Study Reports Videogames and TV Make Kids Unbalanced

[Scout Tactical]

Since this is true across ages, I would suspect that all college students and business men are unbalanced due to the time they use doing real work on the computer.

The study was also flawed, because I'm sure that the conductor regularly spends over an hour a day aggregating data on the computer, so we can assume she's unbalanced. >_>

 

[II2]

Still waiting on a proper:

"Study finds that most studies produce results considered desirable to those financing the research."

In the meantime I'll fork over my own candor and admit I only skimmed the OP.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

And I'd bet if too much "lecture time" in schools would make kids unbalanced. Or too much church attendance. Or too much exposure to clowns.

What should be noted is that good parenting is crucial to childhood development. Perhaps some parents should learn that Mario, Commander Shepherd, and Sackboy aren't babysitters. Kids are getting cell phones at such an early age, as well, that it has gone far past the point of lunacy. Kids these days are probably unbalanced because they're practically plugged into electronics like the Matrix. What business does a parent have buying their elementary school kid a cell phone even?

 

[DarthFennec]

Please define `mental issues' or `psychological difficulties'. All I saw when I read this article was that people with mental handicaps obviously don't have much of a social life at that age, and therefore fill up that time with TV and games.

 

[Blue Musician]

Are they even thinking on all the fact6ors that can lead to psychological problems?
Mistreatment, unbalanced eating, bullying, violence, etc, etc.
I am more unbalanced by these issues than by screen time.

 

[Zetona]

Everyone here is bashing the study for its use of the word "unbalanced", but no aspect of the study that was quoted in the article uses the word. The word "unbalanced " is never used in the linked article.

We gamers are of course going to defend games against the encroach of people who don't understand them, but come on. Everyone's saying that the study's "psychological issues" are bogus and that "psychological issues" may draw more kids to screens. That's fine; that might be true. But I can't see it being the only reason, not with so many people being studied. They can't all be emotionally disturbed or whatever. I see no problem with this study. It may actually have some truth to it for once.

 

[Amnestic]

What's unbalanced? What psychological effects?

Bad study is bad. Or at least the article in reporting it. But, I'm guessing the official results used equally abstract terms. "Unbalanced" might be shoving worms up your nose, but kids are kids.

Only the Abstract is freely available without paying, but from this site: [http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2010-1154v1?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Angie+Page&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT]

Spoiler

Children's Screen Viewing is Related to Psychological Difficulties Irrespective of Physical Activity
Angie S. Page, PhD, Ashley R. Cooper, PhD, Pippa Griew, MSc, Russell Jago, PhD

Centre for Exercise, Nutrition, and Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

Objective We hypothesized that greater screen use would be associated with greater psychological difficulties and that children with high levels of screen entertainment use and low levels of physical activity would have the most-negative psychological profiles.

Methods Participants were 1013 children (age, mean ± SD: 10.95 ± 0.41 years), who self-reported average daily television hours and computer use and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Sedentary time (minutes per day with <100 cpm) and moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (minutes with &#8805;2000 cpm) were measured by using accelerometers. Multivariate regression models examined the association between television viewing, computer use, sedentary time, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores, with adjustment for MVPA, age, gender, level of deprivation, and pubertal status.

Results Greater television and computer use were related to higher psychological difficulty scores after adjustment for MVPA, sedentary time, and confounders. However, sedentary time was inversely related to psychological difficulties after adjustment. Children who spent >2 hours per day watching television or using a computer were at increased risk of high levels of psychological difficulties (television, odds ratio [OR]: 1.61 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20?2.15]; computer, OR: 1.59 [95% CI: 1.32?1.91]), and this risk increased if the children also failed to meet physical activity guidelines (television, OR: 1.70 [95% CI: 1.09?2.61]; computer, OR: 1.81 [95% CI: 1.02?3.20]).

Conclusion Both television viewing and computer use are important independent targets for intervention for optimal well-being for children, irrespective of levels of MVPA or overall sedentary time.

Key Words: television ? computer ? physical activity ? sedentary time ? children ? psychological well-being

Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval ? IMD = Index of Multiple Deprivation ? MVPA = moderate/vigorous physical activity ? OR = odds ratio ? SDQ = Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

"Most negative psychological profiles" and "greater psychological difficulties".

 

[WOPR]

yes and at the same time there's another study that shows that people who play fast paced action games (generally arcade rail shooters) have brains that process whats going on 30% faster with the same precision and accuracy.

so, what do they mean by "unbalanced" because what we CAN see is that they're faster thinkers (meaning in theory we could get things done 30% faster... heh, we'd probably have duke nukem forever by now...)

but that's going too far, just something to think about ;D

 

[Dastardly]

Study Reports Videogames and TV Make Kids Unbalanced

According to a new study, prolonged "screen time" could have negative psychological effects on children.

People that play videogames are always looking for science to back up the view that videogames aren't harmful to anyone, sometimes scoring successful victories [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100946-Play-PopCap-Games-Be-Smarter], but sadly this isn't another one of those times. A study coming out of the UK is reporting that there's a strong possibility that videogame and television use by children can increase their chances of developing psychological issues.

Dr. Angie Page of the University of Bristol performed the study using 1,000 kids ages 10 and 11. The kids filled out a questionnaire that covered how much time they spent watching television or using a computer and their emotional or behavioral states. In addition, an accelerometer measured their daily physical activity.

Page's results showed that two hours a day of "screen time" increased the odds for "psychological difficulties" by 60 percent over kids with less time in front of the TV. Children that spent two hours each in front of the television and computer in a day had doubled chances to experience mental issues.

These results were universal across different sexes, ages, puberty stages, educational levels, and economic situations. It was also noted that a child spending time alone wasn't the issue, as reading or doing homework didn't indicate the same issues as screen time.

Physical activity was one method that Page recommended to include in a child's daily activities, as kids that were active had less of a negative effect from screen time. However, physical activity wasn't able to undo any previous damage, with Page also saying: "It wasn't clear whether having high physical activity levels would 'compensate' for high levels of screen viewing in children."

Page admitted that the biggest flaw in her study was the possibility of inaccurate reporting by children. Dr. Thomas N. Robinson of the Stanford University School of Medicine questioned the study, but said that he too had similar results showing reduced screen time leads to healthier, happier kids, and he recommends allowing around one hour of screen time per day.

There's a lot of crap for kids to look at on televisions and computers nowadays, but there are also plenty of positive activities available to them that happen through a screen. I'd be interested in a follow-up study that looked at different kinds of screen time, rather than just screen time in general, to see if it was the viewing portal responsible or just the content viewed.

Source: Reuters [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69A0GD20101011]

Permalink

There really are a great many reasons this could be the case. Hey, video games aren't bad, but during a child's formative years? Especially 10-11, that's when middle school starts here in the States.

At that age, children are just getting out of the "instant best friend" mode of social interaction. That's the age where egocentrism meets extreme self-consciousness, and it's just plain the beginning of the most awkward years of a child's life. Given how entertainment (both interactive and not) is designed these days, kids that get too much screen time in that age group are having the following problems (I say as a teacher that sees kids that age all day every day):

1) An inflated sense of their accomplishments in video games, leading to decreased self-expectations in other areas of life. The "Well, whatever, I suck at math but I'm really good at Guitar Hero" stuff. We have the same problems with kids whose parents overinflate their egos over sports--but it's just plain easier to succeed at videogames.

2) Entertainment of these types requires very little investment from a child. The fun is packaged, dosed, and administered by the game or show itself, with very little need for the child to make an exertion. The cognitive investment is extermely low, but the "fun dividends" are extremely high. Next to this, school work (which is NOT fun and DOES require work) is drastically devalued, leading to a host of OTHER psychological problems.

3) Kids. Have. No. Imagination. They suck at word problems because they can't take the words and use them to construct images and pictures. They suck at geometry because they have no spatial reasoning. They aren't required to develop these skills because all of their entertainment does it for them.

4) I'm sorry, it has a drastic impact on attention span at this age. Not simply because of all the flashing bits and bobs, but because it's on-demand. As soon as a game gets even remotely difficult or boring, the child can grab a code to leap forward... or just change to another game. As soon as a show gets old, the channel is instantly changed. They never learn how to pay attention to something BEYOND the novelty, and that carries into other facets of their lives.

Video games and television should be treated like soda. Adults can drink as much as they damn well please, but kids should be VERY limited because they are going through complicated developmental processes behind the scenes, and these sorts of influences jiggle too many of the pieces involved in those processes in a way that can only be measured AFTER the damage is done.

18+? Game for a balillion hours a day. Still in public school? Keep it to an hour of gaming, I'm sorry. I love games, but that's how it'll be for my kids.

 

[Callate]

It's repeatedly been found that children who get more than a couple of hours of screen time a day are in for some problems. I don't particularly have a problem with that. But it doesn't sound like the research really did a very good job of isolating that particular variable. It may well be that children who spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen aren't getting as much parental attention, even as those who are spending that time in "solitary activities" like reading (which probably come, at least in part, from their parents taking an interest in them and reading to them.)

 

[Stevepinto3]

I know you won't get people here admitting it, but yes, video games can have detrimental impacts on a child's psychological health.

Now while there are certainly games that can really engage your brain (portal and other puzzle games), those probably aren't the games most of these kids are playing. GTA has all of the enlightenment and mental stimulation of "OW my balls" from Idiocracy.

Children need to be active and engaged, and that's just not something they're going to be getting from spending lots of time playing video games.

Let the flames start.

 

[Dastardly]

Yeah, saw this article on CNN. Not too impressed, to be quite honest.

It's the typical correlation-causation issue that I'm sure many have hammered over and over enough already. Seriously, what evidence suggests that things aren't the other way around?

Everyone here is bashing the study for its use of the word "unbalanced", but no aspect of the study that was quoted in the article uses the word. The word "unbalanced " is never used in the linked article.

We gamers are of course going to defend games against the encroach of people who don't understand them, but come on. Everyone's saying that the study's "psychological issues" are bogus and that "psychological issues" may draw more kids to screens. That's fine; that might be true. But I can't see it being the only reason, not with so many people being studied. They can't all be emotionally disturbed or whatever. I see no problem with this study. It may actually have some truth to it for once.

To address antipunt's causation argument, and to echo Zetona's "so what" regarding same:

Okay, maybe it is the case that video games just seem to draw people with psychological issues... Seems to me that's still a reason to limit their time. Bars don't create alcoholics, they just enable them--but we still keep alcoholics AWAY from bars for that reason. If these kids with these issues are turning to video games, it's likely because some aspect of the video game ties intimately into their issues.

But, that said, the study seems to be well-conducted. Yes, there are a bajillion variables out there, but ANY responsible study will do its best to isolate one at a time. And those who disagree with the finding will simply say, "Well, what about all the other possible variables?" That's like saying, "Sure, the pool of gas could have caused the fire, but what about all the other things around that are also flammable?" Doesn't change the fact that evidence points to the former being a more immediate danger than the latter.

 

[Robin_Lyon]

I think the fact that this thread (when I clicked on it) was listed directly above another thread, titled, "Look at the little caterpiller...DESTROY IT!!!!" really sums it all up.


EDIT: AAaaaand is ironically hilarious.

 

[spartan231490]

you can find a study that will support any opinion. this is obviously bull, the results were probably a reversed causality, they recorded emotional and social status, and kids who get bullied a lot, probably tend to play video games and watch tv, cuz a) it can't pick on them, and b) if it does, they get to shoot/hack the character that did into oblivion.

 

[TheMann]

"In other studies, Fun itself is found to directly cause cancer"

Haha. Precisely, and the sad thing is, it's only a matter of time before that study is made and that conclusion is drawn. See, I'm almost certain that this "study" did not involve any real research. You know, like in the good ol' days when there were experiments with control groups and stuff like that. No, this was probably done with a vague survey. I'd love to meet the kid who puts her in her place. Not this interview is the way the study was done, but I like to think it could happen.

1. "Hi little Timmy, what are you doing?"
"I'm playing a video game what the hell does it look like I'm doing?"
*Subject has highly aggressive and unpleasant personality.*

2. "What kind of game are you playing?"
"It's called 'Half Life'".
"Oh and what do you do in Half Life?"
"Well you're this physicist who has to fight his way out of a research facility after an experiment goes horribly wrong and aliens from another dimension invade. That and there's a group of soldiers who are trying to kill you to cover the incident up. So you fight them off with a crowbar. Well, that and a bunch of guns.
*Subject believes that pursuits of science involve extreme amounts of violence.*

"Oh right, like I actually believe that; but if you open my backpack and look in my science textbook, I'm sure you'll find a whole chapter in there about how to use a sub-machine gun."
"How do you know what I just wrote?"
"Because I paused the game and I'm capable of reading."

3. "Um, okay. So, how many hours a day do you spend playing video games?"
"Oh I dunno, I guess about 2 hours. Sometime more, like 4-5 hours if it's bucketing rain outside. Ya know, like it is right now.
"So did you have trouble completing your school work?"
"No I'm already done. Did you know that a crowbar is used as a Class 1 lever? I learned that in science class today. It was right before the lesson on sub-machine guns."
*Subject shows extreme amounts of disdain and sarcasm towards others*

4. "So, do you play any other games?"
"Well yeah plenty."
"Like what?"
"Well, sometimes I play strategy games. You build armies and march them into battle to beat your opponent."
*Certain games cause subject to glorify war.*
"There's this one called Starcraft. It gets fairly difficult but I suppose if I got really, really, really, really, really good, I could move to South Korea and make a six-figure salary to play it professionally"
"Six figures?! Wow, no shit!"
"Moooom! Dr. Buzzkill is using swear words up here!"

5. "Hey lady, let me ask you something."
"Yeah, what?"
"What exactly do you do for fun?"
"Well I..."
"Here, let me guess. A few times a week, when you're not bugging 12 year-old kids like me, you go down do the local pub and cry into your Cosmopolitan about how no man will every want an obnoxious shrew like yourself and how you'll be alone until your ovaries are dried up like raisins. So, to compensate you start a massive "study" which is really just an attempt to coax politicians into creating new laws that severely restrict an activity that most people do simply for enjoyment. Have fun creating your contrived fascist legacy."
*Subject feels an almost sociopathic need to destroy others self-esteem.*

"Hey, I read that too! Now seriously are we done here?"

"Alright I'm glad that's over. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, time to fire up that rocket engine..."

 

[Slangeveld]

This is extremely abstract... Ünbal... ün.. WHAT. =.= "Unbalanced" (yay) means what, precisely? I do agree on the fact that a addiction to computer games from the age of 9 is NOT. GOOD. FOR. YOU.

So I do believe that computers have the potential to FUCK UP YOUR CHILDHOOD... But nothing a restriction and watchful eye will fix. >_>

 

[tthor]

Ambiguous much? Care to explain what "unbalanced" means exactly?

if you see them, you'll know.

 

[12capital]

What these articles always fail to mention is that this was a study not an experiment. because of that the scientist can't say for certain that video games have 'x' effect, they can only say there are correlations. One could easily point out that maybe kids with psychological issues are just more inclined to sit at home and watch tv or play video games all day and those who don't are more able to balance out their day with physical activity and games or television.

 

[2fish]

Well um doing anything for too long can make anyone unbalanced. Too much time in a school room and kids get twitchy and cannot concentrate maybe even unbalanced.

I kind of understand what the person was trying to say, but it didn't really seem like it came out right.

I mean with a title like that I want a study done on "Desperate Housewives TV show making America's women sex crazed?"

I agree with other posters above define your words and explain what you mean in detail please. Or are you trying to get us mad/scared so we will buy your book?