• Problems in family and social relationships. The excessive use of video games, in terms of time, reduces the time that can be dedicated to family activities or sociable interactions that make behavior adaptive and healthy.
• Secondary physical effects. Exposure to excessive optical stimulation, in some cases, with large bursts of light at once, the radiation emitted by the screen, incorrect body posture, and even the lack of hygiene in some rooms where games are played for hours, without going out, ventilating, eating, or showering, seriously harms the health and well-being of children and adolescents.
• Addiction. Some of the above issues favor an excessive use of video games that could turn into abuse. However, we would speak of online game addiction if, in addition to the above, they are unable to carry out their daily activities, need to play for increasingly longer periods to achieve the same goals, and experience intense discomfort when they are without playing video games for a period – or are deprived, for example, due to punishment.

Guidelines for Managing and Limiting Video Game Use

1. Establish a play schedule. Before starting to play, plan together: how long will be played and when will it be time to stop to do other activities or maintain healthy relationships with family and friends. Some games do not save the results obtained if a certain phase is not reached, which always postpones the end and the child or adolescent sees their desire to play enhanced. In contrast, in online multiplayer mode, they do not end even if the player has left the game, but it also favors delaying the end. Therefore, agreeing on a start and end time becomes a fundamental control mechanism as it allows regularity in eating and sleeping patterns and the performance of daily, school, and domestic tasks.
2. Specify activities to be carried out during periods when not playing. Taking into account both school and daily tasks, as well as leisure activities – not linked to video games – family and social activities, that are healthy alternatives.
3. Avoid or control online video games. Due to their characteristics, they are the most addictive on the market and for various reasons: as I have already said, the activity continues even if your child has left the game, which favors a delay in completion and enhances the desire to continue playing; they do not have a determined end as there are always more levels to achieve, more points to obtain, and even, in some of them, money; establishment of virtual communities of players with similar interests, with the consequent sense of belonging. Therefore, it is important to control the time our children spend playing online video games, until we have a sufficiently well-structured organization of free time to prevent them from spending too much time playing them.
4. Do not install the game console or computer in the bedroom. When playing in the bedroom, all the behaviors described above are enhanced, it favors family and social isolation, alters the performance of school, daily, and household tasks, alters eating and sleeping patterns, which can be interrupted, and makes it difficult to perform tasks with the family. It is better to have both the game console and the computer in one of the common areas of the house such as the dining room, living room, or a lounge.
5. Know the video games your children use. This way we control content that, by age, we consider undesirable and, on the other hand, it breaks the generational barrier that the emergence of new technologies produces.